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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 12, 2013 6:25:44 GMT -8
I thought it was about time to start another basic-gear-themed thread. This one focuses on curiosities from the world of fins, which sometimes serve as artefacts mirroring the culture that designed them. I'll start with the three-line embossed inscription on the base of a pair of vintage Ukrainian-made АКВАНАВТ (AKVANAVT) fins I found while Googling:  which says: ЦЕНА 8Р 50К 265-275 ГОСТ22469-77 which means: PRICE 8 ROUBLES 50 KOPECKS 265-275 mm [LENGTH OF FOOT POCKET] RUSSIAN STANDARD 22467 (1977) [ЛАСТЫ РЕЗИНОВЫЕ ДЛЯ ПЛАВАНИЯ: ОБЩИЕ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЕ УСЛОВИЯ - RUBBER SWIMMING FINS: GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS] What makes these fins unusual is the fact that the price has actually been moulded permanently on to the fins, harking back to a bygone age when there was no domestic inflation in Soviet currency, although the exchange rate with western currencies did vary. No western manufacturer of fins, or any other diving equipment for that matter, would have dared to mould the price on to the gear they produced because inflation was and is a fact of life in the Free World. Or perhaps somebody knows different? Or does anybody have some other odd factoid to share about vintage fins? David |
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Post by nikeajax on Dec 12, 2013 9:43:32 GMT -8
David, wow, that's pretty cool--thanks for sharing... comrade! All my fins are very plain-jane in comparison... So, I gotta ask, did you pay the price stamped on the bottom: were they new, or second hand? I wonder now, if that was a way of trying to keep them off the black-market? OH, wait, you said "Googling", not "Goggling"--yeah--dyslexia  Jaybird |
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Post by Linda on Dec 12, 2013 14:49:36 GMT -8
What makes these fins unusual is the fact that the price has actually been moulded permanently on to the fins... That is indeed odd and very interesting. I've never seen anything like it. |
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Post by SeaRat on Dec 13, 2013 12:50:34 GMT -8
I thought it was about time to start another basic-gear-themed thread. This one focuses on curiosities from the world of fins, which sometimes serve as artefacts mirroring the culture that designed them. I'll start with the three-line embossed inscription on the base of a pair of vintage Ukrainian-made АКВАНАВТ (AKVANAVT) fins I found while Googling: which says: ЦЕНА 8Р 50К 265-275 ГОСТ22469-77 which means: PRICE 8 ROUBLES 50 KOPECKS 265-275 mm [LENGTH OF FOOT POCKET] RUSSIAN STANDARD 22467 (1977) [ЛАСТЫ РЕЗИНОВЫЕ ДЛЯ ПЛАВАНИЯ: ОБЩИЕ ТЕХНИЧЕСКИЕ УСЛОВИЯ - RUBBER SWIMMING FINS: GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS] What makes these fins unusual is the fact that the price has actually been moulded permanently on to the fins, harking back to a bygone age when there was no domestic inflation in Soviet currency, although the exchange rate with western currencies did vary. No western manufacturer of fins, or any other diving equipment for that matter, would have dared to mould the price on to the gear they produced because inflation was and is a fact of life in the Free World. Or perhaps somebody knows different? Or does anybody have some other odd factoid to share about vintage fins? David David, Can you give us a photo of the entire fin. I'd like to know if it is a vented fin, along the lives of the USD Rocket Fin or the Scubapro Jet Fin. Also, how's the rubber holding up since it was manufactured in 1977? Is there signs of hardening. I've bought a couple pairs of Dacor fins (Turbo, I believe, but I'll have to check) and they have gotten so hard I cannot use them even in a warm pool. But my Scubapro Lightning Jet Fins are still soft and pliable, as are my original Duck Feet fins of gum rubber. I have two pairs of both the full-foot Duck Feet, and the heel strap Duck Feet, and both pairs can be worn and swam today as if they were almost new. John |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 13, 2013 23:54:41 GMT -8
