To Spring or Not to Spring? That is the question.

Posted on Jan, 2010 in Home/News and Events/To Spring or Not to Spring? That is the question.

I’ll start off with a simple question, have you ever broken a fin strap? The next question is, did you have a replacement for the strap or and extra set of strap and buckles in your scuba diving equipment set? An extra strap should be carried in every diver’s save a dive kit, yet many people break fin straps and cant dive due to not having an extra. I can recall a time diving on vacation, getting ready to get into the water and my strap buckles break, i quickly reached in my dive bag, grabbed the replacement and hopped into the water. At that moment i decided i never wanted to have to do that ever again. I started looking through all of the catalogs to find the unbreakable strap, a few minutes later i found what i was looking for, Spring Straps.

I decided to order through XS Scuba, their straps in my opinion are one of the simplest design on the market and they also offer three different types of attachments for different fins. The XS Strap is just the metal spring strap with a thin nylon cover over the spring to prevent digging, the nylon cover also has a tab on it to help pull the strap back. The buckles to attach to the fin are made of stainless steel and attach to the strap with metal screws.

The straps do come in different sizes so you wouldn’t have to worry about having a strap too tight or too loose. I found myself that the 12″ strap works perfectly for my drysuit boot and the 10″ works well for my wet suit boot.

Now the reason that I like these straps so much is that they are near impossible to break, meaning I do not have to worry about getting ready to hop off the boat and find that i need to replace a strap.

Till Next Time

Alex

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Tags: scuba diving, scuba diving equipment, SCUBA Diving Fins, Spring Straps, XS Scuba

One Response to “To Spring or Not to Spring? That is the question.”

  1. techdiver312

    07. Feb, 2010

    I agree, spring fin straps are the way to go, cave and tech divers have been using them for years. Some divers balk at the price of these straps but they are comparing them with the price of a plain generic rubber strap like you would buy for an older style fin. There are so many brands and styles of fins on the market today with quick release plastic buckles that you will find that it is very difficult and time consuming to replace just the strap and that a generic strap may not work, something that you will not want to find out when you are ready to make your entry and break one. Most divers today carry an entire fin strap/buckle assembly in their save-a-dive kit so they can swap out the broken one quickly and easily. Now, if you compare the price of these rubber strap/plastic buckle assemblies to a spring assembly you are in the same price range and the fact that one set of spring straps will last the life of your fins it’s a no brainer- go with the spring straps.