Mertailor Odyssey Unboxing and First Swim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_oHRwqGFBk
Unboxing - Wow~!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqylT6F3ISA
First Swim - Double Wow~!
A bit of background, as of the present:
The Odyssey tails are an experimental batch of 12 full silicone tails in set "stock" sizes (four each of light blue, gold, and the dark blue shown in the video) that Eric announced via Instagram in early May. They are made to fit 28-30" waist and 35-37" around the hips, and are all 42" long. They have continuous fins running down the sides, providing a very sturdy bond for the silicone front and back halves and encasing the scuba knit liner which is bonded into the silicone and, in my opinion, is super comfy. The fluke is his Fantasea Too shape, and is solid silicone with no monofin blade. Eric has hinted that more small batches of different sizes and color schemes may be released in the future, but has not given any information as to whether different fin sets are in the works.
A short review:
This is my first silicone tail, and it was an very pleasant experience. First of all, it arrived suuuuuper early. Like, almost a month early. I have a totally unfounded hunch that Eric may just have waited a month to pack up and send off the one that was used for photos in the Instagram announcement... but I'm okay with that, because it arrived quickly, it was clean and smelled fresh when I opened the package (even though UPS did their best to beat the heck out of it), and it looks unworn, with only the word "odyssey" inscribed in pink marker on the inner liner. I can't confirm whether or not this was the case, but it's mine now.
First of all, the silicone is lined with soft, silky scuba knit and that made the tail very easy to put on, even for a complete noob. I went from human to mermaid in under five minutes. I only needed to reach in between my shins once to get the second foot into the foot pocket. The silicone is a good 1/4" thick at the waist and seems to be the same all over the body. The fluke tips look quite pinkish on land, but show up as translucent silver in the water. I was kind of concerned about this before the first swim, but the other videos on my channel show how the tail looks underwater.
It's a dream to swim in once all the air is out, and as long as I take care not to scoop any air into it when diving (it gaps at the waist, since I'm a little squishy), as it lacks ANY vents in the fluke portion of the tail. This may be good, as far as durability is concerned, but it requires care when entering the water and when interfacing with the surface. The Fantasea Too fluke is graceful and mighty underwater due to its large surface area, and even the smallest ripple of movement sets me in motion. I'm also pretty sure the side fins actually help channel water in some weird way that makes the body propulsive in some minor way. The tail weighs just over 30lbs on land, but is only slightly negatively buoyant in water, which is helpful for a floaty land lubber like me.
After two solid hours of swimming, I only had one little hot spot on my inner right ankle. Considering that I would be riddled with blisters and numb in both legs after two hours of swimming in anything else, this is a triumph. I was able to shuck the tail underwater in less than a minute, and it's drying next to me on the couch right now with some pool noodles and a small desk fan stuck into it.
Just watch the videos. They convey the wonder better than text ever could.
