All Scuba divers know the importance and what a difference good dive fins can make underwater. But, they’ve also faced the awkwardness and inconvenience of walking around with fins on land. That’s why the convertible fins from Omega Aquatics came as a breath of fresh air, solving the mobility issue we’ve previously faced with regular fins.
Every diver has at some point had the dilemma of whether to waddle across a boat in your dive fins to get to the gate, or the use good dive boat etiquette and carry your fins in your hands till the gate an then put them on in a balancing act with the heavy scuba gear and tank strapped to your back. Shore dives too pose the same problem of walking in fins while entering the water. The Amphibian range of FlipFins is the perfect solution of to both these scenarios and more. The convertible fins are designed to be half fin, half shoe that fold up out of the way allowing you to walk freely out of the water and click down with your first kick once you’re in the water turning into fins.
The Amphibian fins are made up of two pieces – the foot pocket and blade. They are connected by a special hinge called the “Aqua-Hinge,” that allows the blades of the fin to be pulled up so that the diver may walk normally, wearing the slightly curved foot pocket like a pair of overshoes. Once in the water, a normal kicking motion pushes the blades back down and locks them in place so they can be used like conventional fins. Omega Aquatics believed that their product was a natural evolution of fins and begun to sell the flipfins since 2007. They have been a hit with divers ever since.
No more dive boat shuffle, no more doing the one foot dance trying to put on your fins after other dive gear, no more waddling around like a clown in oversized shoes and no more walking to and from the water with your fins in your hands instead of your feet. With the flipfins, the fins can be the first thing you put on and the last thing to take off when you scuba dive. They make walking around, airborne water entry and even climbing dive boat ladders with fins as easy as wearing ordinary shoes.
In the water, just one kick coverts these goofy looking shoes to high performance fins where you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference from other top scuba brands fins. Omega Aquatics in their attempt to make fins better out of water haven’t ignored the performance of these fins underwater. “The lightweight fin blade features a soft, central web configuration modeled after a duck web,” says Omega Aquatics, Inc. President and founder Ronen Moyal. “This design element contributes to increased propulsion and reduces the load required for sustained kicking. And with the interchangeable blade system, different types of divers will soon have a variety of choices when purchasing dynamic fins.”
So what are you waiting for? Didn’t you read the no more waddling part? Omega Aquatics’ Flipfins are available at Scuba.com or for other authorized dealers visit www.flipfins.com for more information.
