Air Fins

[PILOT]

I've been having a problem lately with air escaping from the footpockets of my fins (esclapez) from the hole at the toes, I am wearing 3 mil Akona booties.
Everytime I descend it sounds like someone just purged a regulator and the fish start scattering, this just started happening on the last 10 trips.
I've tried everything including poking holes in my booties....the only thing I can figure is that my footpockets have stretched and I now have alot of extra space in there...Any suggestions? Or is it time for some new fins.

-Thanks, Jack

 

[donmoore]

Jack,
Maybe you’re farting on the decent causing the gas to work its way up your wet suit to your booties? Just kidding! Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Really, I hope you find a solution. It sounds very frustrating. What the point of freediving, if you’re going to have noisy bubbles?

Maybe you need to go some experimenting. You could try taking the booties off with fin keepers (duct tape works good too) and do a few dives. You might be getting air in your suit on the surface and like my stupid farting theory; it’s working its way up into your booties when you descend.
don

 

[Erik]

I just wear a 2-ply running sock in my monofin, even in cold water. After the first couple of dives, there is no air left trapped in the suit as it's worked it's way out the botttom of the legs. Wearing neoprene socks can inevitably trap the air as it ascends.
You might also want to learn the single leg jackknife method of descent if you don't use it?
Cheeers,
Erik Y.

 

[w3ac]

Jack,

I had the same problem. I used to tuck my fin socks under my wetsuit ankle cuff and air would gurgle around the foot pocket. What worked for me was to simply put the sock on the outside of the suit. Another important thing that I have to do is purge all of the air out my suit as soon as I get in the water. To do this I submerge myself feet first, make sure my weight belt is a little loose and look up at the surface. You might have to stick a finger or two between your hood and face but it isn't necessary to flush your suit with water. The increasing water pressure forces the air bubbles up and out of my hood. This usually causes to suit (3 mm OMER Master Competition) to stick to my body. This worked for me but then again, my fins (OMER pockets) are really snug. Good luck.

Brad

 

[PILOT]

My booties are'nt connected to my wetsuit because i am not wearing one this time of the year, the water here is 85 degrees right now....they are the low profile booties that look like running socks. I am pretty sure the air is somehow getting trapped between my foot and the footpocket and not in the bootie, has anyone had this problem with the esclapez fins?

 

[donmoore]

Jack,
If your booties are working okay, except for the air, I would try filling the air gaps with marine silicon adhesive first. You should clean the inside with rubbing alcohol first so that it adheres better.

For air to be coming out on every dive, water would have to be draining out and air filling in. For me the only time my fins come out of the water is my entrance. When I am on my stomach looking down, my fins are totally submerged. If this is true for you too, then I suggest you try a dive, let the air come out and surface keeping your fins under the water. Turn over on your back and lift one fin at a time above the water and try to determine where the water is draining from.

Or you might be able to figure it out at home. You could try to mold it, by letting it dry with your feet in, this would give you the best custom fit, but to do this your going to need your booties on, so the problem is going to be how to keep the booties from adhering to the silicone as well. Some options are: let the booties adhere to the fins and pull out of the booties each time you want to take your fins off, smear something like Vaseline onto the booties so they won’t stick to the Silicone, or line it with something. If you end up with raw silicone that the bootie must slide against when entering and exiting the foot pocket, it may wear or cause the silicone to fall out eventually.

Actually molding probably isn’t practical, because silicone dries by being exposed to air which means it could take a really long time to setup with your feet in there.

Silicone is inexpensive and is easily removed, so if you attempt this, just have some fun with it. You can keep experimenting until you come up with something. I have some silicone in my fin boots right now, lined with 1mm neoprene.
Good luck,
don

 

[PILOT]

Well I went out yesterday and tried a pair of cressi garas and did'nt have the air problem.......the esclapez footpocket, although very comfortable and soft, is also alot bigger than most fins, and it is shaped almost like a triangle, with the area near the toes being the widest, I just had to much space between my toes and the sides of the foot pocket so every time I lifted a foot it just filled up.....thanks for all the advice, just need to find some time looking for a little wider blades than the garas, they just felt a little narrow.