Soviet fins 2

[Captain Swoop]

Well I'll be darned. I actually had a pair of those blue fins (or something very similar at least) that I used for years in the pool for giving lessons because they were small and didn't get in the way when the pool was busy. I retired them only a couple of years ago because they fell apart. I had no idea where they came from, I bought them 2nd hand online on a whim.

R..

Bargain, they are usually a whim and a half.

 

[Captain Swoop]

I like the laces idea.

 

[АлександрД]

Tri Pukli
View attachment 390234
View attachment 390235
"Tri Pukli" (ТРИ ПУКЛИ) is Russian for "three rivets" and you can see how they earned this nickname in the second picture above, showing how one end of the heelstrap was fastened to a buckle on one side while the other end was permanently fixed to the fin with three rivets. Once again, shoelaces were used to improve fit when the fins were worn over a drysuit. These fins were originally developed for military purposes and were manufactured at a rubber plant in Yaroslavl, north east of Moscow.

Here is one description of the fins from a Soviet diving book: "Popularly known as ‘ТРИ ПУКЛИ’ (three rivets), the fins are intended for scuba diving. They are made of dark green flexible rubber with two lateral ribs for reinforcement. The fins are trapezoid in shape. The foot pockets are wedge-shaped. The fin has lacing on the top. The heel strap is adjustable, fixed to the base of the fin on one side and attached with a buckle to the other. In later years, the heel strap has a reinforcement in steel with three rivets. The fins come in three sizes."

In my next Soviet Fins thread, I'll move on to five fin models made during the 1960s and 1970s in the "second city" of the USSR, Leningrad, now known as St Petersburg.

I have two pairs of this fins.
Despite on size, it works really fine underwater!

Dou you know rumors about its shape and size? What is major idea of it?
This fins was made not for swimming, but to RUN ON THE SURFACE! (and jump with parachute)
It is really possible to run on the ground with it.
And is also not too bad for swimming. Not so powerfull as long fins, but very good.
It was very nice for me as for frog kick as for back kick. Even more comfort and easy, than Avanti Quatro or Slipstream (but not so powerfull).

 

[David Wilson]

That's amazing information about the ТРИ ПУКЛИ fins. АлександрД. It gives real substance to the military expression "hit the ground running", which is often applied to parachutists who carry out their orders just as soon as they arrive on terra firma (or the surface of the water!)

David