float tube fins

[mark]

Ok, in the market for some new ones. I have used the old cheapies for years but am considering widening my horizons to better fins. I have even used a friends scuba fins (split tail version) once and was amazed at the power they had. I believe they were TUSA brand. Anyone else use these or have any recommendations for fins (not necessarily just fishing specific ones)? Nightmares to avoid?

Force fins, already tried them, don't really like them, strap in system is not my favorite and they seem to lack power.

thanks for suggestions folks!

[Scott V]

I love scuba fins of any type. They have power and are usually light in weight.

[bigfly]

Mark, I use carbon fiber stiffened dive fins. For when the wind comes up.....
Make sure you get them fit right, tight isn't good.

Jim

[Rick J]

I use scuba fins also. On my recent trip to St John I was looking at the magazine/catalog that you find on all the planes where you can buy just about anything and they had fins that actually had a swivel allowing the fin portion to flip up so that you could walk forward easily - looked pretty cool actually and were not all that expensive compared to other quality fins - if interested, I can try to find it again as I saved the catalog

[SHigSpeed]

I used to be a die-hard scuba fin backer, but I've since converted to Force Fins. The scubas will give you great handling and top speed, but if you need to grind up wind, the "gearing" of the smaller, more flexible Force fins let you do this without killing yourself.

YMMV.

_SHig

[jbird]

What are you guys wearing under your float tubue fins? I have some basic tubing fins that go over my boots. They work decent. Are you guys that are using dive fins wearing them without boots? Or do the fins have a sole on them so you can kick against the bottom in shallow water without ruining your wader booties?

[Scott V]

I use rubber souled neoprene booties

[SHigSpeed]

$5 aquasox from Target.

_SHig

[RenoLipRipper]

I have never used dive fins for float tubing so I don't know how they would/or do work.

But, I have used force fins for 8 years or so.

I have two pair.

The older pair I like better than their newer version. The older version just has a strap without the other stuff that goes over the top of your foot and in my opinion are much easier than the other ones I have.

Look on Force Fins website to see other models.

Force fins are not cheap, I don't how much dive fins are, but force fins are about $200.. For fishing in a tube the force fins are better when I have talked to others. My two cents.

[Ed Wahl]

I guess I'm in the minority here.

I've been using the same pair of cheap Caddis float tube fins over booties and wading boots for the past 20 years. I haven't had any complaints from fishing buddies about being too slow.

Ed

[jbird]

Ed. Me too :-)

[SHigSpeed]

I guess I'm in the minority here.

I've been using the same pair of cheap Caddis float tube fins over booties and wading boots for the past 20 years. I haven't had any complaints from fishing buddies about being too slow.

Ed

Ed,

I own a pair of pocket and laces Caddis fins and to tell you the truth they do handle very similarly to Force Fins. Easy on the legs but not quite as powerful and a bit more touchy to walk in.

_SHig

[Ed Wahl]

Ha! Touchy to walk in is quite an understatement.

Are you talking about the green ones that float?
I do love that feature about them, however everything is a trade off. Being bouyant, when you stop moving your fins tend to move your feet up towards the surface thus moving you a bit in reverse.

You don't need tethers though.

Ed

[gene goss]

Ok here's my 2 cents worth.....the design of a scuba fin (long fin) is to be used by the whole leg....if your sitting in a float tube....it hard to use your whole leg to make the fin work effectively....the higher you sit out of the water the lest effect a scuba fin is....except for a do-nut shape tube where you sit down in the water.....fins design for tubing are made to be used by your lower leg....you can sit out of the water and use your lower legs effectiverly....force fins are design to work in one direction (up kick).....you can't beat force fins when the WIND is blowing.

[mark]

thanks for the responses guys, all great stuff to go on, never even thought about the buoyancy factor.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We need a race.....I would bet that Force Fins ($189) would win.

Marilyn and I went float-tubing together once. It was her first trip.

She had Force Fins and I had the cheapies, Caddis or Outcast ($30).

She smoked me................I could never catch her????

[SHigSpeed]

In a sprint an in my tube my money is on my big Power Plana scuba fins. Add any distance or wind, I'm betting on the Force!

I'm down for a race sometime. Let's go!

