Page 6 of 8 FirstFirst ... 2345678 LastLast
Results 101 to 120 of 151

Thread: Mertailor Fabric Tails Thread

  1. #101
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    14,650
    woop woop finally up thanks to Sean's hard work! My review of my Mertailor Fantasea 3

  2. #102
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    14,650
    For anyone interested here's a montage of my experiences in the Fantasea 3! I have a review on this on my channel, but sometimes it's nice to just see the swim without commentary and judge for yourself. Very fast monofin! Showing it in ocean, fresh, and pool water.

  3. #103
    Senior Member Pod of Texas Mermaid_Rain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    Houston, Tx
    Posts
    132
    Add Mermaid_Rain on Facebook
    Visit Mermaid_Rain's Youtube Channel
    I ordered the new Patina tail when he posted it back in June. It should be shipping any day now (at least according to the 5-6 weeks that it said when I ordered). I'm so freakin excited! After all of the health issues and hospital stays I've had lately, I'm really looking forward to something new and pretty in my life!

  4. #104
    I finally got my 3 and I gotta say, I feel like people tend to overstate the propulsion on the Fantasea fins in their reviews. Especially since the Finis Foil gets a lot of flack for not having enough propulsion. The foil was the first monofin I've ever had and I used it in my finfolk fabric. A lot of people asked me "how can you even swim like that?" because the finfolk tails have a lot of drag and the foil is so small.

    But my fantasea 3 feels about the same as a finfolk fabric with a foil, and that's without one of mertailor's tail skins. It's something I'm willing to get used to because I'd like to have a silicone tail one day, but I was expecting more of a kick with all of the praise it's been getting.
    bluecorvidae.deviantart.com

  5. #105
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    14,650
    Really? Im surprised! I would rate the 1 and 2 on par with foil. The 3 really gave me a lot of push but for me I am a really floaty mermaid, and the 3 sinks more, so I think the fact it evens out my buoyancy is part of why I feel there's so much more push- because usually I deal with more drag due to my float. I think a person's personal buoyancy plays a role in the amount of push/drag a person has too. For me the 3 was like night and day compared with a foil or even the 1 or 2. Especially when I used them in the ocean.

  6. #106
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod Trade Winds's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    942
    Quote Originally Posted by BlueCorvidae View Post
    I finally got my 3 and I gotta say, I feel like people tend to overstate the propulsion on the Fantasea fins in their reviews. Especially since the Finis Foil gets a lot of flack for not having enough propulsion. The foil was the first monofin I've ever had and I used it in my finfolk fabric. A lot of people asked me "how can you even swim like that?" because the finfolk tails have a lot of drag and the foil is so small.

    But my fantasea 3 feels about the same as a finfolk fabric with a foil, and that's without one of mertailor's tail skins. It's something I'm willing to get used to because I'd like to have a silicone tail one day, but I was expecting more of a kick with all of the praise it's been getting.
    To be fair the site does say it isn't for 'speed demons' but I am very satisfied with the Fantasea's power compared to other fins I have tried (FF, Mahina, Suntails, so not much). Drag gets worse with the more accessory fins you add ( or if you wear a rashguard when you're outside like me). I have a tail with side fins and the drag compared to a normal tail is very noticable BUT if I adjust the way I swim and know I am not
    going to go zooming around then I am ok. I do notice drag easily tho, I hate the feeling of struggling to move forward.

    I feel like for these tails you have to sacrifice some speed for the stunning art and natural movements of Eric's tail which I am very ok with.



  7. #107
    Quote Originally Posted by AniaR View Post
    Really? Im surprised! I would rate the 1 and 2 on par with foil. The 3 really gave me a lot of push but for me I am a really floaty mermaid, and the 3 sinks more, so I think the fact it evens out my buoyancy is part of why I feel there's so much more push- because usually I deal with more drag due to my float. I think a person's personal buoyancy plays a role in the amount of push/drag a person has too. For me the 3 was like night and day compared with a foil or even the 1 or 2. Especially when I used them in the ocean.
    I got to try the 1 and it has LESS propulsion than my foil did. I never tried the 2 but I imagine it's really not much better for propulsion either. The fins are either too small and floppy to get you anywhere or too big and floppy and give you drag. I'm okay with it, and willing to sacrifice speed for beauty. But all of the community reviews on the fantasea fins are insanely misleading. They aren't built for propulsion at all.

    @Trade Winds I don't use my fantasea fin in a tail yet. I imagine added fins would only slow it down even more. I'm glad Mertailor himself is clear on what the monofin is like, but I was talking about the people who buy and review his monofins. Both Raina and Courtney Mermaid praised the fantasea fins for their propulsion, which, I guess to be fair Raina IS a floaty mer and Courtney Mermaid already prefers swimming in the finis Luna so maybe for them it is? But like I said, even on it's own without a skin or extra fins, I was getting about the SAME propulsion as a finis foil WITH a finfolk fabric tail. Which is traditionally criticized as being hard to swim in. (The Foil without any kind of tail is an excellent monofin, I don't understand why it gets so much flack.)

