Neck weights

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Hi there!

One thing that I think a LOT of mers would benefit from is a proper neck weight - usually between 4 and 7 lbs, depending on your size, body composition and lung capacity.

Makes a WORLD of difference to me.

There is some technique in figuring out how much you should use, but once setup, is incredible.

The conventional Freedive neck weight is lead shot in an inner tube with some plastic clips to hold it secure. I personally use small .5lb lead "chicklets" strung through nylon webbing with the same clips to secure it.

Another option is attaching 2 scuba ankle weights together.

I even have an idea for mermaids of using large lead fishing weights (round or oval) and coating / painting them white to look like pearls.

If you haven't tried a neck weight... You really are missing out!!

Give it a go!

Jeff
UltimateSwimFin.com




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[Mermaid Jaffa]

No. We need our necks and heads to swim up for air easily. If some freak accident were to happen, then we are unable to surface quickly and will drown.

And the way we swim, we need our necks and heads to be able to move freely with the up and down motion. Can't do that if there are weights restricting that movement.

[Merley]

Neck weights just sounds like a bad idea to me. I can get on board with ankle weights or weight belts, but neck weights? You say "One thing that I think a LOT of mers would benefit from is a proper neck weight - usually between 4 and 7 lbs, depending on your size, body composition and lung capacity," but you don't actually mention what any of these supposed benefits are.

[OceanWhisper]

^^^^^^^^^^^ not being terrible to UltimateSwimFin, but I kinda agree with both of you. Just sounds a bit dangerous

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I'm starting to think he's a troll... Or a sales rep trying to get more business with incorrect facts.

[Princess Pearl]

As he sent me a message through the "quote request" system on GigSalad, trying to get me to buy a monofin using the same wording used in his monofin posts... I'm going with sales rep.


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[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Not a troll.

Every Freediver wears a neck weight. Your lungs are the most buoyant part of your body and the neck is an ideal location to put ballast to neutralize this effect.

Proper monofin technique does not entail your neck undulating and it will not stop you from getting air.

The benefits are that you are neutrally buoyant and therefore all of your energy is spent to propel you forward, instead of fighting buoyancy.

Being neutrally buoyant is the most peaceful and freeing feeling in the world.

If you want to feel like a mermaid... Sort out your buoyancy. Trust me on this one. Just look at every single DYN swim by competitive freedivers.


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[UltimateSwimFin.com]

If you want true underwater freedom, work on neutralizing your buoyancy and also work on reducing drag.

It's night and day.


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[Mermaid Jaffa]

Show us a pro using neck weights underwater.

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

This is me a few years ago before I found the Lunocet with an 11lb neck weight:

http://youtu.be/uP712NO8Y5o


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[UltimateSwimFin.com]

http://youtu.be/-cQOz9ePDN8


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[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Neck weights are even more important in pool and the typically shallow depths that Mers play in (less than 5m deep).


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[ShyMer]

Hang on guys, a quick search does show that free divers use these. I can't remember anyone complaining here about buoyancy problems that could be solved with these kinds of weights, but these could actually be more useful than the weight belts people have been using so far, based on the theory.

To be honest though, Jeff, I would have liked to see more information here about neck weight benefits. I've never heard about them before, so I was confused a bit.
I did like the idea for modifying the design to make it appropriate for mermaids though. The designs I'm seeing are rather unattractive to me...

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Benefit: you go further, with less effort on a single breath.

Benefit: you glide perfectly horizontally and induce less drag and travel further.

Benefit: you feel completely weightless, neither floating, nor sinking and it's the most incredible feeling in the world.


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[PearlieMae]

Not a troll.

Every Freediver wears a neck weight. Your lungs are the most buoyant part of your body and the neck is an ideal location to put ballast to neutralize this effect.

Proper monofin technique does not entail your neck undulating and it will not stop you from getting air.

The benefits are that you are neutrally buoyant and therefore all of your energy is spent to propel you forward, instead of fighting buoyancy.

