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Thread: Anyone have a Lunocet Monofin they'd consider selling?

  1. #1

    Anyone have a Lunocet Monofin they'd consider selling?

    Aloha fellow Mers!

    I've been venturing farther out to sea, and I'm looking for a stronger tail that's comfortable to wear for longer sea voyages. A local freediver had a lunocet monofin, and I /really/ liked it comfort-wise, fits my techno-mer aesthetic perfectly :-). I contacted the lunocet website, but they said they have a many month backlog of orders.

    I'm curious if anyone here has experience with Lunocet monofins as part of tails?

    Does anyone have a Lunocet Pro monofin (they're not using) they'd be up to sell to complete my sea voyaging tail?

    🧜🏾*♂️

  2. #2
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
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    I know of 2 mers who use the Lunocet in a tail.
    Not sure how they get around the cycling shoes part, though (surely those would show badly in a tail?).

    because of the shoe problem (no way to regularly use shoes in water, they'd get mouldy in no time) I haven't gotten a Lunocet myself, even though I really want one.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Pod of Cali Merman Storm's Avatar
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    A few notes:
    Shoes: cycling shoes are designed to get wet. They are made from materials that are resistant to mold. Wash them out, dry them well, you're fine. They have the great advantage that they come in all sizes, so you can get ones that fit you perfectly, allowing you to wear your tail all day without pain.
    But they have many other issues for tail use.
    They have a up-turned toe that makes a lump in the tail.
    You need to tighten them with either laces or Velcro straps. This makes them hard to put on and take off, as you have to get your hands down inside the tail. With a cloth tail its not an issue as you can fold it down far enough. but anything thicker will be problematic. This also makes it very hard to pull your feet out of you want to kick off the tail in an emergency.
    On my Lunocet, I replaced the cycling shoes with a 1/4" thick polycabonate plate to which I bolt swim fin pockets. They are less lumpy, easier to put on and get off, and easier to clean. They also come in a much wider range of sizes than monofins, making getting comfy ones easier.

    For the tail skin, I have done two types. The first covered the entire fin, including the flukes. It was hard to use as you had to assemble the fin inside the tail, bolting on the two flukes with your hands crammed inside the spandex. I don't think that would work with a silicone skin.

    The second is a sling tail, one that does not cover the flukes, like the Mertailor fantasea sling tails. I started with two orca tail skins from Fin Fun, did some cutting and sewing, and have a skin that works well. The orca pattern looks good with the black Lunocet flukes, although moving forward I want to examine more colorful options. I needed two as I an a big guy, and the Lunocet is an extended monofin. It required some trimming of the Lunocet flukes to make it work right. This is also the design I am going to pursue for a silicone tail.

    That said, any silicone tail makers who read this like to make me a sling tail for my Lunocet? I have money.....
    Are you a Frozen fan? Frozen fanfiction:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10952902/1/Rain-of-a-Child-s-Tear

    Let the storm rage on!

  4. #4
    Senior Member Pod of Cali Merman Storm's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by merman108 View Post
    ... I contacted the lunocet website, but they said they have a many month backlog of orders...
    Once there was a man who wanted a tree to shade a room of his house. He bought a sapling and told his gardener to get it planted this week. The gardener had much to do already and asked why he had to do it so quickly, after all it will take 5 years for the tree to grow enough for shade. Alarmed, the home owner replied:
    "Five years?? Then you better get it planted today!"
    Merman108, if they are that far behind, then place your order RIGHT NOW!
    Are you a Frozen fan? Frozen fanfiction:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10952902/1/Rain-of-a-Child-s-Tear

    Let the storm rage on!

  5. #5
    Senior Member Euro Pod Echidna's Avatar
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    thanks for all the info, Storm.

    replacing the shoes with regular swimfin pockets is no doubt the best solution.
    I just wish they already came that way. If they did, I would have gotten a Lunocet long ago.

    How do you find the propulsion in the tailskin covering the fluke?
    Is it much slower than the one with the sling tail?
    Seeing as the Luno is supposed to work differently than regular monofins.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Pod of Cali Merman Storm's Avatar
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    Having the skin cover the fluke did not seem to make much difference. I have not used the full tailskin in a couple of years, but I do know that when I tried the sling skin, I was delighted with how much propulsion I got. But even with the skin covering the flukes, it felt like it had more propulsion than any other tail Ive tried.
    If you are wondering as to what is the best way to have flukes that are not just black rubber, I have a few ideas.
    Find paint that sticks to that rubber.
    The flukes have an aluminum spar inside them. Make a new set of spars and cast silicone flukes about them. That is, make new flukes. We know how to color silicone. Also, this gives an opportunity to use the right airfoil cross section on the fluke (Lunocet did not), or make flukes with other shapes. Note: The Lunocet fluke rubber is Shore 60A.
    Are you a Frozen fan? Frozen fanfiction:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10952902/1/Rain-of-a-Child-s-Tear

    Let the storm rage on!

  7. #7
    Oh man, this is great info. I placed an order, but it turns out the manufacturer is on an unknown-length hiatus and based on the current backlog, they're cancelling orders for the time being. Bummer. So the quest to find somebody who isn't using their Lunocets begins in earnest!

    Could you say more about the airfoil cross section? Are you using a NACA airfoil shape or....?

