Material for monofins

[Mermaid Lucy]

Hello,
I loved mermaids since i was a little child and i ever wanted to be one. Now i have planned to make my own mermaidtail but for this i need a monofin. I live in Germany and here they are very expensive because the need is low. Also they are not big enough for the fin that i want. I heard of some who used Lexan to make their own monofin. I don't have any experience with this or acrylic glass. What do i have to attend for the material i use or what material do you propose/recommend me to use?

i hope you can help me

Mermaid Lucy

[Yulia]

DON'T use plexiglass och acrylic, it will shatter into sharp pieces that are dangerous.

Lexan is a brand name for atype of plastic that is called Polycarbonate, it is what you need. Here on mernetwork there are many threads were you can read about people making their own monofins.

[Ashe]

I have a Finis Competitor, and it is supposedly one of the best fins on the market. It is made out of what they called tapered fiberglass. I haven't done much research on the material itself, but it's hella strong. I suggest looking into that as well as polycarbonate.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

EU-company => http://www.scubastore.com/scuba-diving/fins-monofins/1081/s#

[Mermaid Lucy]

DON'T use plexiglass och acrylic, it will shatter into sharp pieces that are dangerous.

Lexan is a brand name for atype of plastic that is called Polycarbonate, it is what you need. Here on mernetwork there are many threads were you can read about people making their own monofins.

oh i did not know that .. we had some Plexiglass at home and it is very flexible .. so i thought it would work

[Mermaid Lucy]

EU-company => http://www.scubastore.com/scuba-diving/fins-monofins/1081/s#

yeah but they are too small or too expensive :/

[Toxotes]

Hello Lucy, what do you think about the Hydra monofin? Too small or too expensive?
I bought my Hydra here:
http://www.simones-hammerladen.de/catalog/

You can check for the brand name "Makrolon", which is also polycarbonate. Or simply "Polycarbonat".
Acrylic glass (Acrylglas / Bastlerglas) is rather cheap but it also breaks easily into sharp pieces.
So be careful about what you buy.

[Mermaid Lucy]

Thanks Toxotes
yeah i found that Makrolon on ebay and Amazon ^^

i like to craft my own things so i decided to make my own monofin ^^

[PearlieMae]

Plexiglas / Acrylglas / Bastlerglas can't take the strain of the water pressure of swimming and will shatter and cut you!

Ploycarbonate is the way to go. The commercial polycarbonate widely available in home improvement stores isn't sturdy enough, either...at least, not for big fins. (0.093")... see if you can find .25" thick.

Use the search function to find other threads about making monofins. :)

[Mermaid Lucy]

Thanks @PearlieMae but I decided to buy The Oceanika Merfin. I'm terribly sorry for not answering for such a long time....for personal reasons. But I'm so excited and can't wait to start making my own Mermaid tail *-*