======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Fin Control System From: Rik Jansen Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 13:19:40 +0200 Next week I'm getting myself a new board shaped. The shaper asked me if I would like regular fins or the 'Fin Control System' on this stick. Are there any people out here that have some experience with this system? I mean the adds say it's all great and stuff, but I'd rather hear the opinion from a fellow surfer... Stay Loose ! Rik. ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Fin Control System From: Stephen Erickson Date: 26 May 1997 22:59:49 GMT Rik Jansen wrote: > Next week I'm getting myself a new board shaped. The shaper > asked me if I would like regular fins or the 'Fin Control > System' on this stick. Are there any people out here that have > some experience with this system? I ran into an old friend of mine at the beach today, and his board has FCS fins on them. He doesn't switch them around, but it would make travelling a little more convenient. He had no complaints about them falling off or anything like that. I'd say, if there isn't a significant price difference, go for it, but if there IS, seriously question whether or not you really need to switch your fins around. ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Fin Control System From: nospam_jgill@a.crl.com Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 23:02:22 +0000 I've got a board that has a center Official-type removable fin. I took the advice of the dude in the surf shop and bought some 3M plastic adhesive for 4 bucks. Put a thin smear on the fin and jammed it in there, let it dry for about 4 hours. Then if I want to put in a larger center fin (got a small 5" one in now) I can just whack it a couple times with a rubber mallet and it comes out, no damage. Stephen Erickson wrote: > > Rik Jansen wrote: > > Next week I'm getting myself a new board shaped. The shaper > > asked me if I would like regular fins or the 'Fin Control > > System' on this stick. Are there any people out here that have > > some experience with this system? > > I ran into an old friend of mine at the beach today, and his > board has FCS fins on them. He doesn't switch them around, > but it would make travelling a little more convenient. He > had no complaints about them falling off or anything like > that. I'd say, if there isn't a significant price difference, > go for it, but if there IS, seriously question whether or > not you really need to switch your fins around. -- nospam_jgill@a.crl.com ^^^^^^^ remove 'nospam_' to reply via e-mail ======== To: Rik Jansen Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Fin Control System From: jborrero Date: 27 May 1997 09:56:35 -0700 On Mon, 26 May 1997, Rik Jansen wrote: > Next week I'm getting myself a new board shaped. The shaper > asked me if I would like regular fins or the 'Fin Control > System' on this stick. Are there any people out here that have > some experience with this system? I mean the adds say it's all > great and stuff, but I'd rather hear the opinion from a fellow > surfer... > Stay Loose ! > Rik. > have some sort of fin system on all of my boards. I have bothe the FCS with the plugs and the O'Fishl with the box system. The plusses are of course the the ability to stuff more boards in a bag for travel. That I like. Also the fins wont get busted by the baggage handlers. The biggest minuses have been with the FCS type. I've found that after a few months from landing hard on the tail, I've crushed down the tail around the plugs. This has caused the glass to fracture around the plug. I also question the wise ness of taking out two large chunks of wood from the stringer. Sometimes three if there is a leash plug in the middle too. I've never heard however of a tail snapping off. (i've talked to several who have used them for a full season on the North Shore) It seems that the glass is strong enough. My boards are usually so thin in the tail that the FCS plugs go all the way through to the top layer of glass. I've also had the plugs crack from the glass when inserting or removing the fins. On that particular board that led eventually to complete failure and I ended up galssing the whole thing in because I was on a trip and i didn't have the tools to do it right. The board broke three days later anyway. I also have the O'fishl type with the fin box . These have worked pretty good, the foam hasn't crushed down around the box at all. I think this type weakens the stringer more than FCS because the center finbox is about 4 inches long and that much stringer has to be removed. I've also knocked out an ofishl fin and lost it (they don't float). I haven't been able to get a replacement because they are harder to find and have to be ordered. O'Fishl is harder to find, but I think it's a better system FCS is more common but I think more prone to failure. If you are going to be flying with your boards more than twice in the expected life of the board, I would get some sort of removable fins. If you're not going on any trips, get regualr glassed on fins. I never take the fins off except to fly. That stuff about changing the size of fins for different prerformace is too high tech for me. good luck =============================================================================== Jose C. Borrero jborrero@scf.usc.edu Surfing Photos and Links: http://www-scf.usc.edu/~jborrero/ Check out the USC tsunami home page at: http://www.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/ for reports on the biggest waves in the world!!! =============================================================================== ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Fin Control System From: rfd@cybernex.net (Rob DiStefano) Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 10:20:18 GMT On 27 May 1997 09:56:35 -0700, jborrero wrote: >On Mon, 26 May 1997, Rik Jansen wrote: > >> Next week I'm getting myself a new board shaped. The shaper >> asked me if I would like regular fins or the 'Fin Control >> System' on this stick. Are there any people out here that have >> some experience with this system? I mean the adds say it's all >> great and stuff, but I'd rather hear the opinion from a fellow >> surfer... >> Stay Loose ! >> Rik. >> > have some sort of fin system on all of my boards. I have bothe >the FCS with the plugs and the O'Fishl with the box system. The plusses >are of course the the ability to stuff more boards in a bag for travel. >That I like. Also the fins wont get busted by the baggage handlers. > >The biggest minuses have been with the FCS type. I've found that after a >few months from landing hard on the tail, I've crushed down the tail >around the plugs. This has caused the glass to fracture around the plug. >I also question the wise ness of taking out two large chunks of wood from >the stringer. Sometimes three if there is a leash plug in the middle too. >I've never heard however of a tail snapping off. (i've talked to several >who have used them for a full season on the North Shore) It seems that >the glass is strong enough. My boards are usually so thin in the tail >that the FCS plugs go all the way through to the top layer of glass. >I've also had the plugs crack from the glass when inserting or removing >the fins. On that particular board that led eventually to complete >failure and I ended up galssing the whole thing in because I was on a trip >and i didn't have the tools to do it right. The board broke three days >later anyway. > >I also have the O'fishl type with the fin box . These have worked pretty >good, the foam hasn't crushed down around the box at all. I think this >type weakens the stringer more than FCS because the center finbox is about >4 inches long and that much stringer has to be removed. > >I've also knocked out an ofishl fin and lost it (they don't float). I >haven't been able to get a replacement because they are harder to find >and have to be ordered. > >O'Fishl is harder to find, but I think it's a better system > >FCS is more common but I think more prone to failure. > >If you are going to be flying with your boards more than twice in the >expected life of the board, I would get some sort of removable fins. If >you're not going on any trips, get regualr glassed on fins. I never take >the fins off except to fly. That stuff about changing the size of fins >for different prerformace is too high tech for me. > >good luck > >=============================================================================== >Jose C. Borrero >jborrero@scf.usc.edu I greatly prefer the O'Fish'L fin system over the FCS system on the boards I shape. I think the O'Fish'L boxes are lighter and stronger. Here's two sources for O'Fish'L fins and boxes: Rainbow Distributing 131 Tomahawk Drive, Unit 25 Indian Harbour Beach, FL 32937 407-777-5936 (this is where I currently get the goods) O'Fish'L Surf Products 34822 Camino Capistrano Capistrano beach, CA 92624 714-496-4798 (haven't checked this out for a while) Rob. ======== Newsgroups: alt.surfing Subject: Re: Fin Control System From: the Sandman Date: Thu, 29 May 1997 23:22:07 -0700 jborrero wrote: > > That stuff about changing the size of fins > for different prerformace is too high tech for me. I'm not a high-tec surfer but suprisingly a fin change can make a big diff. I've been using bigger fins for bigger faster point breaks and smaller fins for smaller mushier beach breaks with suprising success