05-16-2013, 04:10 PM
[quote SHigSpeed]Took the tube and fins to a Mother's Day pool party and waited for a lull in the water activity.
Verdict? The fins work GREAT! The right amount of flex to get easy propulsion and very easy on the ankles. No feeling like the spars are overstressed or at risk of breaking. I seem to be able to get a good clip going but in a small pool it was hard to tell absolute speed.
The bungee worked well if not a bit loose. I had a cord lock adjuster on it initially but the one I had wasn't tight enough not to slip under tension. The one thing that needs attention is the spar location fixing. I has hoping that just the tension on the zip ties wouldn't allow them to shift, but with all the flexing they did. The main spars shortened up and the cross spar that holds the mid-web at the toe wiggled free and sunk to the bottom of the pool. I had to have one of my boys dive down and retrieve it.
I have solutions for all of these issues, but they all make it more difficult to do a field tear down off the units without snipping zip ties.
I really would like to have an easy "inside the pack" solution but I suppose PITA is better than none, and none won't technically be the end of the world.
I'm not giving up yet but the most important design goals (weight and effectiveness) seem to have already been met.
_SHig[/quote]
Very clever innovations, SHig, thanks for posting.
Your platform material looks thin but tested strong enough, is it PVC? Maybe you can glue a thin flat layer of closed cell underneath to get them to float, without adding much weight/bulk?
I think the structural material/members will take a pounding the way fins are used. So fasteners to the platform will have to be really rugged is what I am thinking....
Hope this helps.
Pon
[signature]
Verdict? The fins work GREAT! The right amount of flex to get easy propulsion and very easy on the ankles. No feeling like the spars are overstressed or at risk of breaking. I seem to be able to get a good clip going but in a small pool it was hard to tell absolute speed.
The bungee worked well if not a bit loose. I had a cord lock adjuster on it initially but the one I had wasn't tight enough not to slip under tension. The one thing that needs attention is the spar location fixing. I has hoping that just the tension on the zip ties wouldn't allow them to shift, but with all the flexing they did. The main spars shortened up and the cross spar that holds the mid-web at the toe wiggled free and sunk to the bottom of the pool. I had to have one of my boys dive down and retrieve it.
I have solutions for all of these issues, but they all make it more difficult to do a field tear down off the units without snipping zip ties.
I really would like to have an easy "inside the pack" solution but I suppose PITA is better than none, and none won't technically be the end of the world.
I'm not giving up yet but the most important design goals (weight and effectiveness) seem to have already been met.
_SHig[/quote]
Very clever innovations, SHig, thanks for posting.
Your platform material looks thin but tested strong enough, is it PVC? Maybe you can glue a thin flat layer of closed cell underneath to get them to float, without adding much weight/bulk?
I think the structural material/members will take a pounding the way fins are used. So fasteners to the platform will have to be really rugged is what I am thinking....
Hope this helps.
Pon
[signature]