Jet fins extremely painful at top of foot

[elgoog]

Hi all -

I'm putting this in the DIR section because wifebuddy got a pair of Jet fins specifically for the GUE Fundies 1 class (mods - please move to the fins section if not appropriate here). They are size L and we put on the Halcyon spring straps. She wears women's US 9 shoes. At the LDS, she tried them on with wetsuit booties and they felt fine. They had originally put on the small spring straps but she couldn't get them off her feet so we went up to the medium size ones.
In the pool practice session, she said they felt tight in the beginning but started to get painful almost immediately when she started finning. She tried to tough it out but after 15min, she was practically in tears due to pain at the top of her foot (right where the foot pocket contacts the foot). Her booties even have a little rubber padding right at that spot but it didn't seem to help.

I'm not sure if we should go up fin size, get longer springs, use bungee instead of springs or even look for an alternative to Jet fins. Thoughts?
Also, when testing out sizing for fins and spring strap tightness at the LDS, what do you normally do to make sure it will work OK in water? The ones that caused trouble felt fine at the store, so now we don't know what we should be looking for. In the pool, she tried our instructors XL Jets but the foot pocket was too big and moved around a lot (although, I guess that was compounded by the longer spring straps he had on)

Thanks in advance,
elgoog

 

[The Chairman]

I changed to the Hollis F1 (Batfins) and the pain is gone. I love my F1s.

 

[delmolino]

I tried for a week a pair of SB Jets XL size and they were hurting the top of my feet, though not as much as you described. Went for a XXL size and it does not hurt anymore. When wet I wear a Henderson 7mm hard sole boots, but I tend to be feet heavy - not a problem when diving dry - and I ordered a pair of OMS Slipstreams for when diving wet.

 

[eelnoraa]

I think size could be the issue here. I wear US Men's size 8.5, which is same as US Women 9.5 (half size bigger than your case). I found with L size jet could work, but on the tight size. I use XL jet fins with 12" (post to post) spring strap. I have trim 10" version before and found it too small. Remember, with string strap, they don't have to be very tight. The spring should be stretch just a little so they are held in place, won't slide off your ankles.

If you have a chance, take your fins and boots to Anywater sport in San Jose, they will make the right recommendation

 

[Adobo]

Hi all -

I'm putting this in the DIR section because wifebuddy got a pair of Jet fins specifically for the GUE Fundies 1 class (mods - please move to the fins section if not appropriate here). They are size L and we put on the Halcyon spring straps. She wears women's US 9 shoes. At the LDS, she tried them on with wetsuit booties and they felt fine. They had originally put on the small spring straps but she couldn't get them off her feet so we went up to the medium size ones.
In the pool practice session, she said they felt tight in the beginning but started to get painful almost immediately when she started finning. She tried to tough it out but after 15min, she was practically in tears due to pain at the top of her foot (right where the foot pocket contacts the foot). Her booties even have a little rubber padding right at that spot but it didn't seem to help.

I'm not sure if we should go up fin size, get longer springs, use bungee instead of springs or even look for an alternative to Jet fins. Thoughts?
Also, when testing out sizing for fins and spring strap tightness at the LDS, what do you normally do to make sure it will work OK in water? The ones that caused trouble felt fine at the store, so now we don't know what we should be looking for. In the pool, she tried our instructors XL Jets but the foot pocket was too big and moved around a lot (although, I guess that was compounded by the longer spring straps he had on)

Thanks in advance,
elgoog

Was she in her drysuit? If so, what kind? And what kind of boots does the suit have? Did she have socks on?

 

[elgoog]

I changed to the Hollis F1 (Batfins) and the pain is gone. I love my F1s.

I have F1s and really like them but they're a little too big for her. Next step with those is to tighten the spring straps all the way for her to try and also try the smaller size F1 to see how that works. The foot pocket shape in my F1s definitely looks different than the Jets, maybe that will make a difference.

I tried for a week a pair of SB Jets XL size and they were hurting the top of my feet, though not as much as you described. Went for a XXL size and it does not hurt anymore.

She tried out instructor's XL fins but they were too loose - probably due to a combination of the foot pocket being big and spring strap too long.

I think size could be the issue here. I wear US Men's size 8.5, which is same as US Women 9.5 (half size bigger than your case). I found with L size jet could work, but on the tight size. I use XL jet fins with 12" (post to post) spring strap. I have trim 10" version before and found it too small. Remember, with string strap, they don't have to be very tight. The spring should be stretch just a little so they are held in place, won't slide off your ankles.
If you have a chance, take your fins and boots to Anywater sport in San Jose, they will make the right recommendation

We bought them from Anywater yesterday and spent almost an hour getting them sized. They felt fine at the store. I'm going back there tomorrow to try out a couple of different options. They initially put the small size strap (8", I think) for her but it was too tight to get on and off so they changed it to medium (10", I believe). I think you're right about the strap length - we might have to try longer strap with same fin. XL was too big for her (tried Beto's fins) but we could try XL with shorter spring but I have my doubts that will be the right option. Another thing I want to try is the same size fins but put back the original rubber strap so we can at least make sure the size is correct.

Was she in her drysuit? If so, what kind? And what kind of boots does the suit have? Did she have socks on?

Wetsuit. She uses hard soled neoprene booties.

Thanks all for the info so far.

 

[Ayisha]

I had pain at the top of my feet with Jetfins too. I switched to the UTD Precision Neutral/Positive fins which are the same size and shape as the jetfins but have a deeper foot pocket to avoid foot pain/fatigue and weigh slightly less than the jetfins. Love them!

 

[Ben_ca]

Might be helpful to ask the local community if there's anyone with the same foot size/weight/build etc and maybe you can borrow someones fins for a weekend. We do have quite a large community here in the Bay Area.

 

[WhiteSands]

It's my understanding that this is common with jetfins due to the pocket design. They are wide and low. So for most people, if the height of the pocket is just right, it's too wide. If the width is just right, the pocket is too low and hurts the foot.

You could try getting the XL, and changing to a slightly shorter spring strap. The Hollis F1 works well for most people I know who've tried them.

 

[Divetech99]

Had exactly the same problem. I thought it was the fin. It was not. The problem was the spring strap. I didn't suspect the spring strap since it was a snug fit and didn't hurt when I put the fins on. But they were a bit tight.

Then I saw some spring straps in a shop on sale. I changed to a larger size spring strap and it was night and day even on heavy finning against strong currents and doubles. Do not change fins until you try the next larger size spring strap.