I have very long, very narrow feet, and I can't find fins that fit!

[NurseNomad]

I'm a pretty new diver. I certified last year in landlocked Ohio after getting hooked via a few wonderful Discover Scubas while on vacations. In the tropics I squeeze into rental full foot fins with biggish toe openings that I stick my extra long toes through and ignore the discomfort of skin chafing along the ridge of the toe opening. (Now I use fin socks which protect my skin better). It's still uncomfortable, but I can make it work for the newbie diving I do.

However, back home, Ohio's mainly quarry diving, which is coldish, so we were required by our instructor in our cert class to buy booties and open heel fins. This is where the problems began. Like I said, I have very long feet (size 12 US women's, equivalent to 10.5 US men's) however my arch and heel are very thin/narrow. I've got super long toes, so my feet themselves are slightly flipper shaped, making my toe box either wider than typical or maybe just normal for length. The 5mm Bare booties I bought work ok, but I get a lot of water sloshing around the middle of my foot, above and below the arch, while my toes are a bit squeezed. Fins, however, have been so far hopeless. Open heel fins snug enough to hug my foot left the entire back half of my foot sticking out. Open heel fins long enough to support my foot were so wide that they immediately fell off upon water entry. The dive shops here were basically stumped. Since I had no choice but to wear a pair for my certification dives, I would get in the water, they'd fall off, I'd put em back on and pull the straps so tight that my toes would curl under, and endured the agony until the damn dives were finished.

Damn feet have been a bit of a problem sizing since I finished adolescence, but hey I can always buy sneakers and cinch the laces super tight. Fins are turning out to be more of a problem, even bigger than body shape and wetsuits (my struggles with long legs and extra extra long monkey arms combined with a small rib cage have been making full wetsuit sizing hell, but that's a story for another day. A super expensive Bare wetsuit in tall sizing solved the leg and torso problems but squeezing my arms in is still beyond awful.)

My husband, without strange feet, has open-heel fins he likes fine. We'd like to do a lot more diving on our travels, and I would love to have a pair that actually fits me well. I could live with full foot fins, but open would be a little bit better if at all possible so if we want to dive somewhere colder we could. Size/weight suitable for air travel would be icing on the cake, but at this point I'd take 3 foot long 15 pounders if they would actually FIT. Well, no, not exactly true. The longer the fins the more I stress about where the end of my fin is and what it is doing, I always worry that I'm going to look behind me and I find that my fin tips are doing unspeakable things to the reef. So, shorter would be better. I'm a pretty strong swimmer anyway, and never bother with fins for snorkeling.

So, any suggestions for scuba fins that I can basically lace tightly like sneakers, or which are designed for long narrow feet with wide toe box, and ideally shortish in fin length?

 

[kelemvor]

Go back to full foot fins after class is over?

 

[dmaziuk]

I'm not nearly that bad, but... If you have the cash, take a look at force fins. One problem with those (other than the price tag) is their smallest size might still be too big for your arches.

Otherwise try ortho inserts in the booties (I've merrels in mine) and/or mares fin inserts. My feet stick half way out of the one size smaller Oceanic Accels and there's still room around the sides, but it works well enough and I like the fins: short, light, fit in the carry-on, and with just the right amount of stiffness for me.

Also these: Amazon.com: New Balance Men's Abyss II 6-Inch Tactical Boot: Shoes -- who said booties have to be neoprene. Pinnacle sells v-skin merino socks for colder water, too.

Good luck.

PS. remember, you need it to sit firmly on the arch and not squeeze/chop off your toes. Heel sticking out is not an issue as long as you get decent power transfer from the arch to the fin and are comfortable in 'em.

 

[NurseNomad]

Thanks for all the suggestions! You're right, I never thought outside the "scuba gear" box for working scuba gear. Googling mares fin inserts led me down this fascinating internet rabbit hole where I discovered the existence of underwater hockey. The world is a weird, wonderful place.

Any idea where I can try on force fins? The money would be a definite, stretching-it, splurge. But if they would actually fit and feel great and last forever, I'd consider them. But yeah, looking at the picture I worry the pocket would still be a problem. I went to the website and couldn't find any store locations. Is it online only?

 

[dmaziuk]

Any idea where I can try on force fins? The money would be a definite, stretching-it, splurge. But if they would actually fit and feel great and last forever, I'd consider them. But yeah, looking at the picture I worry the pocket would still be a problem. I went to the website and couldn't find any store locations. Is it online only?

Force Fins are online only and I think I heard that their maker will take them back if they don't fit -- but ICBW. He has a forum in the manufacturers section on scubaboard, you could ask there.

I'm not too fond of the shape of his original fin, and the flat blade versions are either not made ("hockey") or cost more than I'd care to spend on a pair of fins. But his foot "pocket" is certainly attractive for those of us with hobbit feet.

 

[meesier42]

I would expect that a XL will fit fine with a 10-11 (mens) bootie, although a very skinny foot might take a L. ForceFins fit has nothing to do with length/size and is more about girth around the midfoot area. Please put your bootie on, and measure the circumference around the arch, first just behind the ball of your foot and again at the front crease of your ankle. I'll gladly compare to the fins in the closet and check fit.

 

[toris1968]

I agree that force fins may be your best bet. Beauty of force fins is that you can get comfort inserts to fit inside them that make for a much more customized fit. Length of foot matters not in a force fin. They are great. I currently am diving a set for Force Fin Excellerating Fins made of the Tan Delta material and they are by far the best fins I've ever had.

 

[toris1968]

You can find plenty of good deals on Force Fins on EBay

 

[Diver0001]

I recently had a student who had size 48 feet (US size 15). He was 16 and not yet fully grown

His feet were like yours. Long and thin. We got him into a size 45 flipper for the confined part of the course but they were much wider than he needed. Just the relatively "small" size of them kept them on his feet.

The only alternative I saw to that was to fit him with boots and open heel fins. With feet like his the shoes would have been large but they would have fit into a regular sized Mares Avantii fin which could then be cinched down to keep them on his feet. If that didn't work we had some older Aqualung fins with exceptionally deep foot pockets that might have done the job.

In other words, I think your solution of using boots and open heel fins is probably the most logical way to go.

R..

 

[NurseNomad]

Meesier42, thanks man!

Barefoot, my feet measure 21cm around just behind the ball-of-foot, and 24cm just in front of the ankle.

In my booties (which don't fit very well, TBH), they measure 25.5cm and 29cm, respectively.

Toris1968, yeah I'm eyeing those comfort inserts. Are they secure once placed? Won't pop off while swimming and disappear into the deep blue?

Diver0001, I understand your student's frustration! The problem I'm having is that most open heel fins only seem to be able to be adjusted at the BACK of the heel, rather than across the top of the foot or around the diameter of the foot. So when I pull em tight enough to at least not fall off, my toes are shoved in so far they are literally curled up, which let me tell you is agony when finning after a minute or two. That's despite wearing 5mm booties with a thick rubber sole. Talk about foot cramps. At least with the full footer's I can get a smaller size then just stick my toes out the front hole. If you know of any brands you can pull tight AROUND rather than BEHIND, let me know? That'd probably be perfect.