Being neutrally buoyant is the most peaceful and freeing feeling in the world.

If you want to feel like a mermaid... Sort out your buoyancy. Trust me on this one. Just look at every single DYN swim by competitive freedivers.


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Sorry, I know you are being friendly and you think you have found a new marketing opportunity here, but aside from maybe two mers who are thinking of using a Lunocet for an extended tail, we are NOT freediving merfolk. Aside from the rare underwater photoshoot, for the most part, I think I can speak for most when I say we pretty much stay in the top few feet of water. Surfacing often. Hanging out with children. I, for one, don't even like to wear heavy necklaces with my mermaid tail, much less 4 to 7 pounds of weights around my neck. As for drag, if you look at our flukes, our accoutrments like hair clips, shell tops, netted waist decorations...we don't really care about reducing drag much, either.

Neck weights and mermaids? No.

You are trying to combine two entirely different activities, they both happen to take place in a swimming environment. Be prepared for pushback from the community on this one.

I don't want to sound mean to you, I'm not trying to be, but I think you need to better acquaint yourself with this community before trying to sell us on things we aren't even going to consider.

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

In freediving, men can typically get away with JUST a neck weight and women TYPICALLY will split their weight more evenly between waist and neck, due to typical body fat distribution differences between the sexes.


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[Mermaid Jaffa]

Did you even read and take in what Pearlie Mae just wrote?

[PearlieMae]

We aren't freediving.

[Mary Marine]

While I can see the appeal of being neutrally buoyant, looking at current designs of neck weights they seem like they would get in the way of arm position for dolphin kicking? It's less the weight than the placement I'd object to.

Also, while freediving and mermaiding share some techniques and gear, freedivers, like scuba divers, use the buddy system for safety. Most mermaids do not have the luxury of a friend or mertender for every swim and not every swim spot has lifegaurds. We are already constricting our legs, anything that could make it potentially more difficult to swim or surface has to be carefully considered.

Neckweights might be better for professional mermaids who perform tricks underwater or swim in deeper water with mertenders on hand.

[MerEmma]

I see the benefit of having a neck weight completely, in the situation that buoyancy is a concern for people. I think the average person though is weary of weights in general (I know that the current population of MerNetwork who do use weights regularly are kind of low? Those who do modeling or have issues with buoyancy, Raina and Iona are the only ones who come to mind for me) because swimming in a tail already puts you in a tough situation should there be an issue with surfacing. Adding neck weights just sounds a little more threatening; I know it probably doesn't feel that way but immediately I imagine something constricting around my neck.

I think Pearlie is right in that we're probably not the market for it to be honest.

That being said, your monofin swimming videos are quite relaxing to watch. :)

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Did you even read and take in what Pearlie Mae just wrote?

Jaffa, I was typing mine while Perlie Mae was typing hers.

To the rest:

If you hold your breath underwater... You are freediving - if even for :30 seconds.

If you are staying in shallower depths (say 3-8 ft below the surface), adding weight is the most important in this zone, as your lungs are nearly fully inflated (not compressed with depth) and you will float like a cork.

I'm not peddling neck weights. I'm seeing things in the Mer community that I have knowledge in and want to help it out.

The 3 biggest areas where I can provide knowledge and help is in weighting, technique and breath-hold.

Now maybe some ppl want to splash in the shallows and that's great, but for those that want to dip below the surface - believe me that paying attention / focus to these areas will pay massive dividends in your enjoyment and Mer fun.

I know there are some here that are interested in these areas, based on some searches and posts I've read.

I also know that someone that isn't using any weighting will try a neck weight and it will become their 2nd most important / cherished piece of gear, next to their tail.

It's funny - I really expected more open-mindedness and acceptance from this community.

Yes I sell one brand of monofin... But want to give back to the community in terms of weighting, technique and breathhold.

