Hi Fella's, I just thought some fellow monoholics might like to know of my experience with swapping foot pockets, in case they were thinking of doing the same...
I started with a mono from Henk Greupink that was a bit small (50cm x 58 cm) but had Matmas pockets which I found very comfortable, with neoprene socks (in our cold water
I bought a Waterway mono (LD1) recently, but did not like the foot pockets even on the large size - too much pressure on my arches, maybe good for finswimmers but not for me freediving. :crutch
I figured I'd swap the pockets, because the WW blade is so beautiful to use.
I started with a blunt "stanley knife" - a standard razor knife and worked around the edges, pulling the rubber away from the blade (like you do when filleting a fish) , and keeping the razor blade on the rubber where it was coming away from the fin blade. I changed to a sharper razor blade, and it was far easier :vangry . I worked around the whole foot pocket bit by bit and it took about an hour or so for each pocket. The matmas were easier to get off.
I then got some special loctite glue (basically superglue) and re-glued the pockets on the other blades, quickly, and trying not to glue my fingers in there as well. This was easy and I had no problems.
The result is that both fins now look a little uglier :blackeye, as the glue is so strong that when you remove the pockets, you are cutting off a little bit of rubber and it remains on the blade. As the pockets have different footprints on the blade, there is some overlap. I will put some black tape, or just some black paint at some stage on these places to make a more pleasant pattern, but it has no effect on preformance and is only minor.
What I am very happy with is that the blade 'tangs' were similar and no problems ocurred, the blades still seem to peform well. I think the Waterway pockets give more direct pressure on the blade and control, but the Matmas ones I can wear comfortably with my neoporene socks in cold water, and the power transfer is quite sufficient for my freediving abilities.
Swapping to the WW blade, I am down to 4 kicks for a 25m pool using the kick & glide technique I have been practising (was 5 with the smaller blade).
I am very happy with the WW Model 1 LD mono - it's lovely :inlove to use.
So, I hope this helps - I know how boring it is hanging out on this forum until someone starts talking mono's again... zzz
I started with a mono from Henk Greupink that was a bit small (50cm x 58 cm) but had Matmas pockets which I found very comfortable, with neoprene socks (in our cold water
I bought a Waterway mono (LD1) recently, but did not like the foot pockets even on the large size - too much pressure on my arches, maybe good for finswimmers but not for me freediving. :crutch
I figured I'd swap the pockets, because the WW blade is so beautiful to use.
I started with a blunt "stanley knife" - a standard razor knife and worked around the edges, pulling the rubber away from the blade (like you do when filleting a fish) , and keeping the razor blade on the rubber where it was coming away from the fin blade. I changed to a sharper razor blade, and it was far easier :vangry . I worked around the whole foot pocket bit by bit and it took about an hour or so for each pocket. The matmas were easier to get off.
I then got some special loctite glue (basically superglue) and re-glued the pockets on the other blades, quickly, and trying not to glue my fingers in there as well. This was easy and I had no problems.
The result is that both fins now look a little uglier :blackeye, as the glue is so strong that when you remove the pockets, you are cutting off a little bit of rubber and it remains on the blade. As the pockets have different footprints on the blade, there is some overlap. I will put some black tape, or just some black paint at some stage on these places to make a more pleasant pattern, but it has no effect on preformance and is only minor.
What I am very happy with is that the blade 'tangs' were similar and no problems ocurred, the blades still seem to peform well. I think the Waterway pockets give more direct pressure on the blade and control, but the Matmas ones I can wear comfortably with my neoporene socks in cold water, and the power transfer is quite sufficient for my freediving abilities.
Swapping to the WW blade, I am down to 4 kicks for a 25m pool using the kick & glide technique I have been practising (was 5 with the smaller blade).
I am very happy with the WW Model 1 LD mono - it's lovely :inlove to use.
So, I hope this helps - I know how boring it is hanging out on this forum until someone starts talking mono's again... zzz