How to wear weights in a tail?

[Mer-Crazy]

Hey everyone :) Okay so I've read places (I know I have) that some mers put weights inside their tails to help them sink to pose for photos. I looked, I really did! (She says and then someone's going to come along in the first post with a link to a thread that perfectly answers my question so I apologise in advance) But I can't find that particular post/ thread anymore, even with the search bar.

Anyway in that post either I didn't read it properly, or I've forgotten or it just never really stated (probably not the latter). So I'd just like details on how it works please? What kinds of weights do you use? Where do they go? I believe I may have read between the ankles maybe? How does getting your tail on with weights work? That kind of stuff. Again if this has already been answered in a thread of it's own I'm very sorry :(

[Elle]

http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?4144-Diving-in-a-mermaid-tail&highlight=weights+inside+tail

also Amy was looking into making weight belts a while ago. I don't know if she's still doing it or if the idea was benched entirely. But it would be nice to have an Australian option so we wouldn't have to spend hundreds of dollars on shipping to get one from the US...

http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?8534-WEIGHT-BELTS-WHO-WOULD-BE-INTERESTED-IN-A-HANDCRAFTED-MER-WEIGHT-BELT/page4&highlight=weights+inside+tail

[AniaR]

I didnt find weight belts worked for me. They didnt actually help me sink even when I had loads of weight on, put stress on the waistline of my tail, I found them clunky and obvious even though mine was beautifully decorated clients would still point it out, and mine ended up breaking because of trying to pose on the side of the pool.

I wouldnt use weights for regular swimming. But when I film and have to stay at the bottom for long time or do modelling I put ankle weights individually in my tail between my legs/ thighs. I find I sink better if the weight is down in the tail. If I am doing photos from the front I'll just put the weights in the butt of the tail lol. I know from talking to many aquarium mermaids and tank mermaids this is the method they choose. You can also buy sandbag weights from wallmart that I am going to try next because they're a bit more maluable so you can smooth them out a bit easier so you don't look like a lady mermaid with a 'bump' in the front hahaha.

I have weights in the tail in these photos:

https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/1506130_1019921864709223_8588480142487630239_o.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xat1/t31.0-8/10265361_1020941804607229_3050688857834131796_o.jp g

In those ones the weights were in my ankle area. Wrinkles or bumps caused by it are easy to edit out for photos.

This one had the weights on my butt under the tail

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t31.0-8/11077386_1025768010791275_3209539962020059053_o.jp g

This is a video of me swimming with weights in my tail: (the extra weight at the butt area made my waist gap and you can see I am a bit clunky with my kicking)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq-XbgW6dmc

[Elle]

Australia doesn't have walmart. But I imagine you can buy ankle weights from Big W or Kmart or Target from their sporting sections......I swear I've seen them in Aldi.
Or in a sports store in general.....

[AniaR]

oh right I forgot about that!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I've seen the ring ones in scuba diving shops too.

[Winged Mermaid]

I put neoprene coated barbells between my thighs. The ones I got were short enough that they never showed through the tail in video or photos :) I have 2,3, and 5lb ones. Just be sure to always keep safety in mind! I never used anything over 3lbs in water that wasn't shallow enough to stand up in if I needed to, and always let my photographer or mertender know I had weights in my tail in case there was an emergency of any kind.

[Coradion]

Go to a fishing tackle shop and you can get spherical lead weights or whatever shape you like best. Put them in a thick fabric tube of sorts and you can slide the tube between your legs to weight it once the tail is on. Or you can make a neoprene band around your thigh and tuck the weights inside of that.

[Ilyena]

I do what Iona does!, I have bar weights between my thighs that I bought from Kmart

[Capt Nemo]

If you are using a non-ditchable weight system a safety diver must be present!

Otherwise, stay with a system that can be ditched quickly like a belt. It sucks to loose a $50 weight belt, but it's better than your funeral.

[AniaR]

Yup I'm never alone when swimming ever let alone while wearing weights

[NerineArcticMermaid]

Imake belts..

