Following in a long line of great fins. The new Seawing Supernova continues in those footsteps (get it footsteps? It’s a fin, and your foot makes a, No ok).

I started using the Supernovas a couple of months ago and noticed a difference immediately. I felt like I had a lot more maneuverability than with conventional fins. It also feels like what you expect a great dive fin to feel, but without the weight and, honestly, a lot more flexibility on the kicks, Frog, Reverse, Scissor or Flutter.

A diving fin needs power, and the Seawing Supernova has it. The fins are designed with Pivot Control Technology. The blade is pre-set in the 40º to 50º range, which is the appropriate angle of attack for the blade and ideal for translating kicks into forward propulsion.

The blade’s revolutionary flexible Auto-Adjust center panel coordinates with this hinge mechanism to adjust the angle of attack by counter-pivoting in response to the force of the kick. So, what does that all mean? On a traditional paddle fin, the harder you kick, the more the blade bends. That means a soft fin will achieve the ideal 45-degree angle when kicked gently but will over-bend and lose thrust when kicked hard. On the other hand, stiffer fins achieve that ideal 45-degree angle when kicked hard but remain too flat to be efficient when kicked gently.

Consequently, both types require the diver to compromise their kicking style to get any efficiency out of the fin.

When you are fining, you can kick so hard that it will bend the blade so far back that it can “technical” pull you backward; this offers a softer angle of attack for comfort while lightly kicking, a more aggressive angle of attack when powerfully kicking, and anything in between. New twin-tip winglets improve control and maneuverability when doing frog and alternating kicks.

The Seawing Supernova, winner of the prestigious Red Dot Award for product design, is a remarkable improvement over the Seawing Nova in terms of performance, construction, fit, and versatility. It also features a cutting-edge blade shape that generates significantly more power, speed, and maneuverability.

The Seawing Supernova also has a novel two-piece design, with the blade and foot pocket molded separately, is made of quality Monprene® for maximum durability, and breaks down effortlessly for transport. This will also allow you two change your blades as SSCUABPRO designed more. The Seawing Supernova’s open heel foot pocket has an updated heavy-duty bungee strap that enables micro-adjustments to accommodate various boot types and extended grip pads that improve non-skid traction on wet surfaces. It is sold as an open heel set with a foot pocket and blade already built.

Additionally, the two-piece construction enables the option of a full foot pocket in place of the usual open heel foot pocket for barefoot diving. You may quickly get ready to hit the water by disassembling the fin’s Socket-Lock Connecting System, replacing the open heel foot pocket with a complete foot pocket, and then reassembling. The entire foot pocket also has a re-profiled heel-retention cup to reduce slippage and chafing and is made of superior Monprene®

A knife is a very personal item. Even if you are issued one, many people will still buy one more to their liking. There are attachment options for just about every knife, but where is the best place to mount it? Again, that is personal; some people like it on the inside of their leg, some want it on their waste, and others like it mounted on their chest/ shoulder area. Here are my two cents about it. I like my knife high on my waist or left shoulder (because I am a righty, and it keeps my right shoulder pocked free for a weapon). A knife is a tool; if I need to use it, there is a good reason for me to grab it. If it is on my leg, I might not be able to reach it. If it is on my waste or above, no matter what, I should be able to get to it. Basically, you should keep a tourniquet on your waste for the same reason. I like having my knife there also.

Leg-mounted knives, which connect to your lower leg above your ankle and can be a convenient solution to keep your knife out of the way, are the most common on the market. However, keeping your knife far from your hands can make it challenging to locate or even reach an entanglement. If you miss the housing or do not activate the locking mechanism properly, stretching to place a sharp knife back into its housing can be deadly. Mounting your knife on your leg can be a snag hazard.

Some knives also tend to rattle in their sheaths, which can be fixed with a well-placed rubber band. There is also the thought that if it is on one leg, you will focus on that, and it can throw you off when you are navigating by making you focus on that side and push you left or right depending on where it is mounted. Most people tend to put them on the inside of their legs to help avoid snags. Some companies also make neoprene sheaths so knives can be mounted on your legs. Most tend to advertise that they are universal.