Thanks for the positive feedback, Jaybird, Linda and John. David, Can you give us a photo of the entire fin. I'd like to know if it is a vented fin, along the lives of the USD Rocket Fin or the Scubapro Jet Fin. Also, how's the rubber holding up since it was manufactured in 1977? Is there signs of hardening. I've bought a couple pairs of Dacor fins (Turbo, I believe, but I'll have to check) and they have gotten so hard I cannot use them even in a warm pool. But my Scubapro Lightning Jet Fins are still soft and pliable, as are my original Duck Feet fins of gum rubber. I have two pairs of both the full-foot Duck Feet, and the heel strap Duck Feet, and both pairs can be worn and swam today as if they were almost new. John I don't actually own this pair of Soviet-era Ukrainian fins, I just came across the picture while Googling I'm not even sure they're even on sale. Here are two further pictures of the same fins from where I located them: Akvanavt  As you can see, the blades are solid, not vented. And the "1977" doesn't refer to the date of the fins' manufacture; it's the year of publication of the Russian Standard providing national specifications for the production of rubber swimming fins. I can't, of course, vouch for the state of the fin material in the case of these fins, but I do have a pair of blue modern-era Ukrainian Akvanavts in my collection, and the foot pocket rubber remains soft after ten years of use. The company that makes them, Kievguma, also manufactures rubber split-blade fins and fins with laced-up foot pockets: KievgumaAs for traditional rubber fins retaining their softness decades after their production, I would say that much depends both on the original quality of the rubber (no cheap fillers used) and on their care and maintenance (no protracted exposure to heat or sunlight). The softest fins I have were purchased from eBay and made by Britmarine, an English company more associated with the production of swimcaps; after a brief flirtation with the manufacture of uncomfortably hard "tupperware" fins, they stopped making fins altogether in the 1980s. The fins look like these:   The foot pockets are still so soft that I almost forget I am wearing them, even though they must be at least forty years old. They must have been well looked after. Another pair I have, though, purchased forty years ago, is showing signs of hardening, so it depends on the conditions they are kept under. David |
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Post by nikeajax on Dec 14, 2013 10:05:25 GMT -8
David, although these aren't as quirky as the fins you're sharing, they are kind of odd-ball in that they are pure-gum-rubber:  Robb, Oystrpir8, gave them to me: I found a pair of them about a year ago, but the rubber was so deteriorated they felt like one of these:  in that it was hard and brittle, and wouldn't take much to make them crack! I'll have to use them a few times, as I haven't yet, but they'll be one of the things where I break my rule: "If I own it, I use it..." The rubber isn't holding up very well, even though I don't believe they've ever been used: I checked the pliability and when I stress any portion, it crazes, hundreds of tiny cracks appear... Jaybird |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Dec 14, 2013 10:57:05 GMT -8
Thanks for sharing your acquisition, Jaybird. I see the Skin Diving History website also showcases the Healthways Web Feet fins:  As a "live" material, pure rubber too can dry out or perish, although it remains a mystery sometimes why in the case of articles made from the material, one will remain perfectly serviceable for decades while another will deteriorate to uselessness or a "display only" status within a few years. I'm very cautious about snorkelling with vintage gear made from rubber because I may be accelerating the hardening process. I prefer looking round for traditional gear that is still in production, and there is plenty around. Here, for example, is a Hungarian-made pair of fins that is mainly used nowadays for workouts in the pool:  The people using them these days are probably blithely unaware that the molds used to make them came from the German Democratic Republic, where the fins were used by many adult divers, including those serving in the East German army. There are still many people in today's Germany who speak fondly of the fins and some still dive with them. The closed toe is typical of pre-1970 fins manufactured in Germany and Eastern Europe, and the rubber fins still made in Russia and the Ukraine carry this feature, as of course does the good old US-made Voit Viking, which saw a brief renaissance not so long ago on Amazon:   David |
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Post by SeaRat on Jan 16, 2014 18:44:41 GMT -8
How about these fins, David. I believe these are blue Sportsways Waterlung Power Fins, circa 1963 or so. This was a dive I made as a teenager, and the diver was a guy named Pierre, but I don't have his last name. Here's the Sportsways Catalog for 1969.  Attachment Deleted |
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Post by OystrPir8 on Jan 16, 2014 19:51:44 GMT -8
Cool shot! Is that KodaChrome? Do you have any other shots from that trip?