  8. #8
    Senior Member Pod of Cali Merman Storm's Avatar
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    Ultimate swim fins says its an NACA0009, but its not. The shape is pulled in just in front and just behind the point of maximum thickness.
    If it were me, I would use the S8025, designed by Michael Selig.
    Are you a Frozen fan? Frozen fanfiction:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10952902/1/Rain-of-a-Child-s-Tear

    Let the storm rage on!

  9. #9
    Member Euro Pod Kelpie Thyra's Avatar
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    since i can't get one... noone sells their (well, why should they?)
    is there anyone who can provide detailed, lifesized drawing, and or part numbers of the "stock" bycicle parts?

    i want to built one myself now *frustrated kelpie noises*
    don't yet care about the tail... just wanna swim fast, and hunt fast!
    just a random Kelpie... "wanna come to my lake?"

  10. #10
    Senior Member Pod of Cali Merman Storm's Avatar
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    The entire monofin is made from parts made by Ultimate Swim Fins. The only stock bicycle parts are the shoes and the bolts that attach the shoes to the monofin, both of which you buy separately. The only other stock parts are nuts, bolts, and snap rings. Everything else is custom machined or molded for the Lunocet.

    Ive been wondering if one could make a Lunocet-like fin using methods more familiar to us tail makers. Replace the jointed mechanism of the Lunocet with a simple strip of polycarbonate. Attach swim fin pockets to one end, and an aluminum spar to the other. Mold a high durometer silicone fin about the spar. The net result would be something between the Lunocet and the "H2O, just add water" tail.

    Here is a cutaway of the Lunocet:

    https://www.autoevolution.com/news/c...lo-145775.html

    One thing I don't understand is why Ultimate swim fin's web site is still up. If they are out of business, why pay to keep it? Perhaps they are planning to return after the pandemic.

    Also, I do now have a silicone sling tail for my Lunocet. I got it just before Covid went wild, so I have had little chance to swim in it.

    https://www.facebook.com/Merman-Stor...95193220676255
    Last edited by Merman Storm; 08-26-2020 at 12:22 AM.
    Are you a Frozen fan? Frozen fanfiction:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10952902/1/Rain-of-a-Child-s-Tear

    Let the storm rage on!

  11. #11
    Member Euro Pod Kelpie Thyra's Avatar
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    well... my goal would be to somehow get the spring mechanism... but i've never seen it...
    and to machine/print and mold the fins fitting for a spar from harder silicone myself

    btw those are really great pictures... but still a little too much guesswork if you have absolutely no clue how it's sized, works, and feels

    i would be nice to have someone local for trying out and or get a feel for the thing
    just a random Kelpie... "wanna come to my lake?"

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Merman Storm View Post
    The entire monofin is made from parts made by Ultimate Swim Fins. The only stock bicycle parts are the shoes and the bolts that attach the shoes to the monofin, both of which you buy separately. The only other stock parts are nuts, bolts, and snap rings. Everything else is custom machined or molded for the Lunocet.

    Ive been wondering if one could make a Lunocet-like fin using methods more familiar to us tail makers. Replace the jointed mechanism of the Lunocet with a simple strip of polycarbonate. Attach swim fin pockets to one end, and an aluminum spar to the other. Mold a high durometer silicone fin about the spar. The net result would be something between the Lunocet and the "H2O, just add water" tail.

    Here is a cutaway of the Lunocet:

    https://www.autoevolution.com/news/c...lo-145775.html

    One thing I don't understand is why Ultimate swim fin's web site is still up. If they are out of business, why pay to keep it? Perhaps they are planning to return after the pandemic.

    Also, I do now have a silicone sling tail for my Lunocet. I got it just before Covid went wild, so I have had little chance to swim in it.

    https://www.facebook.com/Merman-Stor...95193220676255
    Thanks for posting the link to those pics Merman Storm, they've kicked up some clarifications on the extended tail design I've been messing around with. Purely theoretical atm as I don't have the resources to actually try make it currently, maybe in a few years, once I'm no longer studying and (hopefully) have a job. I started from the same idea that article said the lunocet maker did... how do marine animals do it. I'll start a new thread about it so I don't hi-jack this one.

  13. #13
    Senior Member Pod of Cali Merman Storm's Avatar
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    I've never been a big fan of bio mimic design. it has its place, but many times people do it because "nature does it best". Well, nature does not do it best. It does the best with the materials available to it and constraints it is subject to. Example: Once my boss was asked "Why don't you design airplanes to have wings that fold up like bird wings?" Answer: "If airplanes had to climb into little holes, and if airplanes had to keep themselves warm in the winter, and if airplanes had to hold onto each other while they make love, then it would make sense to build them with wings at fold like bird wings."
    Another example: Propellers are more efficient that flapping wings or fish flukes. Period. Full stop. Why does no flying or swimming animal use a propeller? Because nature has no way to get blood vessels, nerves, muscles and tendons through a fully rotating joint. Except at the size of a bacterium, where a single molecule can fully rotate through 360 degrees. There, nature does in fact use a propeller (rotating flagellum) taking advantage of its higher efficiency.
    So, don't worry about making the mechanism with the vertebrae like Lunocet did. Something like a flexing sheet of material will work just fine. Make what is easy for you to make.

    BTW a competitor to the Lunocet, the Dol-fin, is also out of business. This type of monofin my be dead. One reason may be their size violated the size limits for competition. I have a silicone tail for a Lunocet. As far as I know, I am the only one who does, and may be the only one who ever does. Which I find sad.
    Are you a Frozen fan? Frozen fanfiction:
    https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10952902/1/Rain-of-a-Child-s-Tear

    Let the storm rage on!

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