How are diving booties made?

[mysteriousmonkey29]

You know, it would be great if anyone actually has information to provide on the question I asked, rather than just shooting down my premise.

I've done my research. Stingrays can sting you above the ankle, but they rarely do (at least not the ones where I live; they are very small). Getting stung in the chest is incredibly rare, and only happened to Steve Irwin cause he was diving in deep water with very large stingrays. That was a one in a million type incident. Getting stung in the foot/ankle occurs daily at the beaches here.

As for boots, of course I don't think they are terrible in the water, or they wouldn't be sold. But I bought some thick diving booties that weren't that flexible, like the ones that you linked. They were my size, and relatively tight-fitting, but they don't fit form-fit your foot, and as a result, dragged in the water.

If anyone has any resources pertaining to the construction of diving/surfing booties, I would love to hear it.

Thanks

 

[chillyinCanada]

You know, it would be great if anyone actually has information to provide on the question I asked, rather than just shooting down my premise.

I've done my research. Stingrays can sting you above the ankle, but they rarely do (at least not the ones where I live; they are very small). Getting stung in the chest is incredibly rare, and only happened to Steve Irwin cause he was diving in deep water with very large stingrays. That was a one in a million type incident. Getting stung in the foot/ankle occurs daily at the beaches here.

As for boots, of course I don't think they are terrible in the water, or they wouldn't be sold. But I bought some thick diving booties that weren't that flexible, like the ones that you linked. They were my size, and relatively tight-fitting, but they don't fit form-fit your foot, and as a result, dragged in the water.

If anyone has any resources pertaining to the construction of diving/surfing booties, I would love to hear it.

Thanks

Have you looked at Rock Boots?

 

[mysteriousmonkey29]

These? New Rock Official Site. New Rock Boots and Shoes Shop - Newrock.com

 

[chillyinCanada]

No, , not those

Start here:

Rock boots or not

 

[rjack321]

Boots are all basically made the same way regardless of the material. Neoprene isnt any different than leather. There are tons of youtube videos of boots being made. Like here
The pieces are cut from flat stock
the uppers are stitched into a single flat piece
the boot is shaped over a form
the bottom stitch is done
the sole is stitched and/or glued on.

 

[kelemvor]

I was thinking along the same lines as rjack321. Combine some of the info you got from the wetsuit videos with info from shoe manufacture videos. Here's another one:

 

[divad]

I thought booties were made by elves...........who knew?

 

[OTF]

The above advice to construct them similar to normal boots is good. You'll have to design or reverse-engineer a pattern. Maybe something like a high top Converse shoe template would work. Use the same stitching techniques used on wetsuit neoprene. A sewing awl might be useful here, great tool to have around. Use a glue like Aquaseal or neoprene cement to seal the stitches and glue the sole on. You could use a commercially made sole (maybe taken from an old pair of shoes), cast the sole one yourself (tougher but cool project), or make it out of something recycled like tire material.

Sorry you had so many hostile answers and people telling you to just buy it, this is the DIY forum after all and sometimes projects are worth DIYing even if it's a weird idea or there are commercial alternatives.

 

[greeniguana]

Are you looking for something to wear while walking around? They make stingray guards akin to snake chaps.

Sting Ray Guardz™ | Snake Bite Protection Tulsa | Personal Protection Equipment

No affiliation, I have used these on large seagrass transplanting jobs where we had crews wading around in stingray habitat for days and days. They aren't comfortable, but better than getting spined...... Swimming around in them probably isn't feasible, but never tried.

 

[tursiops]

I'd go to a thrift store and buy an old pair of high-top "converse" sneakers, tear them apart, and start with that as a pattern. Just make them higher to get a bit more protection. You might even be able to use the soles from the sneakers for your project. Use good thread and lots of glue. Lacing them is easier than putting in a zipper and they fit better. Be sure and put in lots of SS grommet drain holes.

P.S. Neoprene will NOT stop a Stingray barb. You may need to rethink getting protection AND light weight....