spring fin straps

[krick]

I have a set of the EZ Springs (Pro) straps and while they are on the fins they work really well for getting the fins on and off in a hurry (while going through the surf). However, the Pro plates tend to slip off the hard plastic posts on my fins when they are not attached to my foot. So carrying them down to the beach or passing them back and forth across the boat you need to be careful with them. If I had to do it all again (and I probably will), I'd skip the Pro version and stick with something more reliable.

This is exactly the reason I went with the non-pro version of the EZ Springs. The non-pro version has standard plastic quick connect ends. There's no danger of them falling off...

I have US Divers Blades fins. The quick connect ends on the springs are actually larger and than the factory ones on my fins. So I did a little MacGyver-ing and mated the springs to the factory quick connects that came with my fins. As a result, they are a little sleeker and actually a little tighter, which I prefer.

It's hard to believe but I have size 13EEEE feet, XL fins, and I needed the Large springs. The XL springs were too loose. It felt like my feet were coming out of my fins when I kicked hard.

 

[Tod]

This is exactly the reason I went with the non-pro version of the EZ Springs. The non-pro version has standard plastic quick connect ends. There's no danger of them falling off...

I did find an easy way to solve my problem (with the Pro plates), I bought some rubber grommets from the hardware store (with a 1/2" inside diameter) and they fit over the fin's post after I put the plate onto the fin. The larger outside diameter of the same grommet keeps the larger portion of the spring plate hole from fitting over the top of the post. They fit pretty tight (when they are new). Once the grommet is in place, I ran some safety wire around the outside groove of the grommet, wound it tight, clipped off the ends, and pressed it into the groove to keep it from snagging on anything. I did that just in case the rubber got soft over time and wanted to fall off on its own. So far, it has worked throughout the whole dive trip last weekend.

If anybody is really interested, I can take a picture of what I am talking about and post it here.

 

[krick]

I did find an easy way to solve my problem (with the Pro plates), I bought some rubber grommets from the hardware store (with a 1/2" inside diameter) and they fit over the fin's post after I put the plate onto the fin. The larger outside diameter of the same grommet keeps the larger portion of the spring plate hole from fitting over the top of the post. They fit pretty tight (when they are new). Once the grommet is in place, I ran some safety wire around the outside groove of the grommet, wound it tight, clipped off the ends, and pressed it into the groove to keep it from snagging on anything. I did that just in case the rubber got soft over time and wanted to fall off on its own. So far, it has worked throughout the whole dive trip last weekend.

If anybody is really interested, I can take a picture of what I am talking about and post it here.

I assume you mean a grommet like this...

cableorganizer.com has every size you could ever want. I don't know what the hell the description is talking about on that page however.

 

[Boogie711]

Geez guys - it's scary what I'm hearing here. Using grommets? Using plastic quick connects (which let me assure you after having broken several sets, are NOT a good idea?) Here - let me solve this problem:

If anyone, at any point in time, ever has to make these sort of modifications to a pair of my spring straps just to make them work correctly, send them back to me. I don't care how long you've had them or what sort of abuse they've gone through - I'll gladly refund your money, and obviously, there needs to be some more work on R & D.

I can't believe the amount of work people are willing to go through on a piece of substandard equipment just to make it perform like it should in the first place!

 

[Tod]

I assume you mean a grommet like this...

Exactly. There is no need to mail order something like that, most any local hardware store has them for two-bits.

As for Boogie711's concerns, I appreciate your suggestions but I did not feel the "sub standard" design of that product was that much of an issue. I knew fully what I was getting before I bought them and even anticipated the need to accommodate for the "one size fits all" opted by the "Pro" plates in lieu of the plastic buckles. Quite frankly, they work without doing anything. My only comment about using the grommet was a simple low cost suggestion for improving someone else's design. I can always go back to the original rubber straps and plastic buckles if need be (I put them in my "save a dive" kit). I did even consider your spring straps but didn't think the little shackle used to go around the small posts would work on my particular set of fins. (I like that idea, by the way, do they make slightly larger ones for the bigger posts?)

As for monkying with something in the garage to see if you can make something better, heck that's half the fun!

 

[D_O_H]

I've got Boogie's spring straps on my Aqualung blades and they work flawlessly. No modification needed.

 

[Lopaka]

I've got Boogie's spring straps on my Aqualung blades and they work flawlessly. No modification needed.

Same here, though I did need to shorten them a bit, and squeeze the bejeesus out of the shackle to get a snug fit on the Blades post. Would love to add a set to my Atomic split fins too, but the post is way to small for Boogie's shackles to work.

Bob

 

[mossym]

I've got Boogie's spring straps on my Aqualung blades and they work flawlessly. No modification needed.

do yourself a favor and go with boogies straps.seriously they are one of the best things i've spent dive money on...i have other straps on my jets and they don't compare to boogies that i have on my volos

 

[Ishie]

I want to get some springs for my Mares Volos. I HATE the locks on those things, and they've caused me trouble due to not being able to get them off quickly more than once.

This last weekend, I apparently lost the locking mechanism out of the middle, though they still closed fine, but it's a good reason for me to get straps, particularly since replacing the locking mechanisms is pretty much the same price!

 

[captndale]

The E-Z straps look to be about the cheapest I have seen. Back when the only way you could get spring straps was to make them yourself, I mad 4 pair for myself. I thought that once I figured out how to do it I would make them for sale to other divers. Well, by the time I had mine made I realized that it took way too much time to make a set to make it profitable.

Putting spring straps on plactic buckles seems to me to be a bit silly. The whole idea of spring straps is to make them as failure-proof as possible. Why would you add plastic links to a steel chain?

I have seen some divers using stainless "S" links to fasten spring straps to fins with posts. They just crimp them on with a pliers. It seems to work well.