I also am very creative and have come up with the "pearl" idea for this community. I'm sure that in a year or two, several will have adopted it.


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[Echidna]

As both a mermaid and recreational freediver, I can say I moved away from weights when in a tail, and I would never use a neck weight simply because having a load of lead there is a bad idea.

I use weight belts to achieve neutral buoyancy in a suit (2 to 8 pounds, depending on thickness), and carrying the lead around my hips is hard enough when surfacing or getting in and out of the water.

The neck is fragile, any weight on it can lead to dislocations and maladies you probably aren't even aware of if you use neck weights.
If you have a neck made of steel and find it useful, go for it.

But for someone surfacing often, like tailswimmers, or even someone doing flips and turns and barrel rolls and such instead of slowly swimming forward as freedivers usually do, neck weights are not only not useful, but dangerous.

[MerEmma]

I don't have a problem with you sharing this info here, as I do acknowledge that this info could be helpful to someone. I think it's just not our primary demographic, though. I do think that should someone need it, the pearl necklace idea would be a great way to hide the weights and add to the outfit instead of taking away from it. :)

[PearlieMae]

If you hold your breath underwater... You are freediving - if even for :30 seconds.

We are not 'freediving' in the named activity sense that you are saying we are. Just like falling can also be called 'skydiving'.


It's funny - I really expected more open-mindedness and acceptance from this community.


Statements like that are a guaranteed way to get this community up in arms.

BELIEVE ME, I am NOT trying to start drama, and you may be right in that some of the mercommunity may start using neck weights, eventually. But please, don't be surprised at initial pushback on the subject.

I've never swam with weights. I sink pretty readily anyway. Have you ever swum in a tail?

[Echidna]

^^
People have varying degrees of buoyancy.
Sinkers definitely don't need weights unless you are wearing a thick wetsuit, and mermaids don't generally do that :p
Also, I've noticed that the floatiest part of my body when in a tail is usually the fluke, probably due to trapped air.
Mers who have neoprene tails might opt for weights, but never a neck weight.

Tail weights and ankle weights are probably best, but I wouldn't use those unless for a still photoshoot, because they'd be in the way of practically anything I'm used to do underwater (synchro tricks, spins, leaps and breaches, turns, rolls...)

[MarkF]

Wow guys, obviously Jeff is a sales rep. Though he's not talking about his products here or his company. Just an idea, being personable.
For those that aren't familiar with scuba diving or wetsuit wearing in cold water “Salt water especially” where discussion of weights are common. Here ya go-
Some people float easier than others, maybe way to easy. For swimming on the top that's great. Now if you want that same person to just glide and gently with just one kick-slowly and in a straight line move to the top they'd need help.
We have Mer-models in the Pod and they need to hold a position underwater while the photographer frames the shot or direct them to move the hair out of their face, being able to not wave your arms around like someone trying to get the attention of a passing ship weights would help.
Ya know swimming along the bottom of the pool, well you can't swim flat "Parallel to the bottom without swimming hard." You are "Like" always swimming down because the minute you stop you are like a balloon underwater and rocket to the top. Now that's a great thing if you can't swim well, not so good if your posing for pictures or trying to conserve air for an easier swim underwater. Some people put weight in their tails because there tail floats, if your torso pulls you head first more that you’d like his necklace has merit.


Couple quick notes-
1. Any weight’s need a quick release for Mer-swimming or scuba diving.


2. Jeff loose the company name as your name, granted it makes you honest. Maybe a tagline or something. And if you have no intention of donning a tail or hanging out poolside speculating the color of this years scales this may be the wrong club for you.
P.S. I like your Monofin

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

I want to be as open and honest as possible. Hence why my very first post I disclosed my business and interests.

I am new here and finding my way around. Not 100% sure I'll wear a "conventional" merman tail (full silicone, tassels, etc), but I may just build a better mousetrap for my needs.

Besides, regardless of if I don a silicone or spandex tail (I dislike drag), aren't fellow apneists needed for buddies / safety and as photographers?