_SHig

[Hairstacker]

Maybe when Bill gets that pond built in that parking lot behind the shop, float tube races can be added as an annual event at the Expo. :!: :lol:

[mark]

Maybe when Bill gets that pond built in that parking lot behind the shop, float tube races can be added as an annual event at the Expo. :!: :lol:

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Annual event for sure. Ladies can wear big hats and place wagers.... full float tube jockey uniforms......... good times.....

[Reno Flytyer]

I use Scuba Pro Fins...for both diving and 'tooning, and while 'tooning, mostly just for steering when I'm under power with the 38# Minnkota or positioning to make a cast. I will tell you that the guys with Force Fins were faster than me in my XL SPFs, even though their fins were much smaller. Plus, they're (FFs) easy to walk in (so I hear). I just take my fins off when I reach the shore and still sittin' in my seat & walking in booties is the hardest thing I have to do from there. Also, like so many others, I wear rubber soled neoprene booties. Costwise, the Scuba Pros were $65 from an on line supplier...about $90-$100 from a local dive shop.
RFT

[michaeln]

Whatever you do, don't buy these:

http://www.flipfins.com/index.php?page=fins&product=navigator

[SHigSpeed]

Whatever you do, don't buy these:

http://www.flipfins.com/index.php?page=fins&product=navigator

No good?

_SHig

[Randy B]

I use a pair of Scubapro split fins. I've also had a pair of Force fins. I thought the purpose built Force fins were probably more efficient for float tubing out of a Fat Cat, but the scuba fins do the job and serve my snorkeling/diving needs too...although I know they sell the force fins for the dive market.

I guess it all gets down to cost and personal preference.

[michaeln]

No good?

_SHig

Terrible for me, SHig. When I am in the water, if they are up, I can't lock them down, and if they are down, I can't release them to the up position. My friend Mark borrowed them this past Thursday at Lake Davis to use with his Scadden Outlaw Escape, and he couldn't get them to latch down. When we got back to camp I was able to latch them down with great difficulty using the method below... but WTF good is that when you use the things in the water, not on hard ground. If I am on hard ground I'd rather wear shoes!

If I am standing on hard ground and they are locked down, just walking forward releases them to the folded position. If they are folded I can lock them in place only when standing on hard ground, by stepping hard just forward of the latch with the heel of the opposite foot.

Omega claims all you have to do to lock them down is kick forcefully. BS. No way that will work with the ones I have.

It takes so much force to lock or unlock them that the olive colored plastic they are made out of is turning white near the latching surface, indicating to me that the plastic is getting overworked and will break soon.

I wrote this morning to Omega Aquatic support with my complaints. Unfortunately I bought them back in February from Leisure Pro and they won't accept returns after that much time (nor would I really expect them to). I don't know if there is something wrong with my particular pair and maybe Omega will exchange them for some that work as advertised, but I doubt it.

IME, Omega Navigators are a terrible implementation of a really great idea.

[Mumbles]

I've tried the flat caddis fins. Effective but not powerful.
I've tried non adjustable force fins, killed the top of my foot and I prefer to have boots on instead of neoprene socks or booties, just a preference. Still these non adjustable (heel strap only) force fins killed my feet.
I have tried adjustable force fins. Fit over boots, lots of tinkering required to get them snug and when wobbly I just don't care for them.
I have and now use my Omega Navigators. The XLs fit over my size 11/12 wading boots, the flip up/down mechanism took me just an outing or two to get used to. I can lock them down or flip them up standing, sitting or floating. Michael and I have traded lots of PM's and I think his experience is a horrible one, but it is not one that I've had myself.

I have kicked around my local lake for a while in the adjustable force fins and then the flip fins from Omega. I find NO AREA where the force fins outperformed the flip fins. Propulsion Navigators. Speed Navigators. Fine detail work to hold a spot when chirono-bobber-mid-indicator fishing Navigators. I disagree that you have to use your whole leg to get their mechanical benefit. Most of the work I do with them is just ankle flexion and extension for moving at the pace I need. When windy I can grind out these ankle movements into the wind just as easy if not more easily than the force fins.

I still have my adjustable force fins...and loan them to my friends. I prefer my Omega Navigators, plus when you need to take a pee you can flip them up and actually walk in them fairly easily (not like street shoes but way better than flat or force fins for sure).

Just my two cents. Different than most, but that is the coolest thing about me, I'm different than most!

