I'm considering purchasing the Mertailor's partial silicone tail, the one with the detachable monofin. Does anyone own one or know about the quality of this particular design? I'm mostly wondering if the monofin is good enough quality to propel me through the water like other monofins.
I don't have one myself, but from what I watched on youtube and read the comments, it does not seem like it has any propulsion.
I don't advise people to buy those partial silicone tails, becuase he uses neoprin and not neoprene. I will always advise against tails that are made with neoprin, no matter the tailmaker. I've never heard a single person be happy with a tail that was bought or made with the stuff. It causes fitting and sagging issues and more. For more on that I'll quote from the Materials & Supplies Page.
Neoprin is a "spacer" material that has a similar look to neoprene and is a cheap alternative- however neoprin and neoprene are two very different materials. While neoprene is essentially black rubber backed by a layer of fabric on each side, neoprin's core is made up of many many tiny fibers that hold the two sides together.
This fragile "core" of the fabric allows it to stretch great amounts. However it lacks elasticity. Once stretched it does not return to it's original shape well, and instead it distorts easily. Many find that tails made from neoprin stretch too much for it to fit them properly, especially in the water- even after only one use. It will continue to stretch as it is worn, and a tail made from this material may require multiple size adjustments (taking it in). Also the fabric is very impressionable, making for permanent wrinkles, creases, and impressions from wear and other regular use (such as storing the tail).
Another downside to this material, is that becuase the water penetrates the core it can take much longer to dry. This is especially a problem when combined with tin cure latex, as the latex is damaged by the water.
Neoprin is a cheaper alternative, but it is also a much lower quality option. It is HIGHLY recommended that you not use or buy a tail made of neoprin. Invest a little more money and instead get neoprene- it is well worth it and will save you trouble down the road, as well as making for a much longer tail life.
You can find a thread with photos and a video on neoprin and neoprene here.
Besides that, there seems to be issues with the fastening mechanism being misaligned, more visible than his website photos, and/or not fastening the skin to the fin tight enough so that there is a lot of gapping between the tail skin and fin when swimming. Also be aware to look at customer photos to see how the tail will lay/fit, as the ones on his website tend to have the wrinkles photoshopped out.
Rachel from the Dive bar has one. She had to take hers in and do some alterations (the fabric) becuase it didn't fit right and gapped a ton when she swam.
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You can see Rachel's tail in this video at 0:09
Here's anther one for dive bar mermaids
Here's one owned by ChristoMer
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You can see more photos of the partial tails in use on the Project Mermaids Instagram.
Also the paint comes off (as does the paint on his full silicone tails) as you can see on the heels here..
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As for the fin itself, it takes more effort to get propulsion as it's made of silicone, and not rigid. More rigid = more propulsion. I've heard people say it's more like swimming in a Finis Foil than any other monofin. Not necessarily a bad thing, as it's a lot easier to do tricks in less rigid monofins (spins/barrel rolls, flips, twists, ect). Just an FYI as to the pros and cons of a less rigid monofin.
I saw them up close at nc merfest. One mermaid had to totally resew hers and the skin didn't line up with the fluke.
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Thanks so much for all the info! I definitely don't want to put that much money into a tail with so many problems. I'll keep shopping around and looking at different tail makers.
I can only speak from my experience but I really like mine. Now that the pregnancy nausea has abated I'm training in my fluke and I love the power of it plus the neutral buoyancy of it. I'm able to do forward and backward flips, twists, and swim up to 50 ft underwater on one breath with it. This is the only tail I will be using from now until the end of my pregnancyGood luck!
I hope he comes out with some more flukes. I think that a silicone fluke with a spandex skin could be interesting.
I'm so glad I read this thread, I was in the process of ordering a partial silicone tail from him but I've changed my mind!
Well my partial tail should arrive in next two weeks ( I hope, have recently red many sad messages from shipping lasting waaaayyy too long...), but as soon as I get it, I'll post a full review of my turquoise tail
Despite what I've said, I thought about it and do like his removable fluke. And its a more realistic shape, which I also like alot.
Before you glue the parts together, show you make a short vid on how the two things attach to each other naturally? I'm really curious how it goes together and I have yet to find a video that shows you how.
Formerly known as ireneho
I can already say that I absolutely fell in love to it when I saw a pic of it, it's the most beautiful thing ever... He had even post it on his facebook page, so coolOf course I don't not know how it works until I'll swim with it but I love how it looks <3
Has anyone had trouble with the heel strap slipping off of your feet? I can tighten it as much as I can, but then the material rubs my skin raw and I can't even propel myself in the water because of the pain. I don't know what to do to fix this... And it breaks my heart
Yes!! Both of my heel straps were too loose then last time I went swimming, it came completely undone. It's really hard to get back in there and attach it!!! Now both straps are loose and I'm not sure how to connect them!! As for your pain.... maybe there's a sock or something that you could put on to help with that??Originally Posted by Lainie Kai
Neoprene socks are your friends!
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