Silicone Monofin?

[Mermaid_Sarah]

Would it work if I built a monofin out of silicone? Only the monofin would be silicone and the rest would probably be fabric. Because I really like the look of the silicone monofins, but can only afford for part of my mermaid tail to be silicone. Do you guys think that would work?

[LittlePolly]

I don't think just the silicone would give a good propulsion, that's why most of the silicone tails do have monfins inside them. ;)

[halesloveswhales]

The Mertailor's new monofin is made of just silicone.
https://www.themertailor.com/monofin-flipper
I think a lot of tailmakers now don't put real monofins in their silicone tails now. You'd probably just have to make it really thick.

[MerEmma]

FlipTails is the only one I know of that doesn't use a monofin...Eric's silicone tails use a monofin that he makes (lexan or something? dunno). As far as I know he's the only one to make a silicone monofin--which doesn't provide much propulsion and I'd imagine it's pretty darn heavy too but it seems like a unique idea anyway. Silicone is just softer rubber and the MerFin, and a few others I *think* are made of rubber.

[jazz2453]

If you did rubber, you'd probably have to use a hard curing one. The foil is made of rubber.

[PearlieMae]

Even if you did an all rubber (hard curing) fluke, it would still have too much give to propel you very much. It would be alright for dry gigs, shallow water, and pools, but I wouldn't try ocean swimming with it.

[Firemaid]

Would it work if I built a monofin out of silicone? Only the monofin would be silicone and the rest would probably be fabric. Because I really like the look of the silicone monofins, but can only afford for part of my mermaid tail to be silicone. Do you guys think that would work?

I think this would be lovely. You would probably want some sort of monofin inside though. You could use a very cheap one. Sometimes I find Finis foils on amazon for $25. :)

[MerEmma]

The Oceanika has a pretty good kick, pretty dang fast. I wouldn't use it in the ocean necessarily but it does have good propulsion. I don't know about the Foil since I've never used it, though.

[Elle]

I've used the oceanika in the ocean....provided you have the core strength and a very competent swimmer you'd have no issues, but if you've never swam in a monofin before or tail I wouldn't recommend it straight up

[Fun123joker]

nope. it kinda brings down the point of the mono fin. its easy to explain to swimmers about how to move in a tail becuase of the monofin (i only let swimmers try it on and i mean people who o it as a sport. other then that nope)

[Mermaid_Sarah]

Yeah I wouldn't use it in the ocean since I live in Arizona! I'll probably put a monofin inside the silicone :)

[MerEmma]

I've used the oceanika in the ocean....provided you have the core strength and a very competent swimmer you'd have no issues, but if you've never swam in a monofin before or tail I wouldn't recommend it straight up

True, I probably could get away with it on a calm day. :)

[PearlieMae]

I forget that not everyone is a strong swimmer!

[Anahita]

MVD tails don't have monofins - they're all silicone with foot pockets. I've heard people say they're uncomfortable. It'd cover a monofin with silicone if I were you.

Keep in mind though, this means you're going to have to buy all the stuff to cast silicone - so the cost is probably going to be a bit up there.... (I'm only mentioning this because you mentioned affordability in your OP)

[JamesGunnels]

yeah, I'd definitely just try with a monofin with a silicone fluke cover. The silicone would have to be really thick and even then it would be too flimsy to propel you fast enough under water.

[Blondie]

Aren't there different hardnesses of the silicone? I guess a harder silicone would give you more propulsion

[Anahita]

Aren't there different hardnesses of the silicone? I guess a harder silicone would give you more propulsion

There are. You're thinking of the shore 30 silicone. It is harder, but still not really hard enough to give propulsion like a rubber or plastic monofin (the shore 30 is still softer than a finis foil) It'd work well if you are a good swimmer and don't NEED the extra propulsion and are just going for the look though.

[Mermaid Oshun]

I had my Merdiva Basic monofin produced in a product that has a shore hardness of 80. It was extremely heavy and still too floppy. Fiberglass, polypropylene, and lexan are all good monfin materials with regular dragonskin or sorta clear