My Bio-fin splitfin...split

[rumblefish]

For those who don't preview the "other" board, I just posted about a major failure I experienced with my Apollo Bio-fin.

Here's the link to the other board.

My Bio-fin splitfin...split - ScubaBoard

And I'll copy the contents of the post here as well. Just feel like I should spread the info around and whatever else comes out of it.


Well, just got back from a great vacation in Thailand. Managed to get 17 dives in during my stay, including 11 in on a LOB in the Similan Islands.

During my first dive on the LOB, when donning the fin, the loop on the fin strap snapped. OK, I think...no problem, it happens. However, on the very last dive of the trip I had a major failure of my bio-fin. Upon surfacing on the last dive, a member in my dive group let me know that my biofin had split right down the middle. Well, duh, I'm thinking, they are split fins....and then I look down and notice that there really is a huge split down the middle of my fin. I really don't know how it split. I wasn't crouching on the seabed or knocking into anything.

Now, I'm a little shocked at this as I bought the fin in late 2006 and have only about 70 dives on it. I take real good care of my gear. I always rinse after dives and never dry or store my gear in direct sunlight. Due to it's heavy rubber construction, I thought that these would last for years.

I have to say, I love my biofins. But, this is something I never expected and has kind of given me pause if asked to recommend a fin. So I throw it out to the board, has anyone ever experienced something similar to this?

[MSilvia]

I had the weld on one of my Mares Avantis let go where the "flex channel" meets the blade at the fin tip, but nothing catastrophic like that. That's nuts.

[DevilDiver]

Hard to imagine what could of happened.... Those things seem to be indestructable.

What are your thoughts to how this could of happened?

[CompuDude]

Actually, not precisely the same, but a friend of mine had the foot pocket tear on one of her bio-fins. I think Apollo finally replaced the fin, but it was quite an ordeal, and the shop she bought it from will no longer Apollo's products as a result of the hassles they went through. I think her fins were newer than 3 years old, though... I'd guess 1.5 years max.

As to the torn pull loop on the spring strap, however, I've seen that a number of times. There's only so much stress any rubber loop can take and putting fins on and off definitely falls into the category of "stressing the connection" at times, if you're not careful. It happened to mine on the second dive I wore them on, but since it was within a couple weeks of purchase, my LDS swapped it for me no questions.

I think Apollo generally makes things right, but they don't seem to make it as easy as they should. I agree it gives me some pause about recommending them, but they're still really good fins.

[scubadiver888]

This is a little disconcerting. I purchased a pair of bio-fins last year. They have been working great for me and totally lived up to everything I read about them. Never even considered how long the rubber would last.

I've had fins for 8 years. Still going strong. I do notice from your pictures that the rubber has a white film on it. Reminds me of when the wiper blades on my car wear out. Maybe just keeping them out of direct sunlight isn't enough.

I think I'm going to read up on rubber and see if there is anything else one can do to lengthen the life of a rubber product.

Do you dive in salt water or fresh water? So far my fins have only seen fresh water.

[tc_rain]

I have had my Bios for about two years and just recently noticed the pull loop on the spring strap is torn almost identical to your posted picture. Hopefully the other pictures are not something I will be facing in the near future. Keep us posted on Apollo's reply so we can see if they will stand behind their product. I will be contacting them to see if I can order new pull straps. I still love the fin though.

[scubadiver888]

Did a little reading on rubber. Sunlight and ozone are bad for it. Maybe your fins were exposed to ozone. Ozone can be generated from static electricity.

The film on the fins might actually be a wax they mix with rubber to help protect them from sunlight and ozone.

[Splitlip]

If we check out the SB thread, Apollo already told OP to call them about warranty.

[scubadiver888]

Originally Posted by Splitlip

If we check out the SB thread, Apollo already told OP to call them about warranty.

Actually, they told them to call them and it is a one year warranty. I'd be interested to see what they do to help rumblefish.

Please keep us posted, here or SB, rumblefish.

[Diver Kat]

Interesting .... we've had our bio-fins for over 300 dives - 6 years diving and a couple more before that just snorkeling. So far they're in pretty good condition, and even the straps look good. I'm always wondering how long they'll hold up, but they keep going strong.