Question Questions about Drysuit fins and air in feet

[Zachb13]

Last weekend I had my drysuit cert. class and it went really well. I had a great instructor that taught me things that would've taken me hundreds of dives to figure out on my own. My biggest takeaway was I will for sure be needing some different fins. I am currently diving a Whites Fusion with the removable boot system it comes with. The boot is snug fitting outside of the water but I found it very easy for the air to go to my feet as my current fins (Oceanic Manta Rays) are light and kept wanting to go up. I am wanting to try out the heavier jet style fins to see if this makes it more comfortable. What does everyone recommend? I am debating between the Apeks RK3 HD or the Scubapro jets. Also, my current fins are very tight as the drysuit boots take up a lot of room. Could the tightness of the fin cause the air to make its way to the feet? Has heavier fins helped this for anyone else? I know I will for sure get more comfortable and better manage the air with more dive time but would like to hear what everyone else has encountered when getting started in a drysuit.

 

[-JD-]

Are you using the Fusion "moon boots" There are laced versions that would probably be a bit better at controlling air in the feet.

I have the Aqualung Fusion Tech and Bullet and dive them with 8" jungle combat or Altama Maritime Assault-High boots. They do need to be snugged down well before the dive to keep air ballooning reasonable. They tend to stretch when wet.

Diving with Deep 6 Eddys (neutral) my feet were a bit floaty I'm going to try to target my next fins to about -0.5lb per fin and see where that gets me. Of course all that depends on undergarments/socks as well ...

 

[Zachb13]

Are you using the Fusion "moon boots" There are laced versions that would probably be a bit better at controlling air in the feet.

I have the Aqualung Fusion Tech and Bullet and dive them with 8" jungle combat or Altama Maritime Assault-High boots. They do need to be snugged down well before the dive to keep air ballooning reasonable. They tend to stretch when wet.

Diving with Deep 6 Eddys (neutral) my feet were a bit floaty I'm going to try to target my next fins to about -0.5lb per fin and see where that gets me. Of course all that depends on undergarments/socks as well ...

These are the boots that came with my suit. They are very snug outside of the water and still fairly snug in the water. It’s pretty big around the ankles though. I’m considering just getting some good snug 5mm wetsuit boots. With your boots, what size fin are you using? With the current boots on my suit my large sized fin is very snug.

 

[Zef]

These are the boots that came with my suit. They are very snug outside of the water and still fairly snug in the water. It’s pretty big around the ankles though. I’m considering just getting some good snug 5mm wetsuit boots. With your boots, what size fin are you using? With the current boots on my suit my large sized fin is very snug.

Those are the 2nd generation fusion boots and they kind of suck. They were not well received and were discontinued as fast as they hit the market. The previous generation of fusion boots, while did not have much ankle support, attached well to the Fusion (bullet) suit, were low profile so often one did not need to replace their fins between diving a wetsuit and diving their drysuit, and they had a strap that crossed the instep/ankle that helped keep air in the feet/socks to a minimum. Unfortunately those too were discontinued and while some sizes can be found online, common sizes are hard to come by.

-Z

 

[sea_ledford]

You might want to try some gaiters as well. Diverite makes some pretty good ones. Just know that the fabric part goes on the BACK of your calves, and they clip in front... unlike the picture on Diverites web site.

 

[Zachb13]

Those are the 2nd generation fusion boots and they kind of suck. They were not well received and were discontinued as fast as they hit the market. The previous generation of fusion boots, while did not have much ankle support, attached well to the Fusion (bullet) suit, were low profile so often one did not need to replace their fins between diving a wetsuit and diving their drysuit, and they had a strap that crossed the instep/ankle that helped keep air in the feet/socks to a minimum. Unfortunately those too were discontinued and while some sizes can be found online, common sizes are hard to come by.

-Z

Would you recommend using wetsuit booties? Or are rock boots the best route?

 

[Zef]

Would you recommend using wetsuit booties? Or are rock boots the best route?

Wetsuit booties will work fine with the fusion suit, though you may need to go a half to one size larger for the sock feet to fit.

Avoid beach entries, or take care to avoid getting sand in your booties as the grains will wear on the suit's sock material....but this will be the case with rock boots too.

If you want/need more ankle support then rock boots would be the way to go, but then you have the hassle of needing to try them on to ensure proper fit and you will most likely need to move to a fin with a larger foot pocket to accomodate the boots.

-Z

 

[grantmac]

Gaiters, fin keepers and ultimately heavier fins such as Jets are all viable options.

 

[Zef]

Here is a website that seems to have all sizes of the original fusion boots in-stock:

Drysuit Boots | Scuba Center | DUI RockBoots | Aqua Lung EVO 3 Boots

Aqua Lung Drysuit Boots | DUI RockBoots | Scuba Center - Eagan and Minneapolis, Minnesota

www.scubacenter.com

The price ($135US) is a bit spendy but that is what the regular retail price was/is for these boots:

The boots have a velcro inside that the velcro on the sock feet line up with and their is velcro on the rim of cuff....there is also a plastic piece that goes inside the sock/feet of the suit to help "lock" the boot and suit together.

I installed the boots on my suit and use one of those hangers that the ankles slide into to hand the suit upside down to dry.

Because the velcro inside the boots is the "hook" side, I put a strip of loop side velcro over the areas that the socks/feet didn't line up with to prevent unnecessary wear and tear of the fabric.

The boots stay attached so well that I have only pulled them off a couple of times since owning my suit (2018).

Just note that the Fusion boots don't offer much in the way of ankle support at all. I put insoles from my hiking boots in the socks above the flat plastic piece and that made them more comfortable from an arch support perspective but did not add ankle support.

If you need ankle support then the Evo 4 boots on the same website are a good recommendation.

-Z

 

[-JD-]

I size up by 1-1.5 to account for the suit socks and my thermal sock layers.

Wet suit booties and my Altama Maritime Mids allowed the suit-socks to billow out between the top of the boot and the bottom of the skin. That would have required gaiters.

I moved the these:

Drilled a few holes ....


Then the Altama Maritime High/8" boots when they came out.

Except for my ScubaPro Seawing SuperNova fins (which fortuitously work [just] for wetsuit booties to Drysuit boots for me) I need to upsize 1-2 fin sizes for drysuit use. YMMV - you HAVE to try them ...