    I can live with it. I don't feel like I'm going to drown with all the drag. I'm not much of a speed demon because I am a very slow swimmer as it is if I don't have any kind of fin at all. It's just that I'm starting to notice how misleading community reviews are, and I'm gonna have to start taking them all with a grain of salt.
    bluecorvidae.deviantart.com

  8. #108
    I ordered the fin 3 and tail skin so when I get it I'm gonna have a good swim and see what I think

    Sent from my SM-G960F using MerNetwork mobile app

  9. #109
    Senior Member Pod of Texas Mermaid_Rain's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2018
    Location
    Houston, Tx
    Posts
    132
    Add Mermaid_Rain on Facebook
    Visit Mermaid_Rain's Youtube Channel
    I get to try out my Fantasea (original) and tail this weekend, so I guess I'll get to see the difference soon. I know it's not going to be anywhere near the propulsion of my Hydra though

  10. #110
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    14,650
    well a silicone monofin isnt going to have the push a fiberglass one is

  11. #111
    Quote Originally Posted by AniaR View Post
    well a silicone monofin isnt going to have the push a fiberglass one is
    Okay, I feel like you're missing my point now.

    You're a big name in the mermaiding community, and I'm a relatively new mermaid, all things considered. I look to reviewers like you for information before buying something. So when you're praising something for the amount of propulsion it has, someone like me is going to go into it expecting it to have a fair amount of push at least. And it didn't. In fact I found it on the same level as a tail/monofin combination that gets a lot of criticism. Which is why I'm pointing out that I feel like reviewers, not Eric or anyone else from Mertailor, are overstating the propulsion of this monofin. Do you get where I'm coming from?

    Also the finis foil is rubber, not fiberglass.
    bluecorvidae.deviantart.com

  12. #112
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    14,650
    A competitor monofin is fiberglass. (which is what I used in my review examples for comparison in addition to comparing to the foil) I think you missed my comparisons in my reviews, and my very clear specifications that they functioned *better* than I had expected. If loads of people are having the same experience, and you aren't, that doesn't mean everyone else is overstating it, or misleading people. It just means YOU have had a different experience from the majority of others and that may be due to a number of reasons. My buoyancy example is one, your experiences with other monofins/other sized flukes to compare is another, technique, and even the type of water you're swimming in.

    It's subjective based on these factors and more, not an exact science. You also say you've only tried the 1, so you really don't know the 2 or 3. You haven't tried them. You wouldn't assume to know the functionality of a finis trainer of competitor based on the foil. I also never claimed the 1 or 2 were fast. I said they were "on par". The 3 is what I felt was fast.

    A great example of this is how I can barely swim in the finfolk fabric tails. I find them to have immense drag and that the vinyl insert moves around too much impacting my kick. While other people will swear up and down it's the easiest tail they've swam in and gives them loads of push. I put those tails on and it feels like I have never worn a tail before.

    I have never been a speed interested mermaid. I don't see the point for the type of work I do for being able to go as fast as possible. So my best speed experience was the competitor- one of the quickest monofins on the market. The first time I used one I scraped my chin on the bottom of the pool because it got me down there faster than I thought humanly possible and I misjudged my depth. I've never worn a monofin that came close to that, and when I put on the 3 because of how floppy it was, I wasn't expecting any push at all. It reminded me of my she-creature which is a giant fluke but only has a foil inside and when we tested it in the aquarium with the accelorometer it was slower than person swimming with just their feet. So when I put that 3 on and hit the bottom of the pool nearly as fast as I did with the competitor, it floored me. Now, if you're someone who worries about speed and that's your main experience in mermaiding- perhaps it wouldn't be as shocking to you because you have a lot of speedy fins to compare it to. But I think the average mer - which is the demographic reviewing these things - were not expecting it. I certainly wasn't. Plus I have video comparisons where you see them side by side and clearly see which ones make me go faster.

    I am honest in my reviews. They are MY experience backed up with as much video as I can show to prove my experiences. I don't appreciate a tone that suggests reviews are intentionally misleading simply because your experience differs. By all means, take things with a grain of salt but that doesn't mean people are being misleading or "overstating". All I can ever do is state my experience and opinions.
    Last edited by AniaR; 09-16-2019 at 09:35 AM.

