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Contributed by Dave M Dalton
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Page 2 of 5
In The Beginning There Was
The Original Farallon/Oceanic
The original design from F/O was very slick looking. I guess that
at its' price it had to be. It had a molded heel strap, plastic
attachment blocks, and hardware to attach it that was similar to the
Jet Fin hardware turned around. It also utilized an internal
nylon line that would limit the length you could stretch the
springs. I have learned (the hard way) that SS is not the optimal
material for springs. It is VERY easily over-stretched and
damaged. The pictures below are of a pair of Oceanic straps I
picked up at the Tom's River Dive Gear Flea Market for $11 (Figure B).
You will note that one of the straps has its' spring
over-stretched. It should be noted that the nylon line is intact,
but was just too long to do the job! I recently saw a pair of the
original F/O Spring Straps bring over $100 on Ebay, which I think
proves the theorem that some people have more cents than sense!
Today In The Marketplace
The "Jackie Smith" & Variants
Since I made my first pair of spring straps, they have become readily
available in the market place, provided you know where to look.
Jackie Smith came out of hiding and sells them and any number of folks
have copied his design. At least I assume it is his design, since
he is the first person I heard of selling this design. His
design utilizes a piece of aluminum rod drilled at a 90 degree angle
using heavy wire to form the attachments (Figure C). In addition to
being available directly from Jackie Smith for about $45, you can also
get them from John Allen, at North East Scuba Supply on the east coast or from
5th Dimension Scuba Diving Center on the west coast. Both shops will sell via mail order.
North East Scuba Supply later changed their design and is using delrin
rod in place of aluminum. This prevents the possibility of
electrolysis due to dissimilar metal contact in salt water (aluminum
& stainless steel) and is an added advantage. The only thing I
don't like about this design is that because of the diameter of the
rod, the spring loop hangs out and shows a bit. Not a big deal
but at my old age I'm cranky and a bit picky - (just ask my wife and
kids) and don't want my spring hanging out! Also the design is so
simple that I hate paying someone almost $50 for something I know I can
do myself for under $20! But I digress, we'll get to the D-I-Y
versions a bit later. I have seen this design sold on Ebay for as
little as $25. By the way, NorthEast Scuba has developed a
model of the strap that will work on fins that have the now common
"quick connect post" for their straps. I've also seen a version
of this design under the brand name of Manta sold by Leisure Pro but
they use too light of wire to form the attachment and it can band and
pull out, as I witnessed on one occasion.
The "Halycon"
The only other design that I am aware of anyone trying to market is the
one made by Halcyon
(Figures D and D1)
sold by Extreme Exposure (EE)
and other EE/Halycon dealers. They use a milled piece of delrin
which is slotted to allow for the insertion of the hardware which is
the hardware from the Jet Fin without the strap bar. I really don't
care for that design as I think a bent piece of SS or brass 1/8" rod is
more secure. They originally used a molded heel strap and covered
the spring with braided nylon tubing to set them apart from the rest of
the field. Folks apparently didn't like the molded heel strap so
they did away with it and now use just the nylon tube instead of
plastic/rubber hose that almost everyone else uses. They retail
for $76. It is nicely done but not worth the extra $25-$35
over the others in the market or the extra $50 if you would like to do
your own.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 April 2006 )
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