fin choices

why go plastic. making fcs fins is too easy. 26 layers of 4oz. layup on a piece of glass or anything with true flatness.trace favorite fin outline. cut out. sand and foil. total cost about $3-5 per fin set. bam

 

I love my old FCS TC Redlines and the Sunny Garcia's. They hold really well in big surf, and make my swallow tail able to surf in heavy waves. My old school buddy who shapes everything from hydrofoil wakeboards to semi-guns still swears by glass ons. I thinks he is too set in his ways, but he can way outshred me so he is probably correct. But less skill = need for crutches/ gimmicks and I will try everyone until I too can shred 23 footers and 2 foot mush with aplomb. Photos not forthcoming.

 

you'd have to prove that for me to believe it. An empty future box leaves a pretty square big hole (fcs, not so much). The drag might not be so noticable, but, mentally, it's pretty ugly...like the gaps under fcs fins. I'm buying a box filler for my empty center box...looks better.

once, I started to make my own fins...then realized it was more complicated than I thought and the possibility of making a real pos was too high. Leave it to the computers and cnc machines - much better product. However, if you have some old fiberglass glass-ons, ripped of your old 80s boards, you can cut out some tabs and make some nice/cheap trailer fins for fcs quads or a tri (just be sure to score a notch on the sides of the tabs so they can break away under too much stress). Never tried to do that for future boxes, but seems equally as easy.

 

unless water is sticking hard to the bottom of your board (bad) it's passing over the open boxes. i know you think it's not 'aerodynamic', or whatever, lol, but the 'hydrodynamics' involved with surfing say otherwise. modern boards are mostly based around some sort of concave bottom which puts air under your board and the pressure in the empty box lets water pass right over it.

i've made tons of fins over the years. out of all kinds of materials. not to hard. especially fcs. too easy. futures are a little more involved. people have been making fins since way before machines got involved. but i understand that it's not for everyone. it involves trying, and some people are just better at being consumers.

your worried about looks....lol. don't want to ruin your tufflite popout, surfboard modeling career huh? i hear you though, surfing is very psychosomatic.

 

huh? still no proof and a lot of small wave boards use a V bottom through the center, not concave.

we also haven't seen any these "tons" of great fins you've been making. How did you put "cant" into your home fins?...or are they all just completely vertical? Even if you posted pics of them (and they were actually your work), the details, sight unseen, would be questionable...and performance could only be determined by riding them. You've implied you're not worried about looks, so has this transferred to your fins?

Yeah, I like to look as good as possible when surfing...it's called style. Surfers with no style are called kooks. When things are ugly for no reason, I fix it. If I have to make things ugly for better performance, I do that too. I haven't owned a tuflite since 2008, but when I did, I sanded off all the gloss coat to make it function better - some would say I "ruined" it. I recently saw a photo of a pro with a box filler in his center future slot...doubt he's getting paid for that, so maybe he knows something we don't.

 

hahaha! your too funny. did you really say "i like to look as good as possible"? either your a flaming homo or a high school girl. do you work for a living? what you said translates to: im a mindless, hyper consuming, trustfundbaby who is brain washed by advertising. i want to be just like the cool dudes with pretty stickers and fashionable surf gear!

style is about HOW you surf. if you consider 'style' being fashionable while walking down the beach then you should gay-bash yourself.

claiming you haven't owned a tufflite since 2008... was that during your 'confused' phase in college?

your wrong about v bottoms. most modern 'small wave' shortboards have concave to V out the tail. but you shouldn't think to hard about it, its over your head.

yeah, i just make fins by beating on them with rocks and sticks. lol. i grew-up working in a glass shop. have family members who've also worked in the industry for along time. sh!t, i learned how to layup fins from the masters at rainbow fins. but you've never heard of them because you obviously haven't surfed too long kid. i can tell you'd get mean-mugged right out of lineup most places. yeah, your one of those.

why don't you get back on your razor scooter and wiggle your way back to fashion week... cupcake

 

I'm all about the DIY... but I don't underestimate the skill of a great fin foiler. It takes a good eye and a good hand... even better if you have two! I've built a lot of fins, mostly out of wood, but will tell you I'm no master, and would much rather trust the guys at True Ames or Rainbow than myself when it comes to building a perfect fin. There's no shame in saying you're a lousy fin foiler... it's a special skill set, IMO.