Aren't there also some who wish to improve their efficiency / time under water?


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[AniaR]

As one of the leading mers in Canada if you sent me a sample I'd be willing to review it and if I find it helpful promote to the community. I have two published books as a pro mermaid with a third on the way, popular vlogs, and a big following on fb. Happy to be a guinea pig ;)

[MarkF]

Hey Jeff, AniaR is the real deal as a key reference here. As you poke around you'll see.

[Sherielle]

I want to be as open and honest as possible. Hence why my very first post I disclosed my business and interests. I would love to see if someone could make a mermaid tail from the Lunacet fin. I love the way it looks in the water.

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

I have helped engineer the Lunocet with the inventor to work as a hybrid between a "fin" and a "foil" and more of a "fluke".

They work by very different mechanisms.

A traditional mermaid tail is a low-aspect ratio and a glider is high-aspect ratio.

The Lunocet's flukes are in between and like a dolphin / whale (CETacean).

I COULD offer a Lunocet WITHOUT the rubber flukes moulded on the cores and some tail maker could make a low aspect ratio fin (silicone?) that looks like Darryl Hanna or similar...

I'm sure it would make a very solid foundation... With the comfort of cycling shoes:

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/04/fbc28a89773b3b44a18d36340c01f96d.jpg


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[PearlieMae]

With some engineering around the foot area to hide heels and whatnot, it could be pretty interesting.

Darryl Hannah's feet were right onto the fluke, which was made of butyrate.

[Echidna]

When I first read about the Lunocet and its principle (gliding rather than kicking, aka dolphin, not manatee), I wanted to buy one.
However, the cycling shoes sort of killed it for me.

Most pools here don't even allow a tail, they sure as heck won't let someone take shoes into the water (and I'm actually glad that they don't).
For those who live near temperate waters, I'm sure it must be a great monofin.

If someone plans to make a tail for it, they will need quite a bit of ingenuity though, as it will be tough to hide the outline of cycling shoes.

[AniaR]

*still totally willing to try*

[MerEmma]

I think it would really take someone in the community (Raina sounds willing, and a great candidate :P) to review the fin, tell us everything, someone with a lot of swimming/monofin experience who was unbiased to tell us the pros and cons of it before it will really become something everyone can get behind. I think that a lot of us have been attracted to extended tails for a while now, but there are drawbacks to having such a long tail. It's hard to justify such a high price when so many spend that much on an entire tail, not just the monofin.

All that said, I do look forward to when we finally have someone who owns the fin to tell us all about it.

Plus, I still have trouble imagining how to cover up such a thin pole inside of a tail without making it too heavy or too floaty. :P

[AniaR]

I was suggesting reviewing the neck weights actually :3 As someone performing a lot and always struggling with buoyancy I think I'd be a good mer to test it. My experience with a weight belt wasn't great and I currently put weights in my tail which is uncomfortable.

[Mermaid Mystery]

I nominate Raina

[AniaR]

Neck weights might of helped me out yesterday performing in the salty aquarium

Jeff you can check out my website here (http://halifaxmermaids.com) and my facebook here (https://www.facebook.com/RainaMermaid) for reference
https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11406699_1062724237095652_5485416459210754194_n.jp g?oh=68d81af7f1d7137781f0dd741efa7d40&oe=560052C5

[MerEmma]

I was suggesting reviewing the neck weights actually :3 As someone performing a lot and always struggling with buoyancy I think I'd be a good mer to test it. My experience with a weight belt wasn't great and I currently put weights in my tail which is uncomfortable.

Just as good! I'm more focused on the Lunocet since I don't usually have an issue sinking (may change when I get a tail) but I definitely think they could benefit you.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Neck weights are not practical for my kind of mermaid swimming. I do a lot of turns, flips and half turns (for changing directions), and don't swim in a straight line. I don't think a neck weight would be good for me. As I don't use the arms in front style, unless I want to go fast, nor do I swim at a snail's pace like the lady in your video. Plus my health isn't that great so I have to come up for air very often. Putting weights around my neck isn't going to work for me.

