DIY MERMAID MONOFINS | 3 Seconds in and I’m DONE! 😡

Among the worst offenders of BAD IDEAS is 5 Minute Crafts and their DIY mermaid monofins. I made it 3 seconds into the video and had to stop. 🙄

📚 Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:58 DIY Mermaid Fins
6:14 To Summarize
6:43 THE PROBLEM
9:27 Affordable Options
9:57 At the End of the Day

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[CourtneyMermaid]

What are your thoughts (respectfully please) on DIY mermaid fins/monofins? What else could people making land-only fins call them? Leave your comments below! 💖

[TheRunicRaven]

Wholeheartedly agree with all of this.
when I was like 10 I showed my dad the FinFun website and asked for a tail, but he got me a knock-off instead, THANKFULLY without a monofin-

so I made one out of cardboard with the sole purpose of hanging out on the floor, or making silly staged "mermaid potion" videos. but I never swam in that because I was a smart 10-year-old lol

now I have a FinFun Atlantis tail and just recently got a FinFolk discovery tail for my birthday!

[jordanliptak]

When I was in middle school, I tried to make a monofin out of a five star plastic folder from walmart. I cut, stapled, and actually made a tail skin to complete the look. I swam in it. It was horrible. Luckily, I was a strong swimmer at the time, so I managed not to drown. Anyway, lessons were learned. If you are going to make your own monofin, do the research and don't use cheap materials. Otherwise, save up for a good quality monofin.

[finnesotamermaid]

I remember when I first started out, I myself was looking at the home made fins because everything was for kids, I am so glad I didn't attempt to make and use any of them, but I was also old enough to understand just how dangerous all of these looked and were, so it's so important that videos like this are made and shared so it reaches the guppies who are curious and seeing the videos! This will definitely be another video I show my niece to help her learn to respect mermaiding and the equipment that goes with it on a whole new level so if she does decide this is a hobby she wants to dive into, I know she's prepared!

[TheMermaidSewist]

A safe and functional monofin needs to meet the following criteria for a beginner:
1. Be easy to get out of in less than 5 seconds
2. Provided enough propulsion to move you from deepest point of the area you are swimming in to the surface in faster than it takes you to feel remotely uncomfortable with no air in your lungs. (Don’t try that underwater)
3. Be durable enough where regular use will not cause it to break in a way that compromises either of the functions above or causes harm to you.
4. Be made from materials that are water stable and skin safe. If you wouldn’t put it in an aquarium with the rarest fish in the world, you should not use it.

If you are to DIY a monofin or a tail extension, and you’re not certain that your prototype meets these criteria. You should not post about it on the Internet or try it without personally attentive trained safety personnel watching you.

I 100% percent agree with Courtney, that the majority of these videos of DIY monofins may be acceptable for dryland costumes, and the name should be changed to something like mermaid fin costume.

The reason why you hear so many mermaids, professionals, hobbyists, experienced in the mermaid world repeat, over and over again to get your monofins and to get your tails from a reliable source is because those monofins are tested by these criteria and more extensively to hold up and be used safely in water. And I want to clarify, “to be used safely” means that they are not a safety device, but rather are used by a user/ by people who know how to swim, understand the limitations of the fin and their own abilities, know the risks of being around water and understand what it takes to safely use the product.
This is my two cents as a former lifeguard, mermaid, and diver. And after seeing so many people dipping their toe in the community getting hurt by following tutorials like the ones, Courtney pointed out in this video.

[kimssnugglebuddies]

I know when I was young and Mermaiding wasn't as popular, I DIY'd my monofin using cardboard and bought the cheapest Mermaid tail skin I could and uh... Yeah. It didn't work out. But I've grown and learned from you. I've had a Mahina and a scuba knit Mermaid tail for a while now because I learned the hard way that diying things isn't always the best idea. And I would rather swim safely than cheaply. Thanks so much Courtney for making this video for all the younger kids who could be in danger from following those tutorials.

[arscrafter]

This is dangerous, Kids are going to try this and possibly get hurt! Unfortunately I don’t think there are enough people that know and can teach people about this. We need to get this video out there and spread the word, Thank you for the videos Courtney!💖

[MermaidTaurva]

Thank you so much for creating this much needed video! You, Nermaid Faith and Phantom are the three mermaids that helped me learn and know about the do’s and don’t’s and how safety is of course, paramount. Thank you for everything you do and have done xx

[blued_moon]

In like every DIY mermaid tail video I‘ve ever seen they used duck tape. I were wondering every time how this monofins are supposed to be swimmable. And duck tape isn’t like waterproof. The duck tape is going to come off as soon as you swim. But I never knew it could be dangerous. I just thought they weren’t the smartest and had no clue how water works. I‘m glad I never tried to recreate one of this

[sierraconway-]

I cut up an old tank top and basically tied my ankles together to get the “mermaid” vibe when I was like 11. 🥲 At 18 I bought the Luna monofin and I love her so much 🥰

[mermaidjaffa]

I've seen one, where the girl makes it out of wire coat hangers and struggles to swim in it.

[sierramoore]

I was one of the people who unfortunately thought this was a good idea back then. I had a HUGE hyperfixation on swimming with mermaid tails and almost just anything mermaid. I ended up getting water shoes, plastic, and waterproof duct tape to make one of them. Thankfully, I learned pretty quickly that it was harmful not only chemically but the plastic could snap from the pressure of swimming. Not to mention, the lack of safety features most actual monofins have.