I know shipping is a pain.. but I can usually ship to most international places for about $40... look at my etsy for my prices... I dont charge much over cost of materials.
Http://www.etsy.com/shop/legendaryart

[Mermaid Melanie]

They are nice Nerine ! Very pretty ! In freediving we make custom neck weights, you could adapt the same method though to make ankle weights for pretty cheap - you need some small balled led weight, shrink wrap, electrical tape, webbing, buckle, strong needle and water resistant thread. You measure your desired length for webbing, run it through the shrink wrap tube. heat at one end with a hair dryer and then seal with electrical tape, then fill with the led weight to the weight you want and smooth out the shaping, heat the rest with the hair dryer and finish off taping. You should then stitch the webbing to seal in the buckle. I made my own neck weight this way but sadly didnt account for wearing my wetsuit and it was a little snug - make sure you double check the lengths you want ! Of course its not as pretty as Nerine's :P but you could maybe make nice streamlined ankle weights with this method. Also yeah the scuba stores have ready made ankle weights with soft coverings for comfort !

[NerineArcticMermaid]

They are nice Nerine ! Very pretty ! In freediving we make custom neck weights, you could adapt the same method though to make ankle weights for pretty cheap - you need some small balled led weight, shrink wrap, electrical tape, webbing, buckle, strong needle and water resistant thread. You measure your desired length for webbing, run it through the shrink wrap tube. heat at one end with a hair dryer and then seal with electrical tape, then fill with the led weight to the weight you want and smooth out the shaping, heat the rest with the hair dryer and finish off taping. You should then stitch the webbing to seal in the buckle. I made my own neck weight this way but sadly didnt account for wearing my wetsuit and it was a little snug - make sure you double check the lengths you want ! Of course its not as pretty as Nerine's :P but you could maybe make nice streamlined ankle weights with this method. Also yeah the scuba stores have ready made ankle weights with soft coverings for comfort !
Thanks! I try to really make them functional and beautiful. I'm working on some modifications to adjust weights amount and I made changes to combat the issue raina had with shells cracking and weights spilling out.. so that problem has been fixed :)
Ive got time this summer to make a few.. message me here or on etsy.. it takes 2 weeks min to create... as resin and glues must set.. I no longer use silicone caulk to make them. :)

(Made in smoke free home! I quit almost 2 months ago woohoo)

[Ilyena]

Do you make ankle ones Nerine? And congratulations on being smoke free!

[NerineArcticMermaid]

Ummm.. ankle ones to be worn on outside of tail? Honestly.. having the weights at the waist which is where your most buoyant area is..

[AniaR]

I find the extra silicone makes everything below the waist more buoyant personally. I find it works much better at the bottom of the tail or literally in the butt area since butts and flukes tend to be what float up. How the human body's buoyancy is distributed changes when you pack on 25-60lbs of buoyant silicone. If you had ankle weights you wouldnt decorate them or wear them outside. You just hide them inside the tail. But you don't put them on your ankles. You put them in between your legs.

[Ilyena]

I had weights in my thighs, but if i sat still my fluke which has twice as much neoprene as usual, cause of the way it it bunched, makes it really floaty no matter how much weight was near my butt. 2kg made the middle my dorsal/butt area sink to what I thought was neutral, but it was the fluke which floats up while the rest of me is stationary in the water. Fitting weights in the tail at my ankles, I don't think they would fit anywhere.

Otherwise back to the drawing board for me :P

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I had weights in my thighs, but if i sat still my fluke which has twice as much neoprene as usual, cause of the way it it bunched, makes it really floaty no matter how much weight was near my butt. 2kg made the middle my dorsal/butt area sink to what I thought was neutral, but it was the fluke which floats up while the rest of me is stationary in the water. Fitting weights in the tail at my ankles, I don't think they would fit anywhere.

Otherwise back to the drawing board for me :P
You could wear weights on the outside of your tail, disguise it as tail jewelry.

[Merman Chatfish]

I didnt find weight belts worked for me. They didnt actually help me sink even when I had loads of weight on, put stress on the waistline of my tail, I found them clunky and obvious even though mine was beautifully decorated clients would still point it out, and mine ended up breaking because of trying to pose on the side of the pool.