[Starfrit]

I've heard of neck weights being used for things like scuba diving, but for mermaiding... I'm not sure how well it would work for mermaiding.

Safety concerns aside-- I think others have addressed that well enough-- unlike scuba diving and most other forms of freediving, mermaiding is very much performance-based and has an incredible focus on aesthetics. Obviously practicality and efficiency plays into it, to a degree, but especially as a performer everything a mermaid wears generally needs to look "authentic." It's not just gear, it's a costume. It's why everything is usually covered in fishnet, seaweed and shells.

Some mermaids may find a neck weight useful, when used correctly, but from my understanding of them (as little as that is), they're often big, black bulky things that are hard to cover up to look more "mer." It's why mermaids who use weights often prefer to use smaller weights inside their tails, or use belts that are much easier to cover up and disguise with shells and netting; they doesn't break the illusion of a mermaid in the same way a big bulky neck weight would, and aren't as immediately obvious.

That said, if there were a way to dress it up a bit, make it look more like a proper mermaid neckpiece without breaking the illusion or making it so bulky that it gets in the way of arm/shoulder movement, I think it could be a useful tool for people who have trouble sinking or staying below the surface (my current tail is also my first, and is made of super buoyant neoprene so I have to work really hard to keep myself underwater, for example) and be a bit better received overall, but in the meantime without any modification I'm not sure how popular of an option it would be as-is. Personally, I'm not currently into mermaiding for the performance aspect of it, as I've only just gotten my first tail so I'm more focused on strengthening my swim, breathing and exercise, so the current look of one isn't a huge concern for me. If I had the funds for one, I'd probably get a lighter one just to try it out, at the very least.

I think letting Raina do a review of one of your neck weights would sort of help ease a lot of people's concerns; I think she's among the most experienced of anyone here, and would be able to give other wary merfolk a better idea of the pros and cons to wearing one. :D

[Princess Pearl]

I don't think I personally would be comfortable with something of that size around my neck. Never mind the weight, its so big Id be worried about it feeling like I'm being strangled, then panic and not be able to get it off. I think I'll just stick to being floaty

[MarkF]

You wouldn't use only the neckless. I think if you wanted to use weights to achieve neutral buoyancy or be less floaty "Technical term" to slow how fast you float to the top without kicking you'd use multiple pieces and disguise them. Then it's how much and how deep your working?
Pearls would be a natural find for a Mermaid.
Oh, remember this idea is for the advanced Mermaid. Someone that easily swim and can hold their breath for 30 seconds plus.
Your lungs with air float, bones don’t. Pretty much your lungs float you up. At 33 feet your lungs are half the size because they are being squished by the heavy water. If you have just enough weight for swimming at 6 feet it will be too much at 20. Scuba divers start with to much weight then fill a bag with air so they don’t sink anymore and not so much air they float to the top. They adjust it while swimming up and down. It’s called a BC “buoyancy compensator”, it’s generally a vest. Some fish swallow a rock to stay on the bottom and spit it out when done. Merfolk will need a way to add or remove their weights for adjustments.

[MarkF]

Here a photo that Chris Crumley sent me. This was taken in a pool. Where'd they hide the weights, their good at it!
He's got great timing.
30351

30352

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Beautiful pics!


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[Yulia]

If you let out all of the air in your lungs you can stay at the bottom without floating up.
5-10 seconds is enough to take a few shots.

