How To Fit Fin Blades To Foot Pockets

Fitting one of our blades to a foot pocket is pretty easy once you know how the two parts join. The video below was filmed in the workshop at our headquarters in NSW, and the steps are written out underneath.

How The Blade And Pocket Join

Each blade has a T-rail running along its side. The foot pocket has a rebate, a groove in each arm of the pocket, that the rail fits into. Once the rail is seated along its length, the fitting kit goes into small holes drilled through the pocket and blade.

The Ocean Hunter Ambush, Hammerhead and JBL pockets we recommended in our 2021 foot pocket video all fit up this way.

Before You Start

You will need your blades, your foot pockets, the fitting kit and a drill. A clear bench helps, with enough room to stand a blade upright and to lay a finished fin flat.

Check your pocket size before you fit anything. Most pockets show a US or European size on the heel. If you dive in a 3mm neoprene sock, go a half size bigger than your standard shoe size. Try the pockets on with that sock before any holes go in.

Do both fins in the same sitting, one after the other, so they come out matching.

Fitting Steps

1. Heel first. Position the heel of the blade as far into the base of the pocket as you can get it. The heel is the end of the blade with the angle in it.
2. Bend the arm. Hold the blade close and bend the foot pocket arm down like a banana peel. In the workshop footage the blade is held upright against the chest, which keeps it steady.
3. Roll it on. Roll the pocket arm on along the edge of the fin so the rail seats in the rebate. Work down a section at a time with both hands, then do the other side.
4. Square it up. Make sure the foot pocket is in line and square with the blade. Hold the fin out and look along it from the heel end. The pocket should sit straight down the middle of the blade.
5. Drill for the fitting kit. Once it is square, make the small holes that the fitting kit goes into. In the video the fin is laid on a bench and the holes are drilled through the pocket and blade with a cordless drill.

Fixing A Crooked Fit

If the pocket will not roll on, go back to the heel. Take the arm off, push the heel further into the base of the pocket and start again.

If the fin looks crooked when you sight along it, do not drill. Take the arm off and roll it on again. The holes are the one part of the job you cannot undo, so it pays to be sure first.

If you are still unsure, stop before the drill comes out and get in touch.

What You Will See In The Video

The video opens at the beach at sunrise, with a diver carrying her fins across the sand, then cuts underwater. From there it moves into the workshop, where an on-screen caption reads DiveR headquarters, NSW Australia. The camera passes stacks of finished blades and a rack of blades carrying colourful designs before the fitting starts.

In the workshop the blade and pocket are held side by side first. The pocket arm is then worked onto the blade edge by hand, a section at a time, until the whole rail is seated. Later you will see a silicone spray used on a blade rail, and the holes drilled through the pocket and blade with a cordless drill. It closes underwater with divers finning.

This video has no captions. Our foot pocket video covers the same method with the steps spoken, and you will find it in our guide to which foot pockets fit our blades, along with the sizing advice.

Find a pocket to suit your blades in our foot pocket collection.