Lunocet monofin

[Merman Storm]

My first tail had a fin with foot pockets a little small for me, and tended to squeeze my feet. I then got a waterways fin, and its foot pockets were so small I could not get my feet in them at all, even though I ordered their largest pockets. I decided I had to get something that would fit, and found the Lunocet fin. It uses shoes that you buy separately, which meant I could get some that I was sure would fit.
Here is the complete fin.

The fin consists of three main parts. The center spine, cycling shoes that bolt onto the tabs at the front of the spine, and flukes that bolt onto the rear.

Cycling shoes are designed to bolt onto cleats that then lock into pedals. With the Lunocet, you just bolt them directly to the fin. You buy them at a cycling store, so you can try them on before you buy, making sure they fit.

The flukes each contain an aluminum spar, about which is molded rubber. They slide into slots on the center spine. Note that the flukes have an airfoil cross section. This helps make the Lunocet a very powerful and efficient fin. It also opens up the option of making and attaching other fluke shapes. One Lunocet could be used for several tails, each a different style.

I sewed my own skin for this fin. It was my first time making a skin. I made it closed ended, which made it hard to put on over the very wide Lunocet. I found the easiest way to get the fin in the tail is to assemble it inside the skin.

The complete tail. In this photo, the shoes are right side up, and you can see where the toes are. You can also see some black marks. Those are actually places where the print has worn off the spandex. Less than an hour on this tail, and already I need to make a new one.

Swimming: The tail is very powerful and fast. Once up to speed, it feels like you are being pushed along by magic. I have not had enough time or experience to talk about maneuverability. The shoes can be a bit problematic, you cannot just slip your feet out. You need to reach down to them and undo a Velcro strap.

[Kunoichi Ribeiro]

Merman Storm, your tail looks soooo cool! I would love to try Lunocet monofin. Is on my wish list already!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Oh that looks so neat!!

[Princess Pearl]

I think you're the first person I've seen to actually put a skin on a lunocet! How does it look swimming?

[Mermaid Julianne]

^^^ I'm curious about this as well, do you have any pictures or video of it in the water?

[Mermaid Wesley]

The holographic/ shiny material you used doesn't hold up too well in the water, unfortunately. The fin looks awesome!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Merman Storm]

I'd like to know what it looks like underwater too. Unfortunately, I have no one to take the pictures.
Yes, I got the wrong material. It was just a test tail anyway, something to learn how to make my own. I learned alot, like 15% to 30% stretch works well for me. Next, I'm going to get some white material and paint my own pattern on it.

[UltimateSwimFin.com]

Great to see you making your own skin for the Lunocet.

For ease of entry / exit, would it make sense to have a flap / door in the skin to access the shoes easily?

Looks great - keep it up!!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sherielle]

We have a lunocet and it's fun to swim in. I'm also curious about a skin. I might just have to create my own.

[Merman Storm]

Great to see you making your own skin for the Lunocet.

For ease of entry / exit, would it make sense to have a flap / door in the skin to access the shoes easily?

Looks great - keep it up!!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Maybe with a neoprene or silicone tail, you would need a flap. But with fabric, it is easy to just slide it down. You can see that in the picture (above) with the power screwdriver; the shoes are completely uncovered. Due to my physique, I cannot touch my feet when my knees are together. I have to separate my knees and reach between my legs to work the shoes.
On the other hand, I would like to come up with my own shoes that I can slip on and off blindly, without the need for hands. Sort of like slippers. That would make a silicone tail work much more easily.

Any tail makers have any good ideas on how to put a Lunocet in a silicone tail?

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I really really love the shape of the fin, if I haven't said so already!

Though the shoes attachment thingy, not really a fan of that showing through the tail skin.

[Merman Storm]

The main issue looks to be that the toes of the shoes are turned up. I'm not sure why, maybe it helps cyclists put power into the pedals. I would like to figure out how to make my own shoes to attach to this fin, ones that result in a more streamlined look. Also, I would like shoes I can get my feet into and out of without the need to use my hands, especially the "out" part.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Can you use foot pockets from normal swim or diving flippers? Or even monofin foot pockets.

[Merman Storm]

The shoes attach with three bolts. The rubber of normal swim fins will just pull off from the bolt heads. I'm thinking I need make an aluminum plate that has PEM nuts pressed into it, and glue it to the bottom of the fin pockets. Or something like that. ( Wide head bolts, fender washers, there are many possibilities.)

[Mermaid Jaffa]

Its too technical for me lol! Hopefully you find something that works.

[Merman Storm]

Once I put the fabric skin on my Lunocet, I noted that it tended to get all crumpled up in the space between my feet and the fin:

I made a fairing out of 2 mm neoprene, velcroing it to the fin and the shoes:

And the result:

[Aziara]

The shoes attach with three bolts. The rubber of normal swim fins will just pull off from the bolt heads. I'm thinking I need make an aluminum plate that has PEM nuts pressed into it, and glue it to the bottom of the fin pockets. Or something like that. ( Wide head bolts, fender washers, there are many possibilities.)

Perhaps you could reinforce the bottom of rubber foot pockets with a small piece of lexan? That would likely be much cheaper and easier than using an aluminum plate. And it would still have a small amount of give.

[Merman Storm]

Perhaps you could reinforce the bottom of rubber foot pockets with a small piece of lexan? That would likely be much cheaper and easier than using an aluminum plate. And it would still have a small amount of give.

You're right. I tried that, and it works. It works best if I attach both foot pockets to one sheet of Lexan. That way its much easier to kick out. With your heels connected via the Lexan sheet, you can push with one foot while pulling with the other. If I try that with the shoes normally bolted to the Lunocet, it feels like I'm going to break something in the fin. Also, I had to extend the sheet all the way to the heels, and bolt the foot pockets to the Lexan at the heels, as well as the toes and at the attach point to the fin. Otherwise there is far too much flex. For attaching, I used stainless steel t-nuts (in the foot pocket) and flat head bolts, counter sunk into the Lexan.

The result is I do have much less of a toe bump, and I have a fin I can easily kick out of. The downside is shoes are far more comfortable than fin pockets, although the AquaSphere trainer fins I got the foot pockets from are fairly comfortable. One of those foot pockets is shown in a picture above, the picture showing the neoprene fairing. The picture of me wearing the tail is with the cycling shoes, so you can see the size of the toe bump. Compared to the heels, its almost irrelevant.

Now I'm wondering about bolting other footwear to a sheet of Lexan, such as waterproof slippers (yes, they do exist) or hiking sandals. Both could be a good idea for the Lunocet, or even a DIY monofin.

[xaccer2]

знак

[xaccer2]

180.6