modifications to turbo soles

[5.4 crimper]

I am in the process of adding to my turbo soles. Two pairs of socks and fin keepers help with air in the feet but the fins still aren't stable enough for me ( slipping down). Has anyone came up with some good ideas for this? I have experimented around a bit and think I have come up with a good idea that should stabilize the heel and give the fin something to stick to. It will also keep air to a min too. I don't dislike rock boots I just have turbos so I am just trying to make them better. Would be great to come up with something that is not as bulky as the rock boots!

 

[ron_cooper]

I use turtle fins with the open heel, and added spring straps. This way they are always being pulled back onto the foot.

 

[TSandM]

I'm going to watch this one with curiosity. I put Turbosoles on my suit last fall, and overall, I like them, but no matter what kind of spring straps I use (round or with the broad rubber pads) and how small they are, they seem to slide down my heel and have to be tugged up repeatedly during a dive -- and it's worse if I'm finning hard against current or flow. And unlike my wetsuit booties, I can't just sew some stops onto the neoprene. I'd love to hear how others have solved this issue.

 

[Marcin2005]

I found that the neoprene sock of of the turbosoles is larger than what my buddy has on his BARE suit. The solution to that was to get DUI's 400g booties. They fit perfectly into the sock.

Now as far as the spring straps falling off, a couple of the fellows that I know ended up gluing a piece of inner tube on to the heels which apparently solved the problem for them. I'll most likely end up doing the same thing this season.

 

[Camerone]

Me, too, Lynne. Last time I was in Florida, the last thing I needed to be doing on my way in to Ginnie was trying to pull the fins back on the turbosoles, but that's exactly what I was up to. Annoying as all can be. When these wear out, I'm having Diving Concepts boots put on my suit, which have a suitable toe cup and heel piece on them and hold fins nicely.

I'm thinking that I may try to glue on a rubber "cup" piece from the back of an old pair of sneakers or wetsuit bootie to the back edge of the turbo soles...although a spare piece of innertube might be worth trying.

I've got to do some drysuit repairs tonight on another one of my suits, so I'll have the cement out anyway. I've got a 225' dive planned for Sunday morning, so we'll see how well the idea works out, and I'll report back

 

[TSandM]

If it works out, Camerone, let me know what you used for glue.

 

[Camerone]

I ended up using some strips of rubber bonded to the heel (mostly, 'cause that's what I had lying around, scavenged from a stage bottle hose retaining band that had seen better days.) It worked very well; the rubber of the spare innertube bits on the heel was pretty good against the rubber hose that I use on the spring straps. I may still try to run by Value Village or something this week and see if there's a cheap pair of shoes to cannibalize, though this was quite good.

The adhesive didn't fare so well. I used seal cement, since that's what I was using for the other stuff yesterday (putting a pocket on one of the other drysuits I have...) Four coats to soak into the neoprene still left the edges peeling away. I was going to try running some seam tape around the edges to keep them from lifting, but I think I'll move to Shoe Goo, or one of the similar, tougher adhesives, first. The seal cement might be fine for pockets and wrist/neck seals, but it can't hold up to the abuse of the spring straps.

Still - a worthwhile experiment. Way better than the stock turbosoles, but it'd be much nicer if DUI returned to the old-school boots they had years ago. One piece, on the suit, with suitable heels/toes. My two Andy's suits and my Diving Concepts suit both have excellent boots (particularly the DC), but I like my DUI suit more...

 

[5.4 crimper]

Dove last week with a good idea and it worked very well. I used a motorcycle innertube. From the side view, I cut the tube on an angle, from the top of the foot or were the shin meets your foot down to the back of the heel and forward a bit so the entire ankle and heel were covered. The upper part was the full innertube. I used fin keepers to hold the heel in place. In the future, I will cut this pattern and use velcro to fasten around the ankle instead of having to pull the tube on. The bottom of the "ankle gaiter" as such, can be glued to the side of the turbo sole and the velcro can be fastened across the front of the foot. I will post pictures when I'm done. I hope this is sudo clear. Anyhow I think this is a great fix and actually very simple.

 

[TSandM]

Well, I tried something very easy. Since I use finkeepers anyway, I rolled up some Gorilla tape into a tube, and then taped it onto the portion of the finkeeper that went around my heel. This has clearly reduced the tendency of the round spring to slide off, although it still feels insecure. Next try is smaller springs, although I hate to do that, because sometimes I use my husband's suit when mine is kaput, and I have to wear wetsuit booties over his socks which may not work well with the smaller springs . . .

 

[Hank658]

........

Still - a worthwhile experiment. Way better than the stock turbosoles, but it'd be much nicer if DUI returned to the old-school boots they had years ago. One piece, on the suit, with suitable heels/toes. My two Andy's suits and my Diving Concepts suit both have excellent boots (particularly the DC), but I like my DUI suit more...

Camerone- I sent my CF 200 to DC and they installed their boots onto the suit. Much better fit and now I like my DUI a whole lot better..