[Echidna]

Indeed.
That pool looks about 1,50m deep, maybe less depending on if/how much it is photoshopped.
In that depth or even less, I can lie on the bottom without fully exhaling.
Someone who is a sinker, will not even need to exhale to lie on the bottom like a rock. I've seen it.
I don't know why everyone is assuming all mermaids are floaters :p

[Keiris]

Jeff, first of all, thank you for sharing your knowledge and videos on here regardless if some people seem rude or unappreciative. You swim absolutely beautifully and effortlessly in your monofin and your breathhold is amazing! You would have no trouble at all adapting to a silicone tail once you got use to the decorative elements of it and the way the tail pulls as opposed to a bare monofin. Please take pictures if you ever do!

Secondly, people sell their tails, their jewelry, their scale bracers, scale bras, hair clips, sea animal accessories and all manner of things are "advertised" on here. No different from what you are doing and you are just as justified doing it as any of them.

Your weighted pearl idea is genius for all the mers that swim deeper, swim in large aquariums, and certainly for photo shoots under the water. I have ALWAYS had trouble staying deep enough in my tail for still pictures as I naturally want to float. It is a very common problem with all of the mers I do photo shoots with. Your idea of the weighted pearls could be added to the girls' shell and Scale bras and easily worked into the design. They could be done as strands of pearls attached to the netting we wear as belts (weight-belt, duh) and also in arm bands, bracelets and necklaces as you said. There is a niche for that idea and it was logical for you to come to this network with it, so thank you for that.

As for the Lunocet, the design would be great for the extended tail that some mers admire. Depending on the material of the flukes, I would use that as a base to build the silicone fluke on rather than remove them completely. You need something for propulsion. The silicone by itself is too floppy in the deeper water.

BTW, the Mermaids in the salt water aquarium in Vegas at the Mermaid Show could definitely benefit from your weighted pearls. They have to use weights to keep them neutrally buoyant as well, and their costume designer used ugly rectangular weights sewn into their flesh colored part of their unitails. They looked like tumors. ugh. But they are definitely needed because they spend a lot of time near the bottom waving at kids through the glass. Decorative "pearls" would be so much more believable and just as efficient.

[Mermaid Cascada]

Jeff, first of all, thank you for sharing your knowledge and videos on here regardless if some people seem rude or unappreciative. You swim absolutely beautifully and effortlessly in your monofin and your breathhold is amazing! You would have no trouble at all adapting to a silicone tail once you got use to the decorative elements of it and the way the tail pulls as opposed to a bare monofin. Please take pictures if you ever do!

Secondly, people sell their tails, their jewelry, their scale bracers, scale bras, hair clips, sea animal accessories and all manner of things are "advertised" on here. No different from what you are doing and you are just as justified doing it as any of them.

Your weighted pearl idea is genius for all the mers that swim deeper, swim in large aquariums, and certainly for photo shoots under the water. I have ALWAYS had trouble staying deep enough in my tail for still pictures as I naturally want to float. It is a very common problem with all of the mers I do photo shoots with. Your idea of the weighted pearls could be added to the girls' shell and Scale bras and easily worked into the design. They could be done as strands of pearls attached to the netting we wear as belts (weight-belt, duh) and also in arm bands, bracelets and necklaces as you said. There is a niche for that idea and it was logical for you to come to this network with it, so thank you for that.

As for the Lunocet, the design would be great for the extended tail that some mers admire. Depending on the material of the flukes, I would use that as a base to build the silicone fluke on rather than remove them completely. You need something for propulsion. The silicone by itself is too floppy in the deeper water.

BTW, the Mermaids in the salt water aquarium in Vegas at the Mermaid Show could definitely benefit from your weighted pearls. They have to use weights to keep them neutrally buoyant as well, and their costume designer used ugly rectangular weights sewn into their flesh colored part of their unitails. They looked like tumors. ugh. But they are definitely needed because they spend a lot of time near the bottom waving at kids through the glass. Decorative "pearls" would be so much more believable and just as efficient.

Agreed :clap:
I also think weights could easily be incorporated into a mers outfit.


Also, Jeff, thanks for the knowledge. Maybe you could add onto our threads about breath holding? It'd be cool to hear from someone with your experience.