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Post by duckbill on Jan 16, 2014 22:05:29 GMT -8
... as of course does the good old US-made Voit Viking, which saw a brief renaissance not so long ago on Amazon: David I bought a pair of those Amazon specials to save my real Vikings from pool chlorine. My reproductions are stamped "Made in Mexico", but I'm glad to have them, though they are a little stiffer than the real deal ever was. |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Jan 19, 2014 10:23:19 GMT -8
How about these fins, David. I believe these are blue Sportsways Waterlung Power Fins, circa 1963 or so. This was a dive I made as a teenager, and the diver was a guy named Pierre, but I don't have his last name. Here's the Sportsways Catalog for 1969. View AttachmentView AttachmentGreat pictures, John. Those look like quite substantial fins. I've just seen the very same fins in an online version of the 1964 Waterlung catalogue too; the 1961 version only has Tigullio Manta fins, presumably imported from Italy. Sportsways seem to have been in business until at least 1980 as their Regal and Waterlung 707 fins are featured in the March 1980 "Skin Diver" "Pro Dive Fin Roundup". All theose fins appear in "The Complete Outfitting & Source Book for Sport Diving" book of 1978. David. |
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Post by dimges on Sept 9, 2017 1:50:13 GMT -8
Hello everybody, I'm new here and I'm pretty busy with my grandson. 2009 I dived in Hurgada, Red Sea and then on Deeper Blue forum I saw the topic of old fins, so I started a discussion ... I'm interested in short rubber fins, especially with a deep V contour (convex). I only contact SEAC ( Croatia represent) but they did not want to discuss about the possibility of producing full foot fins with a deep V profile; I can not get in touch with any from the Tigullio company, if they can find the old tools, of the fins Manta and Bond, the fins could work anywhere, for example, in Turkey, where work with old tools clone of vintage mares fins Sea King and Concorde Pictures of Tigullio manta fins are on the net, but unfortunately there are no pictures of Tigullio Bond 008, I only have a sketch from my memory ( my wife threw into trash all my old fins , when we moved to another apartment 1989); greek fins Glaros EpipleontaSuper, from 1985, also clone fins of Mares SeaKing, threw into trash last month(they broke 2 years ago )    |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Sept 10, 2017 2:06:12 GMT -8
Hi, dimges. I believe I contributed to that very thread you mentioned on the Deeper Blue Forum. If you're interested in vintage rubber fins manufactured by Tigullio, there is a Tigullio catalogue online on the Finnish diving museum website catalogue page.  . You can access the catalogue scan directly at Tigullio. The resolution isn't great, but the text is still readable. There are three Tigullio fin models in the catalogue, including the Manta, but sadly not the Bond 008 you are looking for. There are several items of Tigullio publicity material online, notably at www.bibliotecadiunapneista.it/attrezzature/00_attrezzature.htm        A final point. The Tigullio Manta is a very distinctive fin, not least because of its unusual toe opening. The same toe opening is a feature of vintage "Balaton" fins made in Hungary. Although it's a landlocked country, Hungary has played quite a role in fin manufacture over the years and it is the current source of what were East Germany's cult Naiade fins. |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Sept 10, 2017 2:38:35 GMT -8
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Post by dimges on Sept 10, 2017 9:27:05 GMT -8
thanks for the catalog Tigullio ... I think the fins I bought in 1972 in Trieste, Tigullio Bond 008 let a copy or a clone of the fins from this Tigulio catalog, look at the fins GIADA !! but they were very good, it was then to buy only 38-40, very short, but they suited me, I could dive without difficulty up to 6m deep, and with the fins Manta i dived to 12m deep. These fins GIADA (and my BOND 008) did not tire legs !! I could hunt fish for hours and work a lot of dives, especially they was suitable for fishing in rocky holes. by the way, I still guard the old rubber mask Samoa (brand G.S.D), damaged by high temperatures, vulcanizing the rubber on some loaded places. But I have the similar silicone mask (G.S.D.), that I sometimes use .. rubber mask Samoa www.bibliotecadiunapneista.it/attrezzature/general_sub_division_Samoa_69-10_2.jpg |
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