Acrylic Nails & H2O

[thevalkyry]

At the risk of serious ridicule I am going to go ahead and put this out there:

I have had acrylic nails since I was 18. My real nails are way weak and tend to peel and so I thought I hit nirvana when I could put this nifty hard stuff over the top of them.

I just got my OW cert in June and have been to Cozumel and the nails seemed to weather repeated dive days OK ...but I got them filled right before I left.

But I would be interested to hear any other tips or advice for diving with acrylics and not losing/breaking them in the process. Mine are pretty short but I still managed to pop one off hooking up my regulator last week.

[Foo2]

I haven't had acrylics since I started diving...but my mom gets them. I'll ask her to give me some tips to pass on.

[MSilvia]

My wife's a certified nail technician, among other things... I'll see if she has any ideas.

[thevalkyry]

Well, I carry super-glue with all my other liquids: sunscreen, mask de-fog, and swimear. When I was doing my open water at the tag end of a 2 week fill cycle I was sealing them with superglue. Worked OK...but I figure if someone has some unknown secret of success.....

At Xmas I am going to Brasil and I will fill before I leave, but I am spending the first week in the city seeing family before I head to the coast. I'm worried about liftage after a couple of days of diving...

[Zenagirl]

I used to wear acrylic nails when I first started diving. The main thing that I found that pretty much eliminated breakage or "popping", was having new nails put on a few days prior to a big dive trip. Like you, I also kept my nails on the "shorter" side. Since we travel to dive and only do 2 trips a year (but do 25-50 dives each trip), it wasn't a big deal to get new nails.

[Foo2]

Ok, so I asked my mom yesterday about the nails....she said, "Nope, no tips. Good luck!" LOL! Sorry. She said that she actually gave up on the nails.

[coral cowgirl]

I gave up on acrylic nails because I tended to snag them on everything....diving is equipment intensive and my nails just didn't survive.

[Eurodiver]

I suggest carrying nail glue NOT super glue with you just in case. Nail glue contains an anti fungal agent in it so if you have lift and you put a drop in it will keep you from getting mold or a fungus. Super glue is too strong and can and has been know to "eat" {for lack of a better term} a hole in natural nails. I have had nails since I was 14 and I am 38 now. I pop them off doing dumb stuff like getting in the car. I haven't broke one on dive equipment yet. >>>Knock on wood<<< Too much oil will cause them to lift as well. I carry little alcohol pads with me to the beach all the time and after I put on oil I take one and swipe the back of my nails to get the oil off.
That is my 2 bar for today!

[Splitlip]

I used to wear acrylics until I had a bad experience after the 3rd dive of the day about a year ago. Here is a pic my buddy snapped. (They were ocean dives)

[Diver Kat]

Originally Posted by Splitlip

I used to wear acrylics until I had a bad experience after the 3rd dive of the day about a year ago. Here is a pic my buddy snapped. (They were ocean dives)

Seriously ... the Man Card must go .... into the flames ....