Mertailor Tail too heavy to swim in?

[Mahi Mermaid]

Hi guys,
so I just got my mertailor realistic-latex tail and of course it's too big, especially when I swim its almost double what it is when it's dry and my butt comes out BUUUUT that can be fixed with a belt.

What I'm more concerned with is how my feet in the monofin foot pockets keep popping out while swimming and not only that but the fluke is too heavy for me to lift up (it's not heavy because I'm weak, it's heavy because I think the foot pockets are too far from the weight of the fluke?)

Does anyone have this problem? seems like if the foot pockets were a bit more toward the end of the fluke and not so close to the top, it'd be better supported when I swim?

I have other mermaid tails same weight and they swim just find, this one is just really "bottom heavy" I guess???

[AniaR]

if your tail is too big, it could mean your collecting too much drag which could contribute to the fluke being hard to lift. If your fluke glued down or does it collect water? If it's not glued down, water and air is collecting and could be why it's hard to lift. If it is glued down the actual stuff it's glued down with may be what's causing it to be heavy. Does your tail have neoprene on the inside or is it all latex? It's hard to figure out what could be weighing it down without photos. I found my mertailor tail was impossible to lift the fluke and very difficult to swim in- then I had Raven fix it up for me and it was easier. But my tail would have been bought 2 years ago and his methods have change since then. A few people on the forum have found recent issues with the foot pockets and having the stuff used to glue the fin down leak into the foot pockets. If that's the case, it could be why your feet pop out. But you may also need to reach down in their and adjust the straps yourself to make them tighter.

Do you have any pics or video? I think if we see it, it would be easier to give advice. Also, you should try contacting Eric about the sizing issues and ask him about the fluke too

[Mahi Mermaid]

He doesn't help me- I have contacted him about the huge rash I got when I first opened it out of the package...

And water does fill up in the fluke- when I get out of the water, water just spills all over the place. What glue could I use to glue down the fluke better?

The tail of course has neoprene then latex but I think the entire fluke is latex/silicone?

[AniaR]

ugh id be asking for a refund with all the issues you've had.

Gluing down the fluke can be done with any hardware silicone etc, the tricky part is- the best way to do it is to cut a small hole in the side of the fluke to fit the nozzle in, squeeze the glue in, then roll it out with a rolling pin or something. When it's all done, you'll wanna close the hole back up and thats usually done best by using whatever he made the tail with. If it's latex, you'll need a clear drying latex. Also, the inside of the fluke can take a really long time.

If you haven't yet already, you should write an entire review of your experience and post it in the mertailor review section.

[BlueMermaid]

I recently got a latex mertailor tail too. If your feet are coming out, you probably just need to tighten the straps behind your ankles. But AniaR is right, I had to pull some silicone out of the toe area of my tail to get my feet in properly.

As for the weight of the fluke, yes there is alot of weight on the ends, but it shouldn't prevent you from swimming. You may just need to practice getting the correct flow. Then those heavy ends will just flow up and down with your movement. If the water is getting down in the ends of the fluke, then you may have to glue that down because that will make swimming almost impossible.





In my experience, all tails, except fabric get water in them, and you have to empty them out when your done. There is just no where for the water to go once it's in there, and there is really no good way of keeping it out, even in a proper fitting tail. My silicone tail was made with a body cast of my body but the waist still gaps open sometimes.

[Theta]

I got lucky with my Mertailor tail; outside of a few small problems it was basically what was advertised. About the heaviness of the fluke, though:

My fluke stayed glued together (it's starting to bubble a little now, but that's wear and tear, I think, and it's not too bad.) That being said, the fluke is incredibly heavy when it's wet. I bruised my feet pretty bad one day trying to flip it out of the water while sitting on a dock. With MT tails you have to keep in mind that the ones on the website, where the flukes are clearly wet but are pointing skyward prettily, are staged/propped up/photoshopped. None of his tails behave like that when wet. There are a couple of unshopped pictures of Mermaid Melissa in one of his latex tails floating around that are accurately floppy. I've also found that it's very difficult to get them to flip up out of the water when I'm diving down (like in Splash.) However, the whole thing is neutrally buoyant in the water.

Just my two cents. Good luck with the other issues though, and bummer that your tail doesn't measure up :(

[AniaR]

this is why I love my Raven tail, no water goes in the fluke and the fluke is totally solid yet still light enough I can lift it very easily right out of the water even when swimming :D

[Theta]

Oooh yeah Raina! You have no idea how excited I am to experience that myself. I'm gonna be Splashflipping all over the place! :D

[AniaR]

you will love it :D

[Mermaid Star]

If your monofin straps are adjustable, Tighten them down so that they are nice and tight. This will help with the swimming and how heavy the fluke feels. When I made my tail. I put my monofin on after I glued the fluke halves down. The fluke was heavy but not that too bad. After I added the scales it became very difficult to get the monofin on and I found that I couldn't get both monofin straps on (which is why I have to do tail surgery) and it became much more difficult to lift the fluke, actually damn near impossible to lift the 12lb fluke. So hopefully if you tighten the straps (if the straps are adjustable) that should help. If you are having bubbling issues. I would recommend E-6000. It is very strong, flexible, and dries with in 24 hours. It is expensive for the amount that you need. But it works extremely well!