As far as ventilation goes... I'm not sure fin box drag and ventilation are related. But I will say that once the plug slots are filled with water (not air... that would be my guess) it's the same effect... very little drag. The cosmetic issue is a personal choice.

 

exactly. well put.

 

wow, you're really getting bent out of shape...or caffeine is getting the better of you. You talk really big on the internet...compensating? Gotta admit, you're really getting the unnecessary derogatory comments thing down pat - nice work.

you said it yourself: the V travels down the centerline of the tail...right where the center box is.

Actually, I've owned several rainbow fins - they're decent, but I've had better. They're made in Santa Cruz, just north of where I surf...didn't know they had a factory in jersey. As far as your "apprenticeship", I wouldn't be surprised, at this point, if you're blowing that way out of proportion, too.

you can sit around and mean mug all you want, but I wouldn't give a **** considering I'd be busy surfing...and well. Style is all inclusive. I surf with style and make an effort to not look like or carry myself like a slob, either...similar to most decent surfers. I guess you have a beef against anyone with an airbrush job on their board or color on their wetsuit or their fins, etc? - all of those are form, not function.

 

what is your major malfunction? you hype yourself to hell and back, spewing bullsh*t, making assumptions like you know me and ruin the op's thread. FAIL. One thing's for sure, you're a dumbass with a chip on your shoulder....the poster boy for "internet tough guys". I'm not afraid of you, b!tch.

"Born and raised in Santa Cruz"...but acting like a jersey shore douche

 

why bring Jersey into it? im not even in Jersey?

tough? cause your getting heckled and i struck a nerve? you brought it on mr big know-it-all. thought someone who knows everything could keep up. is that all you got? you have to be the dumbest poster on swellinfo.

your too funny cupcake

 

How 'bout next time you start pontificating about hydrodynamics, have some proof to back it up...not just "I grew up in the industry" hype. If you're so knowledgeable, why have I never heard of Atantic0 surfboards?

Your reaction to my idea of getting a box filler is over-exaggerated, to say the least. I guess, in your mind, Futures Fins are kooks for making the product, too.

You're a troll and your credibility is gone.

 

haha. i just don't worry too much about the box filler. why do you keep using the word 'hype'? how old are you? is this justin bieber? you so hype. lol.

atantico is my username on this website. derrrrrrr.

are you from gilroy? salinas? watsonville? doesn't matter. i know for a fact, based on the sh!it you write your an inland dork.

go back through all your posts... you feel stupid? your "i always like to look as good as possible" quote is too funny. you have no shame.

for a 'confused' tufflite enthusiast you sure know a lot about surfing. funny how you keep claiming you sanded off the 'gloss coat' of the popout your dad's boyfriend bought you. they don't even have a gloss coat. being shiny is not what makes it a 'gloss coat'. it's speed finish over paint. but you knew that right? does that sting your ego?

does your razor scooter always look as good as possible too?

 

What's wrong with wanting to look good when doing things? It's called having a little self respect and confidence. Not all of us are down with looking like homeless surfers. Looking good = confidence = performance. Ask anyone who plays baseball or basketball.

 

sorry, i don't look to jocks for advice. no suggestion of looking homeless. talk about one extreme to the other. i'd have to argue that people who don't care how they look are beaming self-confidence.

looking good = performance? haha. go watch old curren footage. that dude has more style and meaner rail game then anyone ever. he looked like a bum! boards were a mess too. he didn't give a fu*k too much.

you'll stop caring about trivial things when you get older, get a meaningful job and move out into the world.

please look up this BBC documentary called 'century of the self'. if your the least bit self-introspective it will give you pause. you'll realize how easily manipulated you've been. i bet you think your 'unique'? no more powerful marketing tool than that in a consumer based society. seriously... watch it.

 

atantic0 has no pride....that's what happens when you become a crackhead.

the guys at future fins are actual engineers, not some backyard hack. Most of them probably have airbrushed boards, colored fins, stickers, long hair, earings, tattoos, etc...all kinds of stuff that's just for show. Most of the surfers on this site have the same, so is everybody on this site a kook?...then why are you even on here?

 

A lot of chest beating and internet desk jockeying abound in this thread. To the original poster... ask your shaper and don't trust the nameless fools on the interwebs. Your shaper knows more than anyone on here and you are paying for his knowledge. If he can't explain the difference find another shaper.

 

did you read my PM to you? your feelings that hurt still? central coast CA is going off and your on the internet??

 

....love my glassed-in single fin longboard!