Fins/boots come off over time

[Nick Stephens]

Hi,
My wife has a problem with her drysuit. It is a membrane with welly type boots. The boots fit correctly e.g. the heel goes to the end ok. The length of the legs are the length that when she puts her leg up there is no excess material. She also has mares quottros.
She finds that when she dives the straps of the fins work their way down, and pull the heel of the boot down and eventually the strap will come off over the heel.
She has tried ankle weights and gaiters to throttle all the excess material around the ankle. What else can she try?
Is the problem because they are welly boots and because they are so loose around the ankle this happens? Although we have throttled this with gaiters etc.
Any ideas?
Help.
Thanks,
Nick..

 

[SubMariner]

Hi,
My wife has a problem with her drysuit. It is a membrane with welly type boots. The boots fit correctly e.g. the heel goes to the end ok. The length of the legs are the length that when she puts her leg up there is no excess material. She also has mares quottros.
She finds that when she dives the straps of the fins work their way down, and pull the heel of the boot down and eventually the strap will come off over the heel.
She has tried ankle weights and gaiters to throttle all the excess material around the ankle. What else can she try?
Is the problem because they are welly boots and because they are so loose around the ankle this happens? Although we have throttled this with gaiters etc.
Any ideas?
Help.
Thanks,
Nick..

I know this is probably going to sound daft, but how tight is she tightening the straps on her fins? If she can't cinch them tight enough for them to stay on, then maybe the fin pocket is actually too big for the boots on her drysuit. IOW, she may need smaller fins.

Just a thought (yeah, I do have 'em occasionally ).

 

[Nick Stephens]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. She does do them up tight unfotunately. I have no more ideas.
The boot also seems to fit snuggly in the fin.

I know this is probably going to sound daft, but how tight is she tightening the straps on her fins? If she can't cinch them tight enough for them to stay on, then maybe the fin pocket is actually too big for the boots on her drysuit. IOW, she may need smaller fins.

Just a thought (yeah, I do have 'em occasionally ).

 

[SubMariner]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. She does do them up tight unfotunately. I have no more ideas.
The boot also seems to fit snuggly in the fin.

Ok.. next question: WHERE does she have the fins straps? On my built-in drysuit boots I found that I needed to wear them a little higher up: just ABOVE the heel on the Achilles tendon) because they DO have a tendency to slip down even though there was a small "tab"at the back of the heel of the boot that I assume was supposed to keep the straps in place (but rarely did).

Hmm... did the above make any sense? :lol2:

 

[StevenB]

Do you know what fin keepers are? They are rubber straps that fit over your boot to snug it up and keeps it from slipping. Then the fins fit over that and are much more secure. I don't use them, but some people swear by them especially if your boot is a bit large. They're a cheap fix. See if they have them in your LDS and give it a go.

Steve B

 

[Nick Stephens]

That's a good point. She does try to wear them higher, but find ankle weights get in the way. Maybe it would be better to put the fins on before the ankle weights.
I think when you get ready for a dive, its all rush and maybe if a little more time was allowed for things like this, then the whole dive would then go a lot better.

Ok.. next question: WHERE does she have the fins straps? On my built-in drysuit boots I found that I needed to wear them a little higher up: just ABOVE the heel on the Achilles tendon) because they DO have a tendency to slip down even though there was a small "tab"at the back of the heel of the boot that I assume was supposed to keep the straps in place (but rarely did).

Hmm... did the above make any sense? :lol2:

 

[SubMariner]

That's a good point. She does try to wear them higher, but find ankle weights get in the way. Maybe it would be better to put the fins on before the ankle weights.
I think when you get ready for a dive, its all rush and maybe if a little more time was allowed for things like this, then the whole dive would then go a lot better.

What type of ankle wts are they? Can they be adjusted so that they are well above the fin straps (like the bottom part of the calf)? This should do the same job as having them on the ankles proper, but keep them out of the way of the fins.

Yes, a little more time for prep and experimentation goes a long way to finding a solution.

 

[Nick Stephens]

Yes the ankle weights can be adjusted like this. She tried wearing them in this position and it was better keeping them out the way of the straps, but felt that the boots were being pushed down, even though the weights were tight. We think thatr maybe the whole problem is due to the legs of the suite being too long.