[AniaR]

Chris actually edits the hell out of those photos ;) I've seen the before and after. You can often see the weights he just edits em out!

[Keiris]

Chris actually edits the hell out of those photos ;) I've seen the before and after. You can often see the weights he just edits em out!

Now see, if she had some of Jeff's decorative "pearl-weights" not only would she be able to stay in place better without waving her arms constantly for traction, she'd look like she went pearl diving and no wasted time/expense editing!

Jeff, I think this would be easier for people to visualize with an example. Say one of our mers weighs 130 lbs., her tail weighs another 30 lbs., and she's doing a photo shoot in the bottom of a tank or pool. How many strands of your "pearl-weights" would she need to incorporate into her costume to become neutrally buoyant? Keep in mind a strand might be incorporated into a shell bra, another as a necklace and another with maybe larger "pearls" intertwined in a seaweed or net belt.

I realize each body is different and requires a different amount depending on what the mer is doing and the added weight of his/her tail. :)

[Mermaid Mystery]

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/08/8191cd0f3e7347d53b907e387fa3cead.jpghttp://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06/08/5157973453b662ad40aaaa4c54691713.jpg
I know this isn't neck weight related but this is the lunocet in a magictail

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Keiris: thanks for the warm welcome!
Everyone needs different weighting in freediving and it gets WAY more individual with all of these funky tails of silicone, neoprene, etc.

I'll share the best way of determining weight placement shortly.

Cascada: I'll post a way that everyone here if decent herh can hold their breath at least 3:00 and some... 4:00 or even 5:00 within 2-3 weeks of training! :o

Labyrinth: WOW - who's tail is that? It looks like a 2014 Lunocet Pro.

How does the magictail fasten over the end of the flukes? Velcro / ties?


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[Echidna]

:jawdrop:
looks like the Magictail is made for the Lunocet!

That aren't cycling shoes though? Looks like a "normal" footpocket?
If this version is purchaseable, I'll probably rework some of my tails and get one.

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

There is a newer version available that has been improved and the "flukes" are near identical in dimension and will fit if the 2014 fit.

Cool!


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[Mermaid Mystery]

magictails have little pockets at the ends of the fluke that you can fit a few monofins into. I found the pictures on Facebook a while ago from German mermaid Meerjungfrauentreff Nord

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

I think that if I were to don a tail... This would have to be the one for me. :D

Now to find a local meet up! :D


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[Keiris]

I think that if I were to don a tail... This would have to be the one for me. :D

Now to find a local meet up! :D


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The Magictail is certainly a lot lighter and more streamline than silicone. It's like wearing a bathingsuit that covers your legs. It would be a piece of cake for you, Jeff, if you already swim with that fin!

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

Slightly off topic, but wow, your breath hold is amazing! If you could share some tips/techniques with us, that would be fantastic!

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

3 easy steps:

1) inhale deeply
2) stay relaxed and swim really far
3) come up for air before you blackout

;)

In all seriousness, relaxation IS key and I'll post some drills to help get you comfortable with the discomfort of prolonged breath holds.

Of course it needs to be disclaimed that proper, trained safeties / buddies IN THE POOL (not a lifeguard - they are useless) is a prerequisite.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rett]

I'd be willing to try one, but i'm still not sure about it inside a tail. Especially in a fabric tail. It looks fine from above, but you can bet light will shine through and show that single slender piece between the foot pocket and the fin from under.

[Keiris]

I'd be willing to try one, but i'm still not sure about it inside a tail. Especially in a fabric tail. It looks fine from above, but you can bet light will shine through and show that single slender piece between the foot pocket and the fin from under.

I bet that could be padded pretty easily.

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

The "peduncle" of the Lunocet is double-hinged and replicates the unique "ball-vertebrae" of a dolphin and replicates the swimming action of many Cetaceans.

It is a vertebrae with a large rubber spring to provide resistance and return it back to centre. This hinged mechanism is unique to the Lunocet.