I wouldnt use weights for regular swimming. But when I film and have to stay at the bottom for long time or do modelling I put ankle weights individually in my tail between my legs/ thighs. I find I sink better if the weight is down in the tail. If I am doing photos from the front I'll just put the weights in the butt of the tail lol. I know from talking to many aquarium mermaids and tank mermaids this is the method they choose. You can also buy sandbag weights from wallmart that I am going to try next because they're a bit more maluable so you can smooth them out a bit easier so you don't look like a lady mermaid with a 'bump' in the front hahaha.

I have weights in the tail in these photos:

https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/1506130_1019921864709223_8588480142487630239_o.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xat1/t31.0-8/10265361_1020941804607229_3050688857834131796_o.jp g

In those ones the weights were in my ankle area. Wrinkles or bumps caused by it are easy to edit out for photos.

This one had the weights on my butt under the tail

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/t31.0-8/11077386_1025768010791275_3209539962020059053_o.jp g

This is a video of me swimming with weights in my tail: (the extra weight at the butt area made my waist gap and you can see I am a bit clunky with my kicking)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq-XbgW6dmc


I put neoprene coated barbells between my thighs. The ones I got were short enough that they never showed through the tail in video or photos :) I have 2,3, and 5lb ones. Just be sure to always keep safety in mind! I never used anything over 3lbs in water that wasn't shallow enough to stand up in if I needed to, and always let my photographer or mertender know I had weights in my tail in case there was an emergency of any kind.


I had weights in my thighs, but if i sat still my fluke which has twice as much neoprene as usual, cause of the way it it bunched, makes it really floaty no matter how much weight was near my butt. 2kg made the middle my dorsal/butt area sink to what I thought was neutral, but it was the fluke which floats up while the rest of me is stationary in the water. Fitting weights in the tail at my ankles, I don't think they would fit anywhere.

Otherwise back to the drawing board for me :P


Could you ladies post photos of the weights themselves and about where you put them?

[Mermaid Kassandra]

I thought that swimming with weights in your tail was dangerous as you need some minutes to get out of the tail.

[AniaR]

Swimming in a tail is dangerous with or without weights. Hence why we never swim alone

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[Ilyena]

Awkward photo time!!!! Yes I am in my pyjamas ^_^ but that is where I keep the weight and my tail slips over the top. I only wear weights in pools where I know I can get out of my tail quickly, and there's always more than one mer/person around.
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[Mermaid Kassandra]

Awkward photo time!!!! Yes I am in my pyjamas ^_^ but that is where I keep the weight and my tail slips over the top. I only wear weights in pools where I know I can get out of my tail quickly, and there's always more than one mer/person around.
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Ilenya do the weight move to your feet while swimming?

[Ilyena]

Kassandra: Not much, as my tail is tight to my knees. They may wiggle a couple of inches, but my thighs tend to hold it nicely >_<

[Mermaid Kassandra]

Kassandra: Not much, as my tail is tight to my knees. They may wiggle a couple of inches, but my thighs tend to hold it nicely >_<


I see!

And how much do them change your buoyancy?
I mean like a weight belt for divers with neoprene suits or in a different way?

[Echidna]

Thank you for the picture, Ilyena!

I usually wear a belt for photos or diving, but I wonder if I could use dumbbell weights as well.
They wouldn't look too good in a fabric tail though I guess xD

[Mermaid Wesley]

I used some in a fabric tail once. I used a bag-type weight. I think it was full of metal shot? Idk. I just held it between my knees to help me sink in the photos I was taking.
I made some weights recently with pennies.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ilyena]

Kasandra: Well in the pool in my neoprene tail, 3kg and I slowly sink once I exhale half my air. I think it's pretty much the same as weight belts with divers as its around that area ish. From out last Adelaide mer meet in the video on our page, you can see I could stay down easier.

Echidna: My pleasure. I guess depends how thick/long they are in comparison to your own legs. Mine hide them pretty well, but if I lay down on the ground you can sorta see them stick out a little, like a man bulge lol.

[Merman Chatfish]

Awkward photo time!!!! Yes I am in my pyjamas ^_^ but that is where I keep the weight and my tail slips over the top. I only wear weights in pools where I know I can get out of my tail quickly, and there's always more than one mer/person around.
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I am glad you posted pictures I did not think of it like that, I was thinking of them in a vertical position. Does that work even with fabric tails?