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Old 01-14-2019, 01:54 AM   #1
TheMackDaddy
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Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

I've always drilled a small hole in the outside corner of the blade to tether the tail of the shark shield to the fin so it doesn't flip back during descent and shock me.

I've done this even with carbon fins, but i have new alchemies now that i don't want to void the warranty on nor drill through them because they are so damn pretty.

making a hole at the end of the rail seems like it might eventually rip the rail off the fin or just rip through the rail since the rail is not as strong as hard plastic.

any one have any ideas for how to accomplish this? I was thinking mabe a strip of tape running along the end of the blade that has a loop of fishing line under it

wondering if there are any better ideas out there?
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Old 01-14-2019, 11:50 PM   #2
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Just spitballing an idea, but perhaps you could just tie some thin shock cord, elastic webbing, or line very taught around the fin and simply slip the SS tail down and under the cord. Maybe a small bit of silicone on each side to prevent it from sliding off. Silicone would be easy to remove should the design not work. Another option would be silicone tape. Just tape in a loop of mono to hold the tail.

I have learned to try and swoop in to avoid getting shocked, but I've also learned to get used to getting shocked.
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Old 01-15-2019, 01:28 AM   #3
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Mack, I think Parviz of Red Triangle has a trick he uses. I'll see if I can find out what it is and circle back...

Do you still dive NorCal?
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Old 01-15-2019, 04:03 AM   #4
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Pretty strong water flow off fin blades which tends to wipe any loose attachments away. If you clamp something onto the fin blade then that may eventually hinge working at the attachment point and break away taking a piece of the blade with it. If you were wearing vented fins then you could poke the leash through a vent hole in the blade, or put something stiff along it to stop it folding back making it a bit like the trailing tail on a stingray.

https://spearfishing.com.au/blogs/news/shark-shield

Last edited by popgun pete; 01-15-2019 at 04:23 AM.
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Old 01-15-2019, 04:36 PM   #5
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by makemwearit View Post
Mack, I think Parviz of Red Triangle has a trick he uses. I'll see if I can find out what it is and circle back...

Do you still dive NorCal?
Yes I do.
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Old 01-15-2019, 04:39 PM   #6
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CuzzA View Post
Just spitballing an idea, but perhaps you could just tie some thin shock cord, elastic webbing, or line very taught around the fin and simply slip the SS tail down and under the cord. Maybe a small bit of silicone on each side to prevent it from sliding off. Silicone would be easy to remove should the design not work. Another option would be silicone tape. Just tape in a loop of mono to hold the tail.

I have learned to try and swoop in to avoid getting shocked, but I've also learned to get used to getting shocked.
This raises another issue I wanted to ask. Even using a tether ...or doing what you have suggested causes the cord to tap against your fin as you swim...making noise and scaring the fish.

I wonder if there is a way to avoid this.

Regarding shocking, Shocking is not something I want to deal with on a deep freedive.
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Old 01-15-2019, 11:56 PM   #7
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMackDaddy View Post
This raises another issue I wanted to ask. Even using a tether ...or doing what you have suggested causes the cord to tap against your fin as you swim...making noise and scaring the fish.

I wonder if there is a way to avoid this.

Regarding shocking, Shocking is not something I want to deal with on a deep freedive.
Try silicone tape with a loop of mono on the edge of the blade to hold the tail. The tape would be stretched tight around the fin so no noise. It shouldn't slip off and it's easy to replace when it's past its prime.

https://www.amazon.com/X-Treme-Tape-...SIN=B00HWROO7E
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Old 01-16-2019, 04:45 AM   #8
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Maybe approach this problem from a different angle. Take the SS off your leg and wear it on your back. You could incorporate it into the weightbelt or not. Use a small flag staff and mast to extend the tail whip away from your body. Imagine a freediving float flag holder on your lower back, an example being the mako lifeguard float flag holder. An angled ticklestick mounted at the tickle-end into the flag mast on your lower back might work, or something similar. Then run the SS rope along the stick .