Normally when I dive, I'm the deepest living thing, so not many ppl see me from below... Unless I'm breathing up on the surface. :D

A Dolphins tail is actually quite narrow before the flukes and MANY fish are as well (although rotated 90*).

I think the question is... Are mermaids fish or mammals / gills or lungs / up and down, or side-to-side!?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Keiris]

There have actually been Mers on here whose tails are shaped and colored like dolphins, killer whales etc. I think most prefer the more impossible combination of fish and human because of the exotic nature of it. The myriad colors, fin shapes, scale patterns, shimmer, sparkle, stripes etc. make for more magical options. I personally, like the thought of only having to surface if you want to rather than have to.

[malinghi]

Ha, this thread is a roller coaster. So much going on. About the lunocet, I think many people in this community, myself included have fantasized about how a lunocet could be integrated into a tail. I was so into the idea that a couple years ago I even tried to reverse engineer a poor man's version, although my attempt was unsurprisingly a failure. But if you or someone else here could figure out how to do it, man, that would be the coolest.

The lunocet intersects with another topic in this thread- the relationship between mermaiding and freediving. While for some people mermaiding is almost entirely about performing and aesthetics, I'm in the camp where swimming as a merman is about fulfilling a fantasy, and that definitely includes anything that can extend my down time and make me feel like an aquatic creature, not just look like one. So what you've been saying is possibly more relevant for people like me.

About the neck weights, I'm pretty neutral (no pun intended). I've never heard of them but I believe you when you say they're a real thing. I don't totally get it since I feel like having weights at the waist makes the most sense since it's close to your center of mass. Also 5-7 lbs seems like a lot. I wear 12 lbs when I dive with my 7mm wetsuit. Also, I think silicone tails are negatively buoyant. I'd be willing to try a little weight on my neck, but I'd probably start with 1 or 2 lbs and see what I think.

[AptaMer]

Lots of freedivers use neck weights, both for vertical diving on a line, and for dynamic events (swimming horizontally underwater in a pool.)

IME, for recreational freediving in open water, and for spearfishing, a weightbelt is better, but when diving vertically, you've have the issue of a weightbelt falling down around your chest when you're upside-down. The solutions available are to use a rubber belt and stretch it really tight (which interferes with your breathe-up) or attach a strap through your crotch (which increases drag) or use a neck weight.

You can see Niki Roderick wearing a neck weight in this video of a vertical line dive that Echidna posted previously.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMR4VHqlvOI

You can see it hanging on her chin as she descends. This is one of the more annoying things about neck weights IME.

For dynamic it's important to be able to stay effortlessly aligned in the water. Many freedivers who tend to float heads higher in the water find a neck weight helps them stay aligned horizontally. Divers who float horizontally naturally do better with a weight belt. I have one buddy who needs a lot of weight so she uses both a weight belt and a neck weight to stay aligned.

One of the instructors at the Toronto Freediving club has published a webpage on how to make your own neck weight

http://enjoyfreediving.com/2011/03/06/making-a-freediving-neck-weight/

IME though, the majority of mermaids & mermen have the opposite problem to freedivers. Most I've seen swim with their tail higher than their heads, and a neck weight will only make this worse. I'm speculating that this might be from small amounts of air trapped in the tail? Cricket from Otter Bay Wetsuits makes a monofin with attached weights to help balance people wearing their mermaid suit out, but I think this is a bad idea. Fins move all the time, and heavy ones will just tire you out. Also, they are impossible to ditch in an emergency. This would also be true of ankle weights inside a tail. I think a weight belt seated low on the hips might be the way to go.

This video of the Cirque du Soleil sychro team performing in the film Journey of Man shows a solution the costume designers came up with for a weight belt that looks cool and fits in with their costume theme, instead of looking "weight-belt'y". It is also very fast to ditch because it is attached with velcro.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7putrHPNZ-w

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