Rockboots and jet fins

"Carcharhinus leucas" <bullshark@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:l630n0lmp0gj6f05vj5upuovsh1eo7lmlp@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 12:36:06 +0100, "Tony Howard"
> <tony@samesamediving.com> wrote:
>
>>As the Scubapro JetFins XL size is really only slightly larger than a
>>normal
>>L size,
>
> You are seroiuusly misinformed.
>
> The XL's are about TWICE as BIG as the large.
>
> safe diving,
>
> bullshark
> safe diving,
>
> bullshark

Then the 'large' must be bloody tiny. Maybe the US are using their condom
sizes for their fins?

I've got XL jetfins and My drysuit boots are a UK size 9 (European 43, US
size 10) and these fins only just fit the boots. If I had any larger size
boots they would not fit. I don't feel that my feet are unusually large
compared with a few fellow divers with size 11 or 12 feet.

For quite some time Scubapro has not made (to my knowledge) any fins larger
then XL, I even tried getting XXL Jetfins while in the US a couple of years
ago, whereas other brands go up to XXL or even XXXL.

In addition, the other brands are considerably cheaper, so as long as the
rubber used is as rigid as the SC fins, there should be no reason not to buy
them.

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 21:21:14 +0100, "Tony Howard"
<tony@samesamediving.com> wrote:

>Then the 'large' must be bloody tiny. Maybe the US are using their condom
>sizes for their fins?
>
>I've got XL jetfins and My drysuit boots are a UK size 9 (European 43, US
>size 10) and these fins only just fit the boots. If I had any larger size
>boots they would not fit. I don't feel that my feet are unusually large
>compared with a few fellow divers with size 11 or 12 feet.

He's talking about the fin itself. The Med and Large fins are WAY
smaller than the XL fin. The XXL is a touch larger than the XL.
The foot pockets are predictable... a size 9 wetsuit bootie fits in a
large and a size 9 dryboot needs an XL.

>For quite some time Scubapro has not made (to my knowledge) any fins larger
>then XL, I even tried getting XXL Jetfins while in the US a couple of years
>ago, whereas other brands go up to XXL or even XXXL.

SP is now making an XXL that was designed to clear up to a size 14 DUI
rockboot. It's a very tall pocket, but only a little wider than the
XL. It's not as wide as a Turtle.

The problem is, and walways has been, that SP has sized the Jetfin
pocket about one size smaller than other fins... even their own. An
XL jetfin is about the same pocket as a large Twinjet, or a fin from
any other maker.



--- Rich
http://richlockyer.tripod.com/

In article <Uc0cd.9114$Kl3.1343@twister.socal.rr.com>,
whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM says...
> Blitch. Bastard outbid me on ebay when I wasn't looking.

Good to see you back here. Are you getting wet?

Al Wells wrote:
> In article <Uc0cd.9114$Kl3.1343@twister.socal.rr.com>,
> whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM says...
>
>>Blitch. Bastard outbid me on ebay when I wasn't looking.
>
>
> Good to see you back here. Are you getting wet?

Thanks, it's nice to be back. Well, it's nice to read SCUBA threads.

Yes, I've started up again. Finally have a reasonable schedule and
enough energy. Also, I've got a young colleague to whom I told stories
over the last couple of years and he finally got enough money to get
certified. Then he puppy-dogged me to death to get back in. Not that I
needed much convincing. First time out I wasn't very comfortable.

Still doing the leopard skin thing?

In article <w8ldd.18727$jo2.4549@twister.socal.rr.com>,
whiNstOler@sSan.rPr.cAomM says...
> Yes, I've started up again. Finally have a reasonable schedule and
> enough energy. Also, I've got a young colleague to whom I told stories
> over the last couple of years and he finally got enough money to get
> certified. Then he puppy-dogged me to death to get back in. Not that I
> needed much convincing. First time out I wasn't very comfortable.

Good deal, but maybe next time you'll move to where the water is warm.

> Still doing the leopard skin thing?

Cindy raises Bengal kittens (www.bengaland.com) The web site isn't
Cindy's, but she is partners with these people. Cindy is a leopard skin
fanatic - our curtains, furniture, everything...

Again, glad to see you back

al

DIR dogma says wear jet fins with my rockboots. I'm not one to follow
dogma, but I actually like the idea of having short & wide fins to
maximize my maneuverability in the water, as I've started doing more
videography.

