Why we don't advise full silicone tails for your first tail.

[Seatan]

I think it would be too scary for beginners to wear a big realistic tail. They're beautiful to look at, but I wait till I can swim properly with a monofin, then try the tricks, then if i want to, invest in a proper tail. That will take years I think! But it will be fun!

It kind of depends on what kind of person you are, too. Like me... I am a SCUBA diver and compared to the weight of my SCUBA tank a silicone tail doesn't seem so heavy. I am used to being in awkward situations trying to get in the water with heavy stuff strapped to me. Also, I am a cosplayer who regularly invests money in elaborate costumes instead of other things, and who is used to wearing very uncomfortable outfits for long periods of time simply for the pleasure of being in costume. So while I didn't totally skip the fabric tail stage, I did buy a silicone tail within five months of discovering mermaiding and I don't regret it at all. With my combination of SCUBA and costume experience, I knew what I was getting into. I probably won't swim in it more than once a week in summers and less in winters, but I simply really enjoy being in any kind of MAGNIFICENT costume and I always want nothing less than amazing when it comes to dressing up, which is what silicone tails are. So really I think it depends on who you are and why you want the tail. I love mermaids, but I don't live and breathe them like some people do. But dressing up and letting my creative geek run wild... That's me all day every day! So I am very happy with my silicone tail!

[Aino Revontuletar]

It kind of depends on what kind of person you are, too. Like me... I am a SCUBA diver and compared to the weight of my SCUBA tank a silicone tail doesn't seem so heavy. I am used to being in awkward situations trying to get in the water with heavy stuff strapped to me. Also, I am a cosplayer who regularly invests money in elaborate costumes instead of other things, and who is used to wearing very uncomfortable outfits for long periods of time simply for the pleasure of being in costume. So while I didn't totally skip the fabric tail stage, I did buy a silicone tail within five months of discovering mermaiding and I don't regret it at all. With my combination of SCUBA and costume experience, I knew what I was getting into. I probably won't swim in it more than once a week in summers and less in winters, but I simply really enjoy being in any kind of MAGNIFICENT costume and I always want nothing less than amazing when it comes to dressing up, which is what silicone tails are. So really I think it depends on who you are
and why you want the tail. I love mermaids, but I don't live and breathe them like some people do. But dressing up and letting my creative geek run wild... That's me all day every day! So I am very happy with my silicone tail!

It would definitely help to be scuba trained and used to that kind of thing. I am like you in that I am used to wearing elaborate clothes and dressing up and all that (I am not a cosplayer but I do wear lolita fashion and Victorian gothic stuff -corsets and whatnot). I would go for it and make a silicone tail if it weren't for the fact that I am desperately saving up to travel, and that is the most important thing to me, and I want to use my tail to get gigs and stuff that will help me save up for my travel. I figure I can do that with a neoprene tail, there are other mers who do that extremely successfully, and I am confident enough in my artistic skills to know I can make a really good neoprene tail. And making one is not going to take up all of my savings like a silicone tail would.

[Mermaid Galene]

One of my two fabric tails has about a foot of flowy, ruffled spandex at the end of the fluke. I get a huge amount of drag in that, so I don't use it for distance swimming. When I got the other one, I spruced up the fluke with fabric additions and hip fins. But I chose fabrics that were slick and not thick and absorbent, and I only allowed about 4 inches of fabric to extend past the end of the fluke. In that tail, I don't notice any drag at all. It swims beautifully, even when I wear a flowy fabric belt.