• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

Cracked Glide blade... can it be fixed?

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
R

rxcnc2

Well-Known Member
Jun 3, 2005
452
28
68
Hi all, some days ago I had the bad surprise of a small crack in the
blade of my WaterWay Glide fin. The fin is only a few months old, and
I always handled it with care. On this particular occasion, I lifted it from
the thin edge with one hand, while trying to put it back in its bag, when
I heard this little noise... I wrote to Bogdan already and hopefully he
will reply, but I was wondering whether anyone has advice... In the
worst case I was thinking of applying some water-proof tape, but not
sure what it will do to the flow of water and also whether the crack could
still grow larger.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 
Sure you can fix it, that's the most common type of monofin patching.

First you need to drill a hole in the end of the crack, or in fact a little bit over it to prevent it from cracking further.

Then you can either laminate it with some fiberclass & resin (the tightly woven kind you find in hobby stores etc - not the kind you use in boats). Or easier just glue a small patch of thin fiberglass on it (such as a cut out from the thin end of a deceased monofin). Or even just "laminate" it by putting on a drop of epoxy and sanding it even.

My monofin is patched by the "glue a patch of old monofin on top" and that has held for a couple of years now. And I've made all my pb's to date with that patch on so even if it may affect the properties of the fin a little it obviously is not disastrous.

Not the prettiest patch, but it works (I also had a properly laminated one earlier, but that cracked again after a couple of months)
 

Attachments

  • crack.jpg
    103 KB · Views: 158
Last edited:
Reactions: Pastor
Hi, Mr Jome answer you perfect, however I would like to share mi experiencie with big crake.

I got a crake with about 20 cms and no time to change the monofon. Was too big to be fixed with fiberglass patch so was repaired with rubber patches, glued with cyanocrilate.

In order to mantain simetry another patch in the other side was glued. Finally were installed two in both sides, about 25 cm x 8 cm, too big.

I ran this long distance race very well and use the mono for train too many time after this race.

Obviusly it's a handycap but you can have still a good monofin, don't worry.

Bye, I hope help you
 
Thanks for your comments...
The crack in my mono is really only 3cm long, and perhaps I should
try with the "glue/sanding" first...
I think the mono still has its characteristics, it's only a matter of avoiding
the crack to become larger.
I was actually thinking of a simple patch of strong water-resistant
tape (the same I use for my neckweight), what would you think of that?
 
Maybe, but you'll definitely want to drill that hole to stop the crack
 
yep drill the hole and then glue and sand thats what i did with mine and you can barely see it let alone feel it or notice any real difference in performance.

would take a photo but mono is 1000km away doh! stupid sales trips....

DD
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…