5 fin set up/ quad with trailer fin work???

+100 for newenglandflatness

 

Not that I would notice , but having the nub makes sense - stability wise. If you have water channeling up into an empty fin box that's going to create a little more (slight) drag, maybe that equals out to stability in the end but having something more "areodynamic" will improve aspects of the board, probably most notable on bigger sets/steep faces, when the bottom turn is more important. When I feel the back end of my board slide out for no reason in a quad set up, other than my skill level, I wonder if an extra fin would help....but hey any surfing day is a good day

but like some old dude I paddle out with sometimes will say, c'mon man it's just a board and fins,

 

Pretty much a universal truth right there... in all aspects of board design and construction, not just fins. Thanks, NEflateness. For some people it's a luxury... to have the time, money, materials... to experiment. For some it's just not possible. That's why pro surfers and shapers can offer credible insight into board design... because they have all available resources at their disposal, and make it their life's work to hypothesize, experiment, and refine. So when Slater flashes a Nubster, people pay attention, not because he's their hero, but because he knows what he's talking about.

 

+1newenglandflatness and +2lbcrew - -totally agree.

i have a milk crate full of both FCS and Futures fins, taking the time/effort to change fins up is rewarding once you find combos that work. you can do things on certain fins that werent possible on others. There truly is a noticeable difference between fin shapes and sizes, the only way to understand what works for you and your board is to experiment

 

yes,i meant that i'm not that good to notice a difference,and yes I only have it in there because it fills the empty box which bugged me and it looks pretty,so yes when slater made it known to all the world I jumped on it,too,like all the people freaking out over it.he knows how to surf,but his shaping and design is bs to me,and that's the thing I hate about this forum,everyone wholeheartedly agreeing on the stupid volume thing,the stupid mini-simmons thing,how we all need those carbonfiber strips on the rails down by the tail,and the nubster,which I like and use but don't feel a difference because i'm not Kelly slater.i appreciate your kind,respectful argument,but my posts here have not all been identical.lbcrew on the other hand,though you are also kind in your arguments,i am disappointed in you for drinking the Kool-Aid on this one.pros and slater are not god.MP shaped boards no one else could ride and was the best surfer ever at kirra.MR and simon changed surfing forever with their designs,and MR won four in a row.slater shaping and designing,like dane,the other false god of surfing today,are complete novice amateurs in comparison.my understanding is backed by shapers and designers with many more years of experience.for example,those neal purchase jr. widowmaker fins are even smaller and more pointless.those guys all totally rip on them in perfect waves.waste of time for us,and really does nothing but give confidence that is not necessary.hard to explain it all here,but i'm tryin',so there it is,just my strong opinion that the nubster is a ks long beach contest lie.it's too small and does nothing.he and dane could rip on any pos.it won't help up mere mortals.

 

Greg Griffin makes boards set up for his hand foiled 5-fin setups. I've never ridden one, but a little research shows some people really love it. Usually his center fin is almost as large as the trailers....

I've only experienced a knubster-style fin on my buddy's Eavy-simmons. It has glassed-on wood keels and the "knubster" that Eavy hand foiled for that particular board. I'm not going to say it makes a huge difference as in turning it into a completely different board, but it definitely makes the transitions from rail to rail more predictable without the squirrely feeling Simmons shapes get in the flat part of your transition.

I've been wanting to order some fins from Greg Griffin, but am going to wait until I order my new Coil and get a set specifically for that.

I'll snake the knubster off the Eavy-simmons and put it on my Pier Pony to see if it makes a difference the next time I ride it. It's only got one tab so I can compare it in the front plug and the rear.

 

I think this would feel awfully stiff and wooden unless it's on a board designed for 5 full sized fins (i.e. the Griffen 5-fin mentioned)

As for the nubster, I've never tried one, and cant see doing it on a quad setup. When waves get punchy, I make the switch to a regular tri setup, or to a twin plus trailer.

It might be neat to sub in a nubster instead of the trailer in say a MR twin plus trailer finset. Anyone ever try that?

Lately I'm just so stoked if I can find the time to surf, I could care less what fins I have in

 

from 5-fin bonzers I've had to the von sol ks long beach nubster I have and the rusty c-5 we're talking 3 completely different 5-fins.it is good to try new things,but a lot of experimentation fails.on the other hand,my friend sticks two big twins in the fronts of a quad and rips it as a twin even though placement is 'wrong.' he's not a normal surfer,though.he's a total freak.