[MinxFox]

An interesting thing to note: The Weeki Wachee Mermaids - who are famous here in Florida for the underwater shows they do - use bi-ins instead of monofins in their tails. At least underwater IDK about for their on land meet and greets. Bifins can be cheaper and certainly more common than monofins and can be a great start. I remember when I was a kid I had a pair of bifins that I swam around in and tried to swim with my legs together pretending to be a mermaid. For my first monofin I asked my parents If they could get me one for Christmas. My Mom had me send her the link and I think I used a Hannah Mermaid discount code. There are so many options and these days sometimes you can even find Linden Bodyglove monofins at Walmart.

My opinion is why try to re-invent the wheel? If you’ve been mermaiding a while and are passionate about creating your own monofin give it a go SAFELY but for a first or even second monofin it’s easier to just save up for one. I also don’t agree with putting a homemade monofin in a silicone tail. I remember people doing that on Mernetwork. They would make a monofin out of Lexan which can be sharp and dangerous if it breaks so there were just too many red flags in that regard. Why spend the money to make a silicone tail when you are filling it with a questionable monofin? Just my thoughts.

Also for anyone who has worn the type of flip flops that were in all those examples - those things fall apart in like one summer just from walking. They are foam and the plastic thong part that goes between your toes pops out incredibly easy. That thing will fall appart so fast with swimming. Not to mention the foam of the flip flops will give you major buoyancy issues - just try throwing a foam flip flop in a pool. It floats. 😂

As for a name I guess “land fin”? Or just “tail NOT FOR SWIMMING” haha. I have a Pinterest board called “Walkable Mermaid Costumes” so that is what I call land outfits but this would be somewhere in between walkable and swimable. “Dry Mermaid Fin”.

Girl I am so sorry I guess I’m writing essays in your comments today. I need to go swimming...

[abiitails]

Maybe they should be calling them "mermaid cosplay inserts" or something of the sort.

When you showed the hanger, it brought me flashbacks to a time when someone thought a hula hoop was a good idea to use in place of a vinyl insert 😬

[NeriBerryz]

should be called a soggyfin! cause thats whats gonna happen when they take a dip in the water. Yikes! water safety people D:

[PapaMeese]

It’s terrifying that channels that are similar to 5 minute crafts are jumping on this “diy mono fin” craze knowing that their target audience are young and impressionable children who don’t know any better. It’s worse knowing that they won’t take responsibility if a child actually attempts to make the “fin” and unfortunately ends up hurt.

I can see using these “fins” for dress up/costumes but we definitely need to call them *”Costume Fins”* to separate them from actual mono fins.

[AndyJinxAgain]

[SORRY THE VERY LONG TEXT]
I understand trying to make your own, being in a country that have a very devalued coin and not have access to this hobby. (We have about 3 national shops where the price is about a month minimal salary). In the beginning i also seen these diys but i could not make any cause materials, BUT About 2 years ago i wanted a monofin for an old tail that have a big and quite designed fin (the luna was too small and the shape was wrong) so i researched the type of plastic that is normally used in the more rigid monofins and made my own using that but unfortunately it was to heavy and stiff so it was not swimmable (also kinda rip holes in my tail so i officially retired them).

Its sad that in my country safety is one of the least important things when it comes to "kids hobbies", the amount of kids in tail skins WITHOUT ANY monofin inside trying to swimm in the beach or in pools is crazy and without supervision. Also parents dont try to search for official tail makers cause most dont speak english, on top of the fact that they want the cheapest thing possible, the result is aliexpress and shopee tails.
Its an expensive hobby, id say the most expensive I have myself (i also do cosplay and a few alt stiles), its almost impossible for someone in the majority of my country to afford actual official stuff.

Just so you guys understand better, the month salary here is about 1210 to 1600, the cheapest skin tail of national tail makers is 580+ shipping (shipping is at least 150 cause of size and weight), the supermarket for 2 people is around 500, internet 80, rent at least 900. +health+water+energy+taxes.
I'm at least 2 years without a tail skin cause the dollar is 6times the coin and national that fits the luna is 820+shipping.
The dream would be thing get more accessible or we get paid more to live not survive. :')

[talosheeg]

I made myself one a few years ago, and while it was decent, I won't be doing it again! I followed a lot of the YouTube tutorials so at least I had an idea of what to do and I remember it being a pain in my ass to cut the plastic 😂😂. Now that I have adult money, I'm buying a fin

[BlueKoinu]

Oh gosh, I wish the 5-Minute Craft channel and its sister channels would just fall off the face of this planet. They're such a dangerous DIY content channel. The one that had me the most horrified was fractal burn art. So unbelievably dangerous that no channel that features it as something fun to do should be allowed (with the acceptions of the channels giving PSAs telling people how dangerous it is and should absolutely not try this).

[chantallutz]

Hi Courtney, thank you for your good research and videos. I have just posted your video in our Merfolk Whatsapp community. The Merfolk community in Germany is constantly growing. That is why it is so important that there are mermaids like you who educate and talk about this sport. Please keep it up. Warm fin greetings from Mermaid Derwischan from Germany 🧜‍♀️🇩🇪🌊