thicker presents with it's own issues FYI. I have both a super thin tail (my merbellas is thinner than any other silicone tail) and a thick tail (my mermaid creations tail) and thicker comes with it's own sets of issues. I personally don't think anyone has had a recent mernation tail *long* enough to know exactly how durable they are.. *yet*. I went a good 1.5 years before one of my fins ripped off. And I put my tails through a beating- and mine was *intentionally* cast thinner than normal. My thicker tail is heavier and puts way more weight on stress points such as the monofin which increases the risk of breaking a monofin and or having a monofin poke through.

Tail makers are all different, it really just depends with what you're looking for and what you need. But it's hard to know exactly how durable a tail is until it's been used a lot for at least a year IMO. I was quite impressed for instance, with Christomer's mertailor tail he brought when he visited us. Far more durable than I was expecting. I think swimming in a aquarium isn't as risky to the tails as other environments. You're not coping with chlorine that eats away at tails and creates mold in powermesh. You aren't dealing with various pool textures that can scrape a tail. You aren't dealing with kids and people who can pull and pick at your tail. And you're not dealing with transporting the tail a whole bunch in a day to different venues.

I think it's a really smart move for Mernation to offer extra reinforcement. I know 3 other tail makers who have already been offering it- just as part of the whole package but didn't really specify it. I think it's a smart business move to charge extra since it *is* extra time and materials to do it. I think tail makers should also charge extra for elaborate paint jobs as they require more time, more paint, and custom stencils.