 

I have a rocket fish that I tried a FCS trailer with AM-1s on the side, but it had no drive at all. It works alot better with the AM-1s on the side and in the center, or a G3 in the center. (Someone told me to try it out with the FCS twin fin keels and no center fin).

A true MR twinnie would probably be fun with a little trailer on steep bowls. But I kinda like the skatey feeling of a true twin fin or a quad in certain waves, as long as the drop is not too sketchy.

 

Ugh.
Listen to newenglandflatness, he has the right idea. As surfers we are all different. Will like different things, and be able to do different things with different set ups. You NEED to try it to know if you'll like it. Sometimes you end up wasting money, sorry sh!t happens. Thats why we have to have jobs.

In my personal opinion, i will never ride a tri fin thruster again as i cant get the desired speed out of them, i can litterally feel them bog out and, in turn, I just dont like them. So in that respect why ruin the whole design of a quad by putting a fin in the extra box? If the empty hole bugs you, they make a plug for it, and you can just throw a sticker over it.

I've never tried the nubster, but just knowing something about fins, and fin set ups it will obviously add more stability, as well as a small amount of drag.

 

Always rode my motivator as a thruster. You got yourself a fun board...its fun in big surf too in rhode island. I have trouble not using that board.

 

It depends. If you are used to standard quads, the nubster will make you feel like you're dragging kelp. If you like thrusters, it will make your quad feel more angular and thruster-like.

 

That makes sense to me...about not enough drive on those combos. I have run AM1s all around and I've also run them with the g3 in the center. That's even marginally enough fin for me to drive on, so I'll probably skip testing a nubster all together.

Big fan of the quad setup for the drive, and I love a skatey feel anyway. I only switch to 3 when its bigger and has punch, in which case I don't need to drive so hard to create speed, so it's not as missed.

I guess the nubster probably isn't for me.

 

yeah, I'm sure sales factors in there, but also can be argued that shallower rear boxes don't core out as much of the thin tail area, they flex better and also don't add as much fin base weight

 

i actually never noticed a different fin box...i think i have all fcs... and yeah man it is a wild board design. the beak nose gets a lot of attention... its really just a beefy rocket pretty much. i ride a 5'10 and im 6'3 210lb so the volume is amazing.

 

I wouldn't call it drinking the kool-aid, brother.... maybe tasting it a little, though, I'll admit. But I did it out of curiosity, to be informed enough to at least discuss it. And here's what I did... I ride a hpsb when the surf is good... and by that I mean hollow chest high or better. So on a solid, clean head high day, I rode a 6'6 round tail I have set up as a thruster/quad convertible. The quad setup is the Rusty formula, which is one of the rail oriented quad setups. I built this board specifically to test ride different fin setups, keeping all other factors the same. So on this day I surfed for an hour and a half with the quad setup, with the nubster in. Then I took the nubster out and went back out, on the same day, same swell, same conditions... and rode it for over an hour again, just to feel the difference. My evaluation is based on that experience alone. And what I felt was a smoother transition from rail to rail. Contrary to what others have said (and I'm not disagreeing with them) but I didn't feel any discernible added drive; no down-the-line drag. Maybe its the way I surf... or maybe I just didn't notice. But what I did perceive was a noticeable, but not dramatic, enhanced feeling of flow from rail to rail. Quads with rail oriented placement, as opposed to the McKee setup, have a very "staged turn" feeling, where you ride the rail, then the board goes to flat, then goes to the other rail. Thrusters don't feel that way to me... particularly on round tails, where the board rolls smoothly from rail to rail under your back foot. The nubster puts a little lever, back, behind your back foot, and you can feel transitioning from bottom turn to top turn, and back. That's the only time I could feel it, and I think it's such a small fin, with a symmetrical foil, so it provides zero lift and near zero drag.

One session and that was my takeaway.

 

i'm sorry lb,it's just when people compare slater/dane/ci to real shapers/designers,i.e.,MR/Simon.there was a lot of local guys surfing MR twins really bad back then,like slater/dane boards today.simon's boards were the opposite,we could all rip like never before on our first thrusters.i think all designs have flaws,thrusters need to be pumped,quads definitely do track,singles can bog/bury rail,twins lack drive,etc..I like the thread,and just disagreeing because I think I have a valid argument,and disputing is healthy if we're going to improve boards.thanks,dude.