Some buoyancy compensator devices (BCD) have holes, especially for attaching your knife. Knife grommets and specialized locations to stick your knife, often under your arm above your pocket, are becoming more common. There are a lot of knife sheaths that are designed around being able to use this hole. They are great because it permanently attaches to your BCD, ensuring that you have it with you on every dive, and you don’t have to put it on and take it off for every dive. These mounts are unobtrusive and unlikely to snag. One bad thing is that because it is always there, some people forget to clean their knives properly after every use. What I like to do is soak my BCD with the knife on it and then take the knife off and dry it by itself with my mask and computer. I like keeping them all together. Another possible downside is you pack your BCD to travel, and when you get to where you are going, they pull you aside and take your knife away from you because you forgot you couldn’t take a knife with you, and yes, you can’t take a knife with you everywhere you go. So, keep that in mind also to never forget it is there.

I have seen divers with dive knives mounted on their right shoulder straps or BCD inflator hoses. These are handy in an emergency. When you keep your knife on your upper body, you’re more likely to be able to reach it in an emergency and safely replace it. I also like to have a hook-type knife on my waistband.

I know a lot of people that always must have that pointy knife. I have never really been that guy that thinks he will get a knife kill, whether it is of something or someone underwater or not. Point knives do more harm than good on a boat, especially a Zodiac/ Wing or an RHIB. I have seen my share of people cut their hands, head, or boat when they are just trying to cut the zip-tie off the front of a boat. So, be careful when using your knife. I will leave talking about knives to another time as I am sure there are some great opinions about what brand is best and why all other knives suck.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to carrying a snorkel when you dive in the civilian world, and I guess in the military world also. It is to carry or not carry a snorkel. You are taught to have one to save air when you are close to the surface for whatever reason so you can use it and not the air in your tank. When I first started diving in the teams, you had to have a snorkel on us. We would get issues a cheap old school “J” type one with the big orange stickers on it you had to peel off and then you would have to cut a couple of inches off of it and keep with you in case you had to work around piers or whatever so you could save O2. Well, I never used it and stopped carrying it as soon as I could. But that doesn’t mean I would have never used it or could have; I choose not to have it.

Like everything else in the world, technology is growing faster and faster. Once a problem is fixed, companies move onto the next one. So, the issues associated with the old “J” snorkel have been fixed; that is not to say that companies still do not make them have them; they are still around. But now there are all kinds of snorkels out there. There are several different types of snorkels Classic (J type), Simi-dry, Dry, and Flexible, to name a few.  

So why carry a snorkel? A snorkel helps on the surface when you are in rough water. You can keep your head in the water and not drink as much seawater when you are just floating waiting to be extracted. It is also useful when you are in the water waiting for a helo pick up, and you are under its rotor wash, or when you are doing a K-duck or a swamp duck. It is also helpful to have when you jumped into the water, and you have to undo some of your parachute lines that might be tanged in your fins or whatever.  It makes it easier to breath on the surface without lifting your head out of the water if you have to swim to a boat or shore for some reason.

Diving in the military is different than as a civilian as you would never leave your snorkel hanging on your mask during a dive. This is why we would cut it down a little so that we could tuck it away or you would hang it off the bottom of your LAR V with heavy rubber bands. But with today’s technology, most companies have one that you can roll-up.  For SCUBAPRO, it is the Apnea Snorkel, it was launched in 2015 for Apnea divers and won the SCUBALAB’s 2015 best buy.

The SCUBAPRO Apnea Snorkel is a foldable/ rollable freediving snorkel design. Made from a soft and flexible non-toxic silicone, SCUBAPRO Apnea Snorkel easily attaches to your mask strap when being used. When not needed, it can be rolled up and stowed away in a pocket. When it’s time to do some more stuff on the surface, it pops right back into shape. The Apnea’s upper barrel can be removed if you prefer to use a shorter pipe. Without question, this is an easy-to-use and very versatile surface breather. Functional yet straightforward traditional “J” Snorkel design. No valves that can leak. It was designed specifically for spearfishing and free diving. The contoured shape of the silicone mouthpiece and the air tube has been ergonomically designed to follow the profile of the spear fisherman’s face to reduce its visibility significantly during the dive. This flexibility is also advantageous when around piers or rocks and rolling it up to store it a pocketed.