cuting down fins

[11x]

hello, i recently purchased some gear and a pair of old fins came with the deal. my question is this. i alreade have a new pair of long fins and i was wondering if it would be ok to cut the old ones down to a shorter length? if so how long do you recomend?

 

[Cave Diver]

Most likely cutting the fins down is going to have a negative impact on their effectiveness because they weren't designed to be shorter.

To give accurate responses, we really need to know what type of fins they are.

 

[David Wilson]

Here's an image from a Korean site illustrating the process of cutting down fin blades with shears:

The fins above are Dolphins, all-rubber full-foots made by Gull of Japan, which are often used as swim training aids. Swimmers often cut down rubber swim fin blades to suit the training régime they are following. There's a web page at
Fins and Swim Workouts - Swimming with Fins - or do You Call them Flippers?
which recommends this for swimmers: "You can make your own short blade fins by cutting off all but two or three inches of the fin's blade." Remember, though, that this amount is intended for swimmers rather than divers.

So, I guess the answer to your question is: it all depends. As a material, rubber is fairly easy to cut. Plastic may well be a very different proposition. As for length, just remember you can keep chopping bits off, but you can't put the bits back if you chop off too much. I suggest that you experiment a bit, trying out your truncated fins before cutting off more.

 

[Bob Evans]

David Wilson, your amazing. Thanks for sharing this fin history. Another small cut off fin hit the swim market years ago. I always remember how inventive the Gull fin was having one to cut down and test. The best part was the cutting lines molded into the fin blades, and with paper instructions.

 

[David Wilson]

I've come across web images of a Taiwanese-made full-foot "skin diving fin", coded CDE-814, with cutting lines on the reverse side of the blade. You can just see the lines criss-crossing if you look closely at the upside-down fin in the picture below:

The fin was marketed by a Taiwanese company called PacificLink International, which included the following statement in its product description on the

Taiwan Manufacturers Directory, China Manufacturers - allproducts.com

website: There are some lines in the back of fin. For training, you can cut any angle to train muscle & power & speed. I've had a look this morning, but no longer found the fin among PacificLink's offerings. The fin remains on China Diving Enterprise Co., Ltd.'s website at
cdmax
but I haven't seen it anywhere else online. I wonder what the logo and the lettering embossed on the top of the foot pocket says.

 

[11x]

thay are u.s. divers fins and thay say blades on them.

 

[Stu S.]

Those "blades" are premium fins. A lot of divers swear by them. You may want to try them as-is before you cut. They could turn out to be your favorites.

 

[Reef Tank]

hello, i recently purchased some gear and a pair of old fins came with the deal. my question is this. i alreade have a new pair of long fins and i was wondering if it would be ok to cut the old ones down to a shorter length? if so how long do you recomend?

Can I glue my splits together?

 

[maxguru]

Several years ago, a lady who worked in my LDS cut down a pair of Blades so they'd fit in her bag. She used the hot knife we use for cutting webbing. It stunk up the joint something awful, but over ten years later, she's still diving with those fins.

Max
DSAT 198186

 

[redacted]

thay are u.s. divers fins and thay say blades on them.

I cut my blades down and split them about 10 years ago. Absolutely no regrets. Good performance and no more cramps. Pictures are in my gallery: ScubaBoard Gallery - homemade split fins

I have since shortened them another inch or so down to the solid blue rib. The cutting was done with a pair of heavy shears. I drilled a small hole at the base of the split before I cut.