mares bungee fin straps

[rwe]

I purchased a pair of Mares Avanti Quattro Plus fins with the bungee straps about 2 years ago. Love the fins! They have about 60 dives on them and have been rinsed with fresh water and stored indoors between dive trips. A few days ago when I was putting on the fins for a dive off West Palm Beach, FL one of the bungees broke. There are no cracks or other obvious degradation of the rubber except for the brake. The bungee broke at the location where it goes through one of the heel loop holes. You could see that the bungee was constricted (smaller in diameter) at this location. Have others had this bungee brake problem or did I just get a defective bungee? Thanks,

 

[divin'dog]

Now that you've said that, I had to check my own pair. I can see how the bungee going into the smaller diameter plastic coupling could eventually wear and cut it. So far with mine, no problem. And I've had mine for 3-4 yrs, many dives. One thing I might do is try to pull the bungee out and see if I can break the edge of the area where the cord goes into it... It is a pretty tight fit though. Not sure if I could get the bungee back through the hole once I've pulled it out.

Talk to Mares and see if they will fix it...

 

[Alastor]

I think that rubber bungee have limited life. I personally had no problem till now, but I know divers who change them every couple of years - probably depend on salt and UV.
Anyway, your failure is weird, being so neat - maybe the bungee did suffer from some mechanical constriction.
Because the mares attachment is very common, you could also buy a SS spring, to be sure they will last decades.
@divin'dog I think that would be near impossible put again the bungee through the hole. Note that the last piece of plastic keeping the bungee can be unscrewed to insert a small extension - it is very ease to unscrew and put back again.

 

[rwe]

When I now look at the broken bungee 2.5 days later, there is no longer a constriction. Evidently, after being relieved from the tight hole for a while the rubber rebounded to its original size so the constriction itself may not be the problem. Note that the bungee is constricted even greater where it goes through the screw fitting and that is not where it broke.

 

[divin'dog]

Does it look like it might have been cut on something? Small clean cut followed by a tear?

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

Make your own, pull the bungee tightly around the mushroom on the fin and secure with a few cable ties. Have been using this system for around 10 years never had any bungee break or other failure, and costs only a few dollars.

 

[Alastor]

So if the bungee was just slipped away, probably, with a ... ehm ... gentle fighting ... you could put it back through the hole and then, fix it, behind, with a cable tie.

 

[rwe]

Additional info/answers to comments:

Thanks for your input. I purchased these fins because I had lost a fin on a dive trip about 2 years ago. I had a spare strap from my remaining old fin (Mares Avanti Quattro more than 10 years old with the old straps). Don't plan on repairing unless I replace entire bungee since I wouldn't trust it not to break again in another location. Attached is a picture of the break. Dirty from being in my bag and not the greatest picture but no cuts that I can see when looking at with magnifying glass.

Is there a Mares representative who monitors this site? If so I would be interested in hearing their opinion. Since I could only find an email contact on the Mares website for the computer troubleshooting group, I sent an email to them and asked them to forward to the appropriate people but don't know if it will get done.

 

[hazmat]

I have a similar issue and also about two years and 50 dives and this part broke on one and is about to split on the other. Very disappointed. I'll either use duct tape or another manufacturer's part for this, since I don't want to give Mares any more money.

 

[Alastor]

For what I can see on mine: the broken part is separated from the main bungee. I see 2 options:
1) remove the part (probably you need to cut it, so avoid to damage the main bungee). Once removed, you can put around a piece of large velcro strap to act as pull handle - any other alternative pull handle will do, or
2) because Mares fin attachments (mushrooms) are quite standard , I'll buy spring strap, e.g. from aqualung (they have an adjustable model) or any other vendor, provided you measure the length you need.