Bungee strap modification

[Hatul]

I never liked the button pull on the bungee strap and the wide heel pad of the bungee strap. It's fine for use with bare hands but with thick gloves I lost two fins as the button slipped from my gloves in the surf. So I made these mods: I cut the heel pad -- this gives you room to reach under the bungee and hold the fin by the bungee. Second I made a traditional pull loop big enough to fit thick gloves. The extra bungee loop is secured with tight zip ties.


I should add that I recommend cutting a bit less of the heel pad below the bungee strap than I did, so the heel pad is less likely to flip around.

 

[buddhasummer]

Cool, you are the master of bungee mods.

 

[Bob Evans]

Nothing is cool to me, when someone starts to change a design of mine.. Bob Evans Designs Inc. or Force Fin have painstaking taken years of development on our strap designs. 20 years ago we developed the first fin bungee heel strap The button pull has worked for hundreds of thousands of Military, commerical and sport divers. Simple and easy to work with. Your large loop pictured in this modification can get hooked on some foreign object, and could lead to injury or death. I would appreciate the Scubaboard moderator to pull this post. Thank you. Bob Evans, President, Bob Evans Designs Inc.

 

[tomfcrist]

Nothing is cool to me, when someone starts to change a design of mine.. Bob Evans Designs Inc. or Force Fin have painstaking taken years of development on our strap designs. 20 years ago we developed the first fin bungee heel strap The button pull has worked for hundreds of thousands of Military, commerical and sport divers. Simple and easy to work with. Your large loop pictured in this modification can get hooked on some foreign object, and could lead to injury or death. I would appreciate the Scubaboard moderator to pull this post. Thank you. Bob Evans, President, Bob Evans Designs Inc.

Wow.... Just wow

 

[rhwestfall]

Wow.... Just wow

+1
I was trying to decide if it was humor or serious.... I know I'd never play poker with this guy.......

 

[j2s]

Wouldn't spring straps work ???!!!!

 

[tridacna]

Wouldn't spring straps work ???!!!!

Difficult. The attachment points on the fins are difficult to modify for spring straps. And mostly unnecessary Despite the OP's difficulties, I personally have no problem taking them off with gloves. My problem, (listen up Bob), is after removal;, I cannot thread them onto my hands while I ascent the ladder; The gap is too small between the fin and the strap so I have to hand them up. I prefer to hold onto them while climbing up but...

 

[Hatul]

The possibility of entanglement with an extra loop I considered and is one reason I used bungee material rather than cord. The main counterargument though is that this idea comes from traditional spring straps which all feature a small extra rubber loop, are used by technical divers and has never been considered an entanglement hazard. In fact I measured the height of my loop (the inside height dimension is 3cm) and it's exactly the same as in a standard Aeris spring strap. That's how I came up with the dimensions. Just look at a spring strap, they all have a pull loop. If divers were dying from the pull loop we would be reading about it.

The problem with the stock Force Fin strap does not show itself in boat diving, since there you put the fins on on the boat and jump in the water. It's in shore diving, where you have to float the fins in the water and quickly don them before a wave comes. What happens is you grab the button pull and try do don the fin, but the pull offers no rotational stability, so the fin can twist and you struggle to align the fin with your foot. Then a wave comes and with the lack sensation with thick California gloves the wave can easily pull the fin away from your hand.

 

[Hatul]

Difficult. The attachment points on the fins are difficult to modify for spring straps. And mostly unnecessary Despite the OP's difficulties, I personally have no problem taking them off with gloves. My problem, (listen up Bob), is after removal;, I cannot thread them onto my hands while I ascent the ladder; The gap is too small between the fin and the strap so I have to hand them up. I prefer to hold onto them while climbing up but...

Back in early 90's, when I started diving in California, Force Fins only came with the nylon strap. What we did in Stockton is drill two holes in the sides of the foot pocket and ran surgical tubing through these. This system did not even require a heel pad and worked great. It was easy to don by holding the fin by the rubber tubing and pulling it over the heel. The rubber was more elastic than the current bungee.

With the current bungee system the problem with removing the heel pad is the strap is free to pivot at the fin attachment and slip off the heel of your boot, as there is not much tension in the bungee during use.