Painting your Fins - Anyone Ever Try This?

[Kat]

Since everyone seems to like them, put them up for sale and buy another pair the color you want.

An excellent suggestion. Sell them on e-Bay. People will bid them up like crazy & you'll be able to buy new fins and a new mask.

 

[Luc Dupas]

Actually, just stick to your yellow stuff, your buddies will be most grateful for it, especially in low-viz (1 to 5' or less) conditions! In the past when I was diving with black JetFins I used to paint (with a regular spray paint) the bottom of my fins yellow such that my buddies could spot me and follow me much easier. And of course twice a year or so I had to paint them again. I also use white tanks for reflective stripes around them and a yellow net around the tanks for improved viz by my buddies, and I have yellow wraparound spirals araound my hoses and a yellow lamp (UK D8R) for better viz and all my buddies love this since it is so much easier to follow/spot me underwater in our typical low-viz conditions!

 

[divad]

I bet there are a few of us out there...

There is some comfort in knowing you're not the only one. It's o.k. now.

 

[Walter]

I use black Lightning Jets and I do paint them. I pain them silver. I try to do a good job and keep them looking nice. One of my buddies uses neon orange and just makes a few swirls. It doesn't look as good (of course, he doesn't look like he's wearing spats), but it accomplishes the same thing. I don't do it for underwater visibility, but so no one mistakes my fins for theirs. If my buddy needs me to have bright yellow fin so he can see me, we're too far apart. We need to get closer together, not change the color of our gear. I use Krylon Fusion and it does come off, but I expect to repaint them every 6 - 8 months, it's not a big deal. Fusion does last longer than the paint I used before Fusion became available.

 

[divad]

I try to do a good job and keep them looking nice.

LOL. Do you clean them with solvent before you paint?

 

[Walter]

Nope.

 

[divad]

Good man.

 

[Peter_C]

We dive the North Coast of California where a good day is 10 foot visability. I WISH my dive buddies had yellow fins. The Nitrox sticker on my friends tank is sometimes all I could see, not his black attire.

 

[divad]

We dive the North Coast of California where a good day is 10 foot visability. I WISH my dive buddies had yellow fins. The Nitrox sticker on my friends tank is sometimes all I could see, not his black attire.

Are you behind him?

 

[Blue Moon]

...
I guess it really doesn't matter. If I paint them, and ruin them, I'll just buy new fins....

Thanks for the help.

Jason,

I'm a big fan of black gear but the yellow ones do stand out in a crowd and might be better if you actually dive in the local mud holes in our area... Before you run off and buy new ones, Atomic just released spring straps at DEMA that appear to be very cool....

I replaced my Jets with Apollo Bio Fins with the spring straps and could not be happier with them but the new Atomics would also be worth looking at... Since you are in McKinney, ScubaToys should have both the new fins when they come out along with the Atomic masks...

I guess my point is that if you were going to get new fins, you might as well get spring straps to justify the new purchase... Enough people like Jets that you might be able to move them on E-bay, Craigslist or here...

If not, you could take those yellow fins up to 3rd Monday Trade Days in McKinney and swap for a goat, chicken, duck or other farm animal.... Keep the extra mask for a back up if it fits...

Your neighbor,

Blue Moon