  13. #113
    Quote Originally Posted by BlueCorvidae View Post
    I feel like people tend to overstate the propulsion on the Fantasea fins in their reviews.
    I'm sorry you think this translates to "Raina intentionally mislead me." You're allowed to state your experiences with things, Raina. I'm telling you mine. Can we agree to disagree on a monofin and call it a day?
    bluecorvidae.deviantart.com

  14. #114
    If anyone is reading this topic and is worried about how much propulsion you get with the mertailor monofins, I suggest only buying the monofin, swimming with it several times in varying depths of water, and then from there you can decide if you want to go back and purchase the tailskin to go with the monofin. Worst case scenario, you don't like the monofin and you can go to the classifieds section on here and sell it, or you could sell it to a nearby pod member, or if you don't need the money back you could give it to an aspiring merfolk.

    I don't have a Mertailor monofin, but from my own experience with the three monofins I do have, every single one has taken some getting used to when I first got it. My most recent monofin was the Mermaid Linden monofin and I didn't really like it when I first swam in it, but now that I am used to it, I like it a lot more.
    www.youtube.com/MinxFox
    I love: Peacocks - Mermaiding -
    Tropical Plants
    That was her magic, she could still see the sunset, even on those darkest days. - Atticus



  15. #115
    I have a couple monofins, linden, mahina, luna, hydra and fantasea fin 3. There are different things about them I love and dislike. The Linden overall is a fantastic little fin, I learned and did my mermaid swimming lessons in it so it holds a special place in my heart, it has great propulsion but does not have any flow to it unless i make a tail that has an extended fluke with flowy material. Mahina is amazing however a bit more flow and added blisters. The hydra well I'll leave that one for when I do free diving lessons as I get a little toe cramping with it but again great propulsion. The Luna is a comfortable little fin, medium on proposition, more flow and a bit more natural looking in the water like a fish tail. The mertailor fantasea fin 3, yes its heavy but that's to my advantage as I'm a floater, it had medium to great propulsion but is absolutely the most natural looking fin and flows lovely in the water. It's so aesthetically pleasing to the eye and I absolutely love it. To put it bluntly, we are all different, we all think differently about all sorts of fins and tails, accessories etc. If we all liked the same well that would be boreing indeed. There is no right or wrong. Our individually makes us all unique in different ways. We shouldnt be squabbling over I agree with this or I dont agree with that, your wrong and I'm right. We should as a community be helping, guiding, encouraging one another and if anyone chooses to take another message advice on something well that's their choice. The mer comunities I feel are heading down the same route as the hair and beauty industry and it saddens me.

    Sent from my SM-G960F using MerNetwork mobile app

  16. #116
    Senior Member Undisclosed Pod
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Posts
    14,650
    You're a big name in the mermaiding community, and I'm a relatively new mermaid, all things considered. I look to reviewers like you for information before buying something. So when you're praising something for the amount of propulsion it has, someone like me is going to go into it expecting it to have a fair amount of push at least. And it didn't.
    That's what translated to me misleading you. My whole point is agree to disagree and call it a day! I'm good with that

  17. #117
    So I got my first mertailor tail yesterday! It's a guppy tail cause I wanted a new tail ASAP cause my old tail is now too loose. Anyways I am actually pleasantly surprised at the thickness of the fabric and am now going back and forth on whether to save some money and get the fantasea tail, or if it's worth it to spend the extra money on the whimsy. I've got my eye on the Medusa which comes in both but then I'm also trying to talk myself out of one of the too tails and fins while they're on sale.
    I know people have said the fabric is thicker and higher quality on the whimsy tails. How is the difference for stretch? How it behaves in the water? Vibrancy of colors? Anything else that can help me make a decision, really.

  18. #118
    My first tail was a guppy and my new tail is a whimsy (with a fantasea fin 2) and dude, the whimsy is amazing. The fabric is thicker so it’s warmer and more durable. The fin is heavier so it helps you sink in the water which is nice if you float like a cork like me. The fluke is HUGE so it looks really cool and it’s all floppy and flowy.


    Sent from my iPhone using MerNetwork mobile app

  19. #119
    Quote Originally Posted by Mermaid Kristy View Post
    My first tail was a guppy and my new tail is a whimsy (with a fantasea fin 2) and dude, the whimsy is amazing. The fabric is thicker so it’s warmer and more durable. The fin is heavier so it helps you sink in the water which is nice if you float like a cork like me. The fluke is HUGE so it looks really cool and it’s all floppy and flowy.


    Sent from my iPhone using MerNetwork mobile app
    I've heard that about how the fins are so heavy! I'm getting a fantasea fin either way, so I'm really debating between the fantasea tail with the fabric like the guppy tail or the whimsy tail. I'm not sure it matters to me much that it's warmer but maybe one day I'll be somewhere cooler where that will make more of a difference. I'm just trying to decide if I'd be happy with the less expensive fabric or if paying more than double for thicker fabric is going to be worth it.

  20. #120
    Junior Member Euro Pod HaleyTremont's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Paris, France
    Posts
    21
    Do you know if the Finis Luna would fit an Original Whimsy Tail ? The Luna and the Fantasea 1 Fin seem similar in size and shape. I know it fit well guppy tails also.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •