Rock boots or not

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Mosseltje

Registered
Messages
19
Reaction score
4
Location
The Netherlands
# of dives
200 - 499
Just two seasons in with my Waterproof D7 dry suit and already having a leaky boot.

The OEM attached boots are kevlar reinforced but seemingly no match for a heavy weight diver.
Naked weight 130kg. (Not all muscle but I am pretty tall) All geared up atleast 30kgs extra.

The diving I do normally includes 500 meter walks and oysterbank water entries.

I like my OEM boots. They are roomy enough for thick socks which is needed for the very cold water diving during the winters. And they are a perfect fit with my Mares Power plana fins.

Rock boots probably will last longer but I do not have any experience with them.

Two questions I hope to find answers for:
- Can I still use my Mares power plana fins with Rock boots?
- Will they keep my feet warm?
 
You might have to step up a fin size, but it will depend on the size of your boots now, in relation to the size of your rock boots.

Rock boots don't provide insulation. They're canvas, and have thick rubber soles. They're very basic.

Lots of people use Converse All Stars if they don't like rock boots, but they are narrow. Personally, I like the Altama Maritime Assault Mid's. They're designed for combat swimmers going over the beach, so they provide more ankle support that either rock boots or converse, they drain quickly, they are comfortable, and they have better soles than the rock boots.
 
I went the other way. Found the rock boot a pain to deal with. But personal preference.
Fins were not interchangeable. All the extra bulk of the rock boots required a larger fin pocket. Going to attached boots the rock boot fins flopped around too much, had to get a smaller fin.

It will depend on where you fit in the existing size range of your fins. If they are almost too large now, they might work when you bulk up with rock boots. If you have big feet it can get difficult to fin large enough fins. My size 9s once in socks, the drysuit socks, and then in rock boots took an XXL fin.
 
Just two seasons in with my Waterproof D7 dry suit and already having a leaky boot.

The OEM attached boots are kevlar reinforced but seemingly no match for a heavy weight diver.
Naked weight 130kg. (Not all muscle but I am pretty tall) All geared up atleast 30kgs extra.

The diving I do normally includes 500 meter walks and oysterbank water entries.

I like my OEM boots. They are roomy enough for thick socks which is needed for the very cold water diving during the winters. And they are a perfect fit with my Mares Power plana fins.

Rock boots probably will last longer but I do not have any experience with them.

Two questions I hope to find answers for:
- Can I still use my Mares power plana fins with Rock boots?
- Will they keep my feet warm?
One of the advantages of having socks on your drysuit (vs. boots) is that when your suit floods (notice when, not if :cool:), it's trivial to pull everything inside-out and wipe it dry.

I have a pair of these: https://jet.com/product/Typhoon-Dry...52b96cbf84c8ca1ebee03b42ddff5&origination=PLP

Old-school canvas sneakers have a following, these have synthetic uppers that won't rot out
 
I moved from attached boots to rock boots. Never got used to the floppy feeling my attached boots gave me. With the rock boots I can tighten up the laces really good. I use two kinds of boots btw: real rock boots and watershoes. The latter I use with my scubapro jetfins. I use rock boot swith my Hollis F1 fins because they have a wider pocket. Watershoes are perfect for easy entry.
 
Old school canvas sneakers in near freezing water? I pass....

Yesterday I checked out the socks on a drysuits and those look very uncomfortable.
Floppy bags you have to stow into a rock boot. I tried several rock boots in the shop but not to happy with them.

But Luckily they had an option C aswell. :yeahbaby:

I did not know I could chose between different styles of fixed boots.
So I settled for a fixed boot with a more robust sole and still able to fit my Mares power plana fins.
 
These are the ones I talked about above. Much better than rock boots. Super comfy, 6 hour rebreather dives are no problem, toasty warm. Neoprene boots are warmer than attached boots. Attached boots suck for several reasons.

Altama Maritime Assault - Mid
 
My main issue when I used rock boots during winter was to find the balance between lacing them tight enough to avoid them slipping off while at the same time avoiding cutting off circulation and freezing my feet off.

My current DS is a Waterproof D7, and I strongly prefer the current roomy softboots over neoprene socks and rock boots. Except for when I'm hanging the suit up for drying, since it's so much easier to turn neoprene socks inside out.
 

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