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Page 3 of 5
Do - It - Yourself Versions
So, should you make them yourself or just fork over $50-76 and buy a
pair. Well, that is for you to decide. I sort of like
making things myself, and in this day and age there isn't much dive
gear you CAN make yourself. Back when I started diving (shortly
before the earth's crust cooled, as my kids like to say), a lot of gear
was made by the diver, to include dive knives, weightbelts and weights,
tank harnesses, regulators (!), and more! I knew folks that even
used old CO2 tanks and all kinds peculiar stuff just to get
underwater! I even have plans for a surface supply hand pump made
out of large tin cans that was to be hooked to a dual snorkel full face
mask and "claimed" to be suitable for diving down to 30 ft - IF you had
a garden hose that long! Just make sure the guy you got pumping
it is a VERY GOOD friend! Oh well?I digress again!
Since someone else (myself and some others to be mentioned later)
already did the legwork and made all the mistakes for you, you can now
put together a set of spring straps for under $20, maybe even under
$15. You can do it in less than 30 minutes time and even be
diving the same morning with them! They will be fully functional
and you will be able to see how they feel and work before you modify
you fins, and if you like them (and I haven't met anyone who didn't
like them) you can make them "sexier" and more permanent later.
The Correct Spring
The basis for the entire project is obviously the spring. The correct
spring to match the original F/O strap is type 302 stainless steel,
? OD, .062 diameter wire, which come 3 to a pack and is
available from McMaster-Carr. Part numbers
can be found in the matrials section at end of this article.
You will need two springs so this will give you a spare (or go in with
a couple of buddies and get two packs and make 3 sets). Initially
I used a .053" wire dia. spring which seemed "OK" (but not optimal) for
wetsuit boots but proved to be too weak to use with drysuit
boots. I also tried the .073" wire dia. which was much too
strong. The original springs on the Oceanic straps "mike out" right at
.062" dia. so that is what I use now and find that it works quite
well. As a further note when I started swimming laps with my son
to get him in shape for the Navy, I found that the .053" springs which
seemed fine for diving with wet suit boots, felt far too loose when
swimming laps. Consequently, I changed the spring straps on all
of my fins to the .062 dia.
Next you will need something to keep the spring from abrading
your wet/dry suit boots. However, you DON'T need a molded
heelstrap like the original F/O. Instead go to Home Depot, Lowe's
or any similar hardware store, and pick up some vinyl tubing that is
?" ID (inside diameter). You will only need about 12" of
the tubing but sometimes it is only sold in a 10 ft length. Even
at that it will only set you back about $3 for 10 feet and you can use
the rest for rigging stage bottles! Cut a piece about 6-8" long,
just enough to cover the area where the fin strap will press on your
heel. Slide it over the spring, centering it on the length of the
spring (Figure E). I used clear tubing but I have seen, clear
reinforced, black vinyl and black rubber fuel line used as well.
The only important thing is that it be ?" ID or possibly larger
if you like. Personally, I've become quite fond of using nylon
tube strap ala Halcyon and am in the process of changing all of my
straps over to that material for the spring cover
(Figure F). It can be found at most camping/rock climbing stores in
many colors (not that you would want anything but black!).
Now comes the challenge. How do we attach this thing to our
fins? Well, you have many options. We'll first cover the
QAD (Quick And Dirty) variants. These options are for those that
want to "try this idea out" with a minimum muss, fuss and cost, but
aren't sure enough of themselves or this project to go hacking the
hardware off of their $110 ScubaPro Jet Fins. Don't feel
bad. I know how you feel. I felt the same way. So this is
what I did: QAD-1 (Quick And Dirty, Model 1)
Take some braided nylon line (AKA - cave line) 1/16"- 1/8" and just tie
the springs to the existing fin hardware. My son and I dove with
ours rigged this way for about 2 months while we figured out how to
permanently attach them to the fins. It works fine, but you need
to watch the nylon line because it WILL fray and also it looks a bit
"Rube Goldberg" (didn't hear any girls swooning)
(Figure G).
NOTE: Make sure you run a piece of cave line inside the spring to limit
the stretch of the spring - if you don't you WILL be buying more
springs when you over-stretch them. Yeah, I hear you. I was real
careful too! I only ruined 3 springs before I wised up!
If you do this you will probably have to form new loops in the end of
the springs because the factory loops are not closed loops and the line
might slip off. Depending how big your feet are, what fins you
are diving, and whether you are diving wet or dry, you may have to trim
the springs as well. You should use the same length spring
regardless of how you attach it to the fin as all attaching options are
about the same size. The easiest way to form new loops is to
place one electricians screw driver down the inside of the spring and
then take a second screwdriver and slip it in the top two coils of the
spring and bend it over
(Figure H).