I use the drill a hole setup you described on crappy longfins and dive shallow. I can't freedive deep anymore, otherwise I would have tried something like the above and other ideas if I had kept with it.
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Old 01-16-2019, 09:32 PM   #9
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CuzzA View Post
Try silicone tape with a loop of mono on the edge of the blade to hold the tail. The tape would be stretched tight around the fin so no noise. It shouldn't slip off and it's easy to replace when it's past its prime.

https://www.amazon.com/X-Treme-Tape-...SIN=B00HWROO7E
is the tape itself cushiony and that's what is supposed to stop the noise?, because with this set up, the SS tail would still tap against the fin.

The fish in Norcal where I am are all really small and stupid so the noise isn't a pressing issue here, but i do want to find a solution to the noise problem for when i dive in other locales
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Old 01-16-2019, 10:43 PM   #10
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMackDaddy View Post
is the tape itself cushiony and that's what is supposed to stop the noise?, because with this set up, the SS tail would still tap against the fin.

The fish in Norcal where I am are all really small and stupid so the noise isn't a pressing issue here, but i do want to find a solution to the noise problem for when i dive in other locales
Can you post a pic of your fins?

Silicone tape is literally nothing more than a stretchy silicone in tape form. It does not have any adhesive as it seals on to itself by stretching the tape as you wrap something, like a fin blade. So as long as your blade is flat, you could put a loop of bungee shock cord on the side of the blade and then wrap it to your fin by stretching the tape very taught and wrapping the fin a few times. You need to wrap it at least more than once because the tape will only adhere to itself. The stretching of the silicone acts almost like a suction or grip.

As for the sound, perhaps more than one loop and using shock cord to hold it tight to the fin would keep it quiet.

You can buy it online or at a box store for a few bucks a roll.
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Old 01-16-2019, 11:08 PM   #11
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Flexseal.

I tell you what, "ShooGoo" is a damn good product for gluing practically anything together, strongly.
I kinda like the idea of attaching it to your weight belt with a small cork at the end to keep it off ya.
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Old 01-17-2019, 12:19 AM   #12
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

What if you just bought a fiberglass driveway marker rod. Home Depot sells them for a few bucks. Cut the reflector off and bungee or zip tie the Shark Shield tail to the rod. This would all but guarantee that the tail would stay straight and not land on you.

In fact, I may try that.
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Old 01-17-2019, 01:14 AM   #13
TheMackDaddy
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

Unfortunately, the edge/end of the fin is not flat (because of the rails on the side going all the way to the end and the odd shape at the end). This rail is actually very soft rubber, so it might not make too much noise compared to my old fins that had hard plastic rails.

At this point I guess my main concern is getting something that won't come off and i don't have to drill the fin. The noise thing i'll just have to deal with i guess and not use it if i am hunting spooky fish.

I tried using that marine glue on a different set of carbons (the stuff that comes in a double syringe with a clear goo in one syringe and a white goo in the other syringe and you mix them together). I glued a flat piece of plastic with hole onto the flat face of the fin, this came off after the first ten minutes.

shoo go and flex seal? I might try those. I have a broken carbon i might run a test with before defacing brand new overpriced fins.

Attaching a cork to the tip of the SS tail, and wearing the SS as directed, that might be an idea that would work even smoother than tethering to the fin. I'm wondering if this would weaken the E-field having it near/on the surface while you're breathing up though.

attaching the shield to my belt i think i would be getting shocked a lot especially when resting on the surface.

You'd think they'ed have the technology by now to build a SS that wasn't so damn cumbersome, but maybe it would be too expensive to sell.
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Last edited by TheMackDaddy; 01-17-2019 at 01:24 AM.
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Old 01-17-2019, 08:26 AM   #14
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

If you want a marine adhesive that won't come off you should use 3M 5200. You could then attach a piece of plastic to hold your loop of bungee/mono.

It will be a bitch to get 5200 off, but with some elbow grease you'll eventually be able to clean it up and bring the fin back to its original condition.
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Old 01-17-2019, 10:47 AM   #15
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Re: Tethering Shark Shield to the tip of fin w/o drilling hole in fin?

What about a GoPro mount? Maybe two for redundancy, but I think those are real strong

https://www.amazon.com/GoPro-Fusion-...7739956&sr=8-6
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