[michaeln]

Still playing phone tag with Omega support. I hope to find there is either something wrong with the way I am operating these things or there is something wrong with them that Omega will remedy, because they do seem like a good idea.

Incidentally, I don't see any difference between the Omega Navigator (Olive and black and positioned by Omega as float-tube specific) and the Omega Amphibian which is a general purpose SCUBA fin available in yellow/black, blue/black, orange/black, red/black and black/black... in fact my Navigators even have the word "Amphibian" molded into the bottom side of the fin blades.

Strangely, the ones North Fork Outdoors (Dave Scadden) sells appear to be the Amphibians in yellow/black. I figured the olive/black color of the Navigators would be a tad more stealthy in a typical fishing environment.

Mumbles, I agree with you about the Adjustable Force Fins being too fiddly with the buckles and all. I had the Original Force Fins but my wading boots wouldn't fit in them so I sold them and bought the adjustable, floattube-specific ones. They were just terrible to get on and off and still have them fit snugly.

If I end up unable to get satisfaction with the Navigators, I will get another pair of Force Fin Originals and use them with the neoprene soft-soled wet shoes I bought from NRS. I think I should have used that combination to begin with and not gone through all this other stuff, but I didn't have the NRS booties yet. I still think the Force Fins worked for me with less effort than the Navigators, with less strain on my legs.

[jayclarkflyfishing]

I guess I'm in the minority here.

I've been using the same pair of cheap Caddis float tube fins over booties and wading boots for the past 20 years. I haven't had any complaints from fishing buddies about being too slow.

Ed


Ed-
I'm right there with you on the Caddis fins. They work fine for me. I just can't justify the cost of Force Fins. I use dive fins for clients that don't have there own fins.

Jay

[michaeln]

I just got off the horn with the tech support guy at Omega Aquatics. After having me check a couple things he said that my pair was mistakenly assembled with the boot section for the military version of the fins, which has a different latching mechanism than the normal Navigator fins. He said that has happened before "a few times".

He gave me an RMA number and asked that I ship them back to them in Illinois, and when they receive them they will send me the correct fins. So off they go via the Brown Santa.

I *knew* there had to be something wrong my this pair!

[RenoLipRipper]

That is great that they are backing up their product. I have the original force fins and they are great, also have a pair of the newer ones and they are a pain.

[michaeln]

UPDATE:

OK, last week I received my replacement pair of Omega Navigator Flip Fins. It's a brand new pair, and they also included a very nice zippered carrying bag that is made out of Cordura nylon and lots of mesh, and it even has a shoulder strap. They included an Omega logo baseball cap too. It's obvious they are trying to compensate for the inconvenience the first pair caused and I appreciate it.

http://www.leisurepro.com/Image/Product/Large/OMEAFN.jpg

This pair is easy to latch and unlatch, just as I always thought the other pair should be but wasn't. I will get a chance to use them this week on a fishing trip to Lake Davis and I am confident they will work correctly.

Nice job on the customer service, Omega Aquatics!

[BillB]

Me too Ed and Shig. I was able to hold very well in a very intense wind Thursday. I wear them over my boots. Although I workout everyday at my age I'm in no danger of "sprinting" anyway! I am looking for some shoes that will be lighter and can double as a surf shoe. Tried some water shoes from LL Bean. Going to send them back as I am afraid I will "walk out" of them in the surf. Buckled into fins I don't think would be a problem.

[michaeln]

Update on the Omega Navigator Flip Fins. From my previous posts I reported that Omega had sent me a replacement pair and that they seemed to work correctly.

Since then I have used the fins quite a bit and am very pleased with them. It's pretty cool to be able to flip them up and walk... at the lake where I fished this week I walked all the way from the boat to my car up in the parking lot (WAY up there!) and back down and honestly the walking felt pretty natural, except for some resistance to bending my ankle.

I used them for slow trolling and staying positioned while deep midging, and they worked really well for both. They are long and stiff and can really produce good power, but the dual compound construction makes them easy to use for delicate maneuvers.

Good product, I'm very pleased with them now.

[wjorg]

I bought these things a while back, never used them. They have a vertical flap on the side of your feet that hinges. You can walk forward, and when your leg comes back, the flap swings out creating the paddle force.

Forget what theyre called, ever use em? Any good?