Fix fins

[chatfouz]

howdy yall, im new to this forum

i have 2 sets of fins i wanted to ask yall about. they were handed down from my parents. scuba pro jetfins and some force fins. the jetfins have a small tear on the shoe. an inch or so is torn toward the buckle. can this be fixed? should i just ignore it? i thought of mabye duct taping it, it looks like pulling the top and bottom of the shoe would tear it further, so some support from it stretching would keep it from tearing mroe. like some sealent and duct tape do it?

also the force fins, ive been reading and all the reviews i see say they dont cause cramps and are really comfortable. however the last 4 dives ive done, (slow to med flowing rivers) i get an odd cramp on the bottom of my foot, the part of the arch that hits the floor.

my dive instructer says they dont fit or my booties dont fit. but from what ive read about force fins you have to "kick" differently. is this true?

 

[meesier42]

for the Jets, if the rubber is failing, they are probably junk, luckily SP has a good warranty and you should contact them about getting replacements

for the Forcefins, The kick is not different if you compare to a swimmer w/o fins. compared to a Jet fin, then yes the kick is different. As the kick with a Jet fin is basically powered from your knee and the ForceFin is powered by your thigh.
Although your profile is not very complete from what I see, it appears you are pretty new to diving and with that, kicking with any fin is going to stress muscles that you don't often use and there is a period of strengthening that you will go through. They should fit a little loose but not so loose they hit your ankle bones, basically positioned right around your arch, and be easy to slip on and off. If you are forcing your foot into the FF foot pocket then they are too tight and you should the next size up.

There are other things that cause cramps- for example dehyrdation, low potasium, restricted blood flow. I would say that do a bunch more dives with the fins you have and see what happens.

 

[Blair Mott]

I would try to punch a hole where the tear begins, using a hole punch or a punch tool used on leather goods. This sometimes will stop the tear from progressing. As Meesier42 said be sure the FF are a good fit to begin with. With an open toe pocket and the design of the fin the stress point is different than most fins on the market. It transfers all the work to your large thigh muscles and away from your calfs and ankles so it feel s different than pushing paddles through the water and the difference is huge and is sometimes reffered to as a different kick. It is not.
A example of kicking with Force Fins for distance is located at
Dolphin Instructors
and
Jens Hilbert Movie 01
Good luck and safe diving!

 

[chatfouz]

Thank You!!

 

[chatfouz]

ill try to put up pics.

so sealing this and then duct taping the outside to remove stress on it wont cut it