How do you size a Monofin to fit skinny feet?

[MerMarla]

Hi all you Monofin Mers!!! I have been looking for a means to fit a monofin to my skinny feet. (I should say narrow, but my feet are the only thing skinny on me at the moment! LOL!) I measure 10.5 inches (26 cm) when standing on a ruler. I normally wear a size 10, in a shoe or sandal, and more often than not an 11 in a winter boot. I always have to wear heavy socks in shoes or boots because I can rarely find them in narrow. Some shoes I can add an extra foot bed, so I can use a medium weight sock! My old nursing shoes were AAA with AAAAA heel. I now wear an A or AA width if I can find them (mostly I wear sport sneakers and riding boots). I've been used to my Voit (now retired Weeki fins) and Speedo rubber fins; they are awesome because they fit my feet with out neoprene socks. How do you go about finding a monofin that fits narrow feet? I could use neoprene !/2 socks, but would prefer not, because they are slippery (I still have my wet suit booties!), and I love how snug my fins fit!

I can always stay with my Speedo fins, for my Spandex MerTails' fluke, but would like to progress to maybe a Competitor, LeaderFin, SpecialFin, or similar in the near future. Anyone have a Competitor to borrow for a week to try out before buying? I would pay shipping both ways! I need to figure this out or some how save $$$ for a custom foot pocket.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks!

(((HUGz))) and Bubble https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/e/B0C'z
Mermaid Marla

[Echidna]

My feet are very narrow (3 inches at the broadest point, and just short of 11 inches in length),
and so far, I haven't come across any problems regarding width- on the contrary,
in some custom monofins the feet are pressed so hard together even I need socks to prevent blisters.

I had the smallest available size of the Competitor, and it fit very snugly around the heels- no problem at all with getting loose-, however, my feet were visibly too short for the pocket.
I had no problems executing the kick, but the brunt of the anklesnap was taken by my toes, and they were really badly blistered after my usual 2 hour session.
If you can wear thick neoprene socks, it might be better.

So my experience is, narrow feet are no problem with monofins, but the footpockets are made for people with incredibly long feet apparently :p

[MerMarla]

Thank you Caltuna! I tend to forget fins and monofins are designed around men's size feet! Which is why, I think, the foot pocket on your monofin is so long! Also, in watching some of the free-diving videos, divers seem to be relatively tall and slender men. I don't see many women, it seems in the sport, but there are a few "big names" and they are slender too! So maybe the manufacturers design the foot pockets around the professional athletes competing in the dive events. If you win a gold, silver or bronze in those events, the manufacturers tend to listen, in order to sell product!

So you went for a Small size (not the Medium size) in the Competitor? Ahhh, ok! I was looking at the sizing charts and maybe forgot to take the men's sizing into consideration, I was thinking Medium based on my foot length. I will get the neoprene socks :::sigh::: Thanks for the "toe warning"! Right now, I am working up to 3 hours a week. My Doctor says to take it easy and build up slowly (I am recovering from a concussion, so I still have balance problems, and headaches, other things, but I'm getting better!)

I have one pair of fins, very old, that are lined with 1/4 inch (6mm) neoprene and they are the most comfortable fins I ever wore! The neoprene is stitched to the foot pocket, no slipping. I don't think they are made any more, (NeoFin) because I would have liked one size up (I bought them on Ebay). They just float way too much so I'd have to wear ankle weights to compensate for floating tendency... they were really made for swimming not mermaiding! LOL!

Have you tried any other monofin other than the Competitor, say SpecialFin or LeaderFin? Rumor has it they will make a foot pocket to fit your foot, if theirs doesn't fit (now talking custom made monofin and more money).

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly!

(((HUGz))) and Bubble https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/e/B0C'z
Mermaid Marla

[Echidna]

Sorry to hear about your concussion!

I have to take it slowly too, because I frequently suffer from severe headaches and vertigo,
and if I swim in cold water, I usually get a fever bout after which lasts for several days.
Won't stop me though (coz I'd have that without swimming too lol).

Because I'm in Europe, I wanted a Leaderfins first; checked several European finmakers,
but decided to not order from them because of the shipping costs being more than the fin itself!

Edit.
My Rapid arrived today, and I tried it out.
It's a sturdy little thing and has a really nice kick :)
I definitely recommend it for everyone who doesn't want too big a fluke for whatever reasons, and still be reasonably fast.
It's a one-size-fits-all.
I used it with socks. The straps are very flexible, and as long as your feet aren't broad, you should be able to wear it with almost any footlength.
Better yet; I've never had this little blisters- none, actually- after swimming for 2 hours.

[AptaMer]

Hey MerMarla,

There is a monofin company you could contact about your sizing issues. There's an Estonian company, SpecialFins, that will put custom inserts in your footpockets to make them fit better. Also, while their prices aren't cheap, I think €100 (maybe about $130?) is actually a very good price for the level of fin they're making. Maybe the price is that good because you're buying direct from the manufacturer, not though a dealer?

Anyhow, here's the link to their monofins http://www.specialfins.com/eng_products.php?menu_id=14 , and here's the link to the foot pocket customization info http://www.specialfins.com/eng_products.php?product_id=11 , also, for €10 extra, they'll print your name on the fin.

[MerMarla]

Hi AptaMer! I have drooled over SpecialFins, and will have too look at them seriously again. I looked months ago when I gave some thought to getting back into mermaiding. I will check out the links! I think their prices aren't too bad considering Finis Competitor is around $300US (€230). I wonder what the shipping cost is from Estonia? I will have to email them and find out. I am experimenting on a pair of old Speedo Fins, to make them into a mono fin. If this doesn't work I will probably go this way. Competitor is just too expensive.

Thank you!
Mermaid Marla

[Echidna]

I was looking at them too, and the shipping costs were around 100€ for me (and I live practically around the corner).
Since the fin I was looking at costs 90€, I ditched the idea buying from them, and got a Finis from amazon instead.

[Mermaid Tasia]

I bought a Finis Wave and used swim socks to help keep my feet in. Also, I flipped my band around since the shape of it encouraged it so slide off my heels. Since then, it has worked PERFECT!