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Swim fins and the winter.

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 4:56 am
by zensuni
Hi there

It s winter time, the water is getting cold, and I m facing an issue that you probably faced already.
My favourite summer swimfins are Dafins, they are great.
For the spring or the Autumn, I use another pair of Dafins, the upper size, so I can wear 2mm neopren socks.
But, in the winter, when the water temperature is bellow 10 Celcius degrees, the 2mm socks are not enough.
I tried to wear not 1but 3 neopren socks, it definitely helps of course.But then the swim fins are too small, and it hurts bad.

So here is the best compromise I found so far. I bought a pair of cheap bodyboard flippers, the biggest size available (XXL).
I glued cork inside to fill some room (plus they might be buoyant now). I can use them like that with 3 socks.
Or, 2 socks + pool shoes.
Since the swim fins size is too big, I cut the extremity to short them, otherwise it too hard to paddle with, it fells like scuba diving flippers.
In the end it is an "ok" compromise, but it is not great. The flippers shape is changed, and the end of my foot works too hard.

So, fellow paipo riders from cold waters countries; how do you deal with the cold ?

Re: Swim fins and the winter.

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 10:51 am
by GeoffreyLevens
I lived in NorCal for some years and water temps only down to 8 or 9C at lowest. Always used Viper-7's w/ I think 5 ml booties. They fit inside just fine though I have small feet (size 7 US) and in warmer water I had to still wear the booties which was fine with me; Not bothered by them at all even in Souther Mexico w/ water in the low to mid 20's C

Re: Swim fins and the winter.

Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2016 12:24 pm
by rodndtube
Zen, you might be interested in some Force Fins (search or browse in the gear section of the forums) as these fins are strap overs. With Force Fins you can use regular rugged surf booties (which are nice for walking on some reefs and cobblestone areas). At retail they are expensive but can be found at discount online or some surf /dive shops.

Did you try two sizes up with the DaFins? I find they size up rather well -- I can move from 1 or 2mm to 5 to 6 mm with a one size increment larger. The XL DaFins are rather large! Vipers, my previous swim fin of choice was very hard to size up for cold water use as the foot pocket does not size up well at all and is very narrow to begin with.

Re: Swim fins and the winter.

Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 12:43 pm
by nomastomas
In the 805, its the cobblestones more than the 13c-14c water that drives me to booties. My solution (wide, size 10 feet) is Patagucci 2mm swim socks ($20 on sale) and XL (size 13) Voit UDTs. Still a tight fit, but manageable.

Re: Swim fins and the winter.

Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2016 7:00 pm
by krusher74
There are a lot of new "stand up surfer" boots on the market with a lot less sole than what they had in the past. I have one set of MS viper fins i use 2mm heal-less sock in the summer to prevent rub and 4/5mm o neil boots in the winter.

these are a great middle ground sock with a sole https://www.swiminn.com/swimming/oneill ... lsrc=aw.ds

ripcurl also make very similar ones https://www.surfdome.com/rip_curl_wetsu ... ack-230219

Re: Swim fins and the winter.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 5:07 am
by zensuni
Thanks krusher74, I replaced the swim socks by 5mm surf boots, it is much better, it fills more room in the flipper. The only little inconvenience that remains is that the filpper being bigger than my natural size, it is also harder to paddle (more surface), but this is something I ll get used to I guess. The force fins mentioned bellow looks great, but indeed they are quite expansive, would be risky to buy it online without trying it.

Re: Swim fins and the winter.

Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2017 12:47 pm
by GeoffreyLevens
zensuni wrote: The only little inconvenience that remains is that the filpper being bigger than my natural size, it is also harder to paddle (more surface), but this is something I ll get used to I guess.
Yes, just a bit more muscle development from using them and end result will be greater thrust/speed.

I go lucky once and found a pair of Force Fins that fit perfectly in a thrift store for $2. Awesome comfort, good speed, but too soft to give back much in the way of acceleration which is really needed so in the end I gave them away. If I still had them I'd offer but long gone.:(

Re: Swim fins and the winter.

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 7:28 am
by matt23
zensuni wrote:Hi there

It s winter time, the water is getting cold, and I m facing an issue that you probably faced already.
My favourite summer swimfins are Dafins, they are great.
For the spring or the Autumn, I use another pair of Dafins, the upper size, so I can wear 2mm neopren socks.
But, in the winter, when the water temperature is bellow 10 Celcius degrees, the 2mm socks are not enough.
I tried to wear not 1but 3 neopren socks, it definitely helps of course.But then the swim fins are too small, and it hurts bad.

So here is the best compromise I found so far. I bought a pair of cheap bodyboard flippers, the biggest size available (XXL).
I glued cork inside to fill some room (plus they might be buoyant now). I can use them like that with 3 socks.
Or, 2 socks + pool shoes.
Since the swim fins size is too big, I cut the extremity to short them, otherwise it too hard to paddle with, it fells like scuba diving flippers.
In the end it is an "ok" compromise, but it is not great. The flippers shape is changed, and the end of my foot works too hard.

So, fellow paipo riders from cold waters countries; how do you deal with the cold ?
I use dafins, Warmer months I wear XLs and in winter XXL. The dafin/dakine neoprene heal fin savers help as then sort of tension the straps of the fins allowing me to wear the XXLs even though theyre a bit to big. With the XLs I dont tend to wear a sock. In winter I use 4mm alder burn socks with the XXL dafin. Ive used this setup in the SW of the UK and theyre fine. Ive been living on the East coast of the UK for the last few years and the North sea is much colder. Water temp is 5-7C in winter. The 4mm are OK but I cant really go over 1 1/2hrs in them.