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Thread: Silicone tail

  1. #1

    Silicone tail

    Can you scuba dive wearing a silicone tail, like 60ft or so down? I'm sure the silicone will stretch enough for the wetsuit.

    Just unsure how it would do at those depths. I only saw them on the surface.

  2. #2
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    Hannah Fraser and Linden W. Use their tails to free dive, I am not sure how deep they are eligable to go but they do use them. Otterbay swimsuits sells tails that you can scauba dive in
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  3. #3
    Freediving and Scuba diving are two very different things, I would say silicone tails for freediving would be fine but I wouldn't take a tail scuba diving. I'm assuming you meant freediving?

  4. #4
    Scuba diving. With a tank underwater for a length of time.

  5. #5
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    Uh...I dont believe that you can do that with a tail. I suggest using an otterbay mermaid suit, they are for scuba diving
    "Silence is beautiful, not awkward. The human tendency to be afraid of something beautiful is awkward."

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Mermaid Aqua View Post
    Uh...I dont believe that you can do that with a tail. I suggest using an otterbay mermaid suit, they are for scuba diving
    I am crazy enough to try it.

  7. #7
    my scuba instructor had no problem with the idea, but go ask a scuba store next time you pass. thats a good question. the tank gets in the way of the dolphin kick, ill tell ya that.
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  8. #8
    Alright time for my little rant,

    Scuba diving is a fairly dangerous hobby - in the last six months two divers have died in the same state that I live in and I saw a man die when I actually was on my Open Water certification, so please do try and take the safety aspect seriously.

    I have scuba dived (in about 2m of water) with a monofin on and I would not try it again. You can't really dolphin kick properly with the tank on and also using your monofin to propel you is clumsy and doesn't maintain good buoyancy. This is just with the monofin, not the full tail. With the full tail if you have ANY problem at depth you need to be able to get yourself or your buddy to the surface which using a tail could prohibit. This is super important when dealing with the safety of a buddy because in a tail your ability to turn (with a tank on) is completely encumbered. I have once dived with a tail on which was in 1m of water with a whooole bunch of people and easy out of water access, this was just with a fabric tail which is much easier to take on and off than a silicone one. It very difficult once a BCD is inflated to turn onto your back to surface swim which is important if you're out in the ocean and boats can't get to you.

    Also should you get in some kind of problem where you need to ditch the tail it would take time and effort to get the tail off completly and get down to the monofin to release your feet. Since time can be a factor, I wouldn't advise it. But essentially with diving you need to be able to get out of your gear quickly and the tail doesn't really allow it.

    I think scuba diving with a tail would be very risky and I think its a really, really bad idea.

  9. #9
    So I quickly looked up the Otter Bay mermaid suits,

    http://www.otterbaysuits.com/Videos/OtterbayMermaid.mpg

    Safety Concern 1:
    Note how she kneels on the sand to take a look at something under a ledge, that is improper buoyancy and a really dumb way to dive. If you don't have proper buoyancy and you're on a reef than the likelihood is that you'll be destroying coral and critters. I say its a safety concern because a friend of mine kneeled down once and manage to go straight on a numbray so he got an electric shock. That was rather amusing but it would've been a lot less amusing if it had been on a hidden blue ringed octopus.

    Safety Concern 2:
    From that video the diver is missing a key piece of equipment which is a BCD, i'm not sure how she will manage to float on the surface without one. Also on the surface without a BCD she'd have to support herself + her tank + the weights just by repeatedly dolphin kicking. If the boat isn't there, if the current carried you off, if you got disoriented this would be a big problem.

    Safety Concern 3:
    With the lack of BCD the diver also has stored her Occy (secondary regulator) and Console behind her back. Your occy should be within a triangle on the front of your body, the triangle being from the reg in your mouth to either side of your chest. If your buddy has an issue with their regulator and panicks then it is likely they'll reach for ANY air source which could be the one you're breathing. So you NEED the secondary one to be on hand.

  10. #10
    Personally, I think it is a horrible idea to scuba dive with a tail, even a monofin.
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  11. #11
    With the safety concerns listed, I won't even try to swim with one.

  12. #12
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    @lasserine Silicone tails are safe to swim in. You just need to be a strong swimmer and not use it for deep diving or scuba.

  13. #13
    hehe sorry, meant scuba diving with one.

  14. #14
    Aradia... I couldn't have said it better! I have played around just trying to do the dolphin kick with my tank (with regular fins) and it is nearly impossible and very clumsy. I would be scared to death if I had my tail on and something went wrong. Although the idea seems like it would be cool to do, safety wise it would be a nightmare. I had entertained the thought of maybe buddy-breathing along side my hubby but then thought, if my tail isn't weighted I could pop up during the ascent and then I would be in big trouble! Unfortunately the two just don't lend themselves to being done together.... unless you have a crew of scuba divers around you like Hannah does when she does her deeper free-dives and buddy breaths occasionally to stay down for her photos and videos. But that is really dangerous also and I'm sure she uses all precautions necessary to do so...

  15. #15
    She's also a trained professional. O.O
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  16. #16
    Yeah, but they freedive instead of scuba. With scuba the golden rule is: keep breathing at a normal, consistant rate and thats pretty much the opposite with freediving.
    I mean, when you breathe air at depth you have a whole bunch of different problems than you do breathing on the surface such as nitrogen building up in your bloodstream and compression at depth. If you were trying to swim and somehow broke the surface from the deep (which I have seen done) you could run the risk of the bends and in one case I heard of a collapsed lung.

  17. #17
    This is a great thread! There is so much great information here.

    Done safely, scuba is amazing. I adore it to pieces. But I do shallow dives with dive masters nearby. Monofins just would not work - they were designed specifically for freediving.

    I think snuba would work better with a monofin/tail.
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  18. #18
    I am sure going from the monofin to normal fins will take a little bit to readjust.

  19. #19
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    Diving with a tail sounds like it has its risks, but the same can be said for night diving, cold water diving, cave diving, deep water diving, NITROX...

    It would be foolish to attempt it without proper consideration of the risks, however if you have enough experience, I think its possible. Start with planning, then practice in a pool with a capable buddy. I'd make a tail with a zipper up the side, and a long pull tab. Practice unzipping it with a mask on, simulate cutting it up the middle with a dive knife, and learn how it affects your mobility. Ask instructors at your local dive shop for advice, and proceed very slowly before even considering open water.

  20. #20
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    That was supposed to say, "then with your mask off,"...

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