This was my son's idea and while
it doesn't make the prettiest loops, it works quickly and well, &
beats the heck out of trying to do the same job with a couple of needle
nose pliers! Yeah, I know they make a tools that puts loops in
the end of springs and you can even get one from McMaster-Carr, but as
much as I like buying tools, I won't pay $100 for something I will use
only once.  QAD-2 (Quick And Dirty, Model 2)
The next step up toward a more permanent method of attaching the
springs to your fins is a QAD variation envisioned by Steve
Schultz. Steve utilized, 4, SS split rings from McMaster-Carr to
attach the springs to the fin hardware in place of the cave line.
His design can be seen on
Jim Cobb's Trimix site.
NOTE: Make sure you run a piece of cave line inside the spring to limit
the stretch of the spring - if you don't you WILL be buying more
springs when you over-stretch them.
Ok, so you decide you like these things and are tired of your dive
buddy raging you about having your straps tied to your fins with cave
line or mini key rings so you want to make them look more permanent.
QAD-3 (Quick And Dirty, Model 3)
The easiest way to attach them in a permanent fashion is to cut the
metal hardware from your Jet Fins and get brass or SS D-rings.
The ones I got at Home Depot were not really brass as advertised (brass
coated steel) and they rusted, so make sure of what you are
buying. The material the D-ring is made of should be 1/8" in
dia. I couldn't find any suitable at McMaster-Carr. You
want a D-ring with a ring thickness of 1/8" and a height of about 1"
and width of about 1 & ?"-1 & ?". Simply
hook the ends of the springs on the D-ring after spreading them
apart. Then use a Channel Lock type pliers to clamp them back
together into the existing holes in your fins where the hardware was
(Figure I).
Of course this doesn't look as sexy as the F/O or the "Jackie
Smith" version but it is a step up from the QAD-1 & 2, and you can
do this for about $15 total! I should mention that my son and
I dove with our drysuit Turtle Fins rigged in this fashion for
two years and they performed flawlessly. This idea was suggested
to me by Brett Dodson. Bret also put some tubing in the holes in
the fin blocks to insure there was no wear, a nice touch.
NOTE: Make sure you run a piece of cave line inside the spring to
limit the stretch of the spring - if you don't you WILL be buying more
springs when you over-stretch them. (Is this starting to sink in yet?)
DSS-1 (Dalton Spring Strap, Model 1)
For the original DSS, I decided to use rubber for the attachment
blocks. I figured if I made them out of rubber, they would last as long
as the fins. As a source for the rubber, I used standard hockey
pucks. They are cheap ($.99 each - you will need two for one set
of straps) and you can get them anywhere. I got mine at a Sports
Authority, but any sporting goods store should be able to help you out.
Cut each hockey puck in half and then trim off the rounded edges to
leave two pieces per puck (4 total) that measure 1" X 1" X 2". I used a
power miter box saw, but you could do this with a hack saw or other
hand saw. I had a plain steel blade (non-tungsten type) which was
sitting around collecting dust and it worked perfectly. It will
cut through the pucks cut like a warm knife through butter.
Now you want to drill a 1/2" diameter whole lengthwise in each piece of
rubber about ? of the length of the rubber blocks. A drill press
and machinist's vise helps but you can do it without these items with a
hand drill and a steady hand.
Originally I drilled a series of holes in the rubber blocks but now
feel that you would be better off just bending a piece of wire rod
through the hole securing the spring and then bent into the fin
blocks. This takes all pressure off of the rubber blocks and
allows them to serve just as covers. You may notice that these blocks
are rather ugly and look like you made these at home out of a hockey
puck (well what did you expect!). To improve the looks a bit requires
some "styling". Take the hardware off the block and get out your
belt sander (100 grit belt work fine). Secure your belt sander
upside down or on it's side so that you can press the rubber block
against it to shape to a more "pleasing" design . If you don't
have a belt sander you could do this with a drill and a sanding disk.
Now let's attach the springs to the blocks. Make sure you have
already put the vinyl tubing over the spring or you might have a
problem getting it on afterwards! You will need to bend about two loops
of the spring into a "crossover double loop" so you can attach the
spring to the blocks. If you have a company that does spring work
they might do this for you for a couple of bucks. The easiest way
we found to do it was with two electricians screwdrivers as previously
described. To attach the spring to the blocks you will insert the
loop of the spring into the ?" hole and then take a piece of
1/8" SS or brass rod about 6" long and insert it into the small hole
crossways to the spring and leave an equal amount sticking out of each
end. Bend each end 90 degrees and then bend the remaining ends 90
degrees at the appropriate point to allow them to enter the fin blocks.
Roger Lacasse, who has a website on which he displays some D-I-Y dive
gear projects, e-mailed me and advised that he bought some new Global
jet fin buckle hardware, reversed it so it attached like the original
F/O (which is what Halcyon does). The spring strap hardware is
available from any Global Distributor (most dive shops) and sells for
about $2.00 each (Figure J).
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