My problem is that jet fins don't seem to fit my size 8 rockboots at all:
the large (a faux pas in DIRland, apparently) seems too small as only my
toes really fit into the fin pocket and the strap doesn't come close to
going around my heel, and the XL has too much side to side play in the
pocket (and oddly enough I can still just barely get the strap around my
heel). Even so, the contact with my foot seems sketchy at best, since the
fin pocket is symmetrical on the top and bottom (most other fins have a
larger cut into the top of the pocket to allow the foot to go in deeper).

My question: any suggestions? I thought about getting the jet fins anyway
and cutting the top of the pocket, but this seems less than optimal. Can
anyone recommend any other traditional paddle fins along these lines?

Thanks in advance.

In article
<Pine.GSO.4.44.0410150122370.22009-100000@elaine6.Stanford.EDU>,
Charlie <cckim@Stanford.EDU> wrote:

€ DIR dogma says wear jet fins with my rockboots.

No, it doesn't.

€ I'm not one to follow dogma,

Particularly when said dogma requires knowledge and the effort to learn.
€
€ My problem is that jet fins don't seem to fit my size 8 rockboots at all:

Funny, they fit my 9's.

€ My question: any suggestions?

Yes. DIRF.

Contempt prior to investigation is the mark of a fool.

--
"I know we're going to die. There's three of us who are going to do something
about it."
-Tom Burnett, aboard United Airlines flight 93, September 11, 2001

In article <Pine.GSO.4.44.0410150122370.22009-100000
@elaine6.Stanford.EDU>, cckim@Stanford.EDU says...
> My question: any suggestions? I thought about getting the jet fins anyway
> and cutting the top of the pocket, but this seems less than optimal. Can
> anyone recommend any other traditional paddle fins along these lines?

The problem is the rock boots. In a drysuit made for them, I have seen
people successfully use wetsuit booties, but the real solution is the
old style drysuit feet.

You want XL jet fins. Anything else has a smaller fin. The difference is
dramatic. I am size 8 and use XL fins. In a wetsuit, I use booties with
thick soles, and in my drysuit, I have the right feet.

As the Scubapro JetFins XL size is really only slightly larger than a normal
L size, you could look at other brands of similar rubber 'jet-fins'. I
don't mean those crappy split-jet fins, but ones that are almost identical
to the original jetfins.

Two other makes that come to mind are Northern Diver in the UK and Tusa,
both make clone jetfins in original hard rubber. Northern Diver (and I
believe others) also make these in larger sizes, such as XXL, and I've even
seen them in colours other than black (that's obvioulsy not DIR and so you
may be shot as a Scuba terrorist if you buy red fins).

In addition the clone jetfins are about 2/3rds of the price of the Scubapro
ones, however I don't think that the straps are as strong, so the use of
spring straps is still wise (although they cost more than the bloody fins
themselves!!).

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004, Jammer Six wrote:

> € DIR dogma says wear jet fins with my rockboots.
> No, it doesn't.
>
> € I'm not one to follow dogma,
> Particularly when said dogma requires knowledge and the effort to learn.
> €
> € My problem is that jet fins don't seem to fit my size 8 rockboots at all:
>
> Funny, they fit my 9's.
>
> € My question: any suggestions?
>
> Yes. DIRF.
>
> Contempt prior to investigation is the mark of a fool.

Whoa, down boy. First of all, if it's contempt I conveyed, my apologies -
I'm trying to dive DIR because I agree with many of the ideas. Already
doing the backplate, long hose, and octo on my neck. Just looking for
info on how to get the fins dialed.

Everything I've read so far seems to indicate that the JetFins are the
most popular fin among people who dive DIR - they offer more
maneuverability/better frog kicking & reversing, the strap system doesn't
have as many places to catch on line/kelp, etc. If that's not true,
alternative recommendations would be much more constructive than snide
comments.

To reiterate from my last e-mail, it's not that my size 8 rockboots don't
fit into the XL, it's that they have a great deal of side to side movement
in the large foot pocket. Al, you said your setup works with JetFins and
you have size 8 rockboots: do you not have problems with lateral motion?
What exactly do you mean by "I have the right feet"? Do I need to wait
for the next life to have a real chance at diving DIR?

Tony: thanks for the suggestions. I'll look into the fins you mentioned.

Charlie