i have a single fin 9 6 and im traveling and i want to take this board. will my fin be ok sticking out of a bag, or is there some other way of protecting it with out paying a fortune for a hard coffin
Yeah, its probably ok to leave the fin sticking out of your bag. As long as you don’t expect it to still be attached when you get it back! I definitely would not trust the airlines to take any kind of care when it comes to your boards. I don’t know if you neccessarily need a hard case for your board but you definitely need to have something very stable surrounding that fin. I have traveled with glassed-on fins several times with the fins surrouned by a high density foam with a few slits cut in. Someone probably sells something specifically made for surfboards but I’ll bet you could find something much cheaper using Google search for high density foam. Good luck.
If you have the time and materials you may consider putting a box in - easier travel, and a wide variety of fins to try. But, I have experiece in you dilema, and what I did was: made up a 4-6 layer cardboard “box” which fit over the in and rested across the bottom of the board, then I packing taped it into place like made. You want to make sure the “box” will take all the stress if wieght is placed on it. If it fits in your bag, or you can “tie” it in w/bubble pack and packing tape. Good luck - and think about the fin box, you might be stoked to be able to try one of the many fine fins you may have read about here! HA! Seriously though, think about it. Lot’s of pre planning, packing, and good luck. Go for it.
I figure that if you got a big block of foam(or glued up pieces) and shaped it kind of like half a basketball it would prevent any side pressure and make it hard for em to stack something on it.So how do we do it??Maybe shape the half ball and split it down the middle…scribe the fin and carve out each half so you can glue it back together and slip it over the fin nice and tight with bottom part flat to sit on the board.Duck tape the beewillys out of it and you should be good to go.Maybe glass it for strength.Come to think of it you may be able to sell them for a profit if you could refine the idea.Its just an idea…I have never done it but I think it would work and there are craftsmen around this sight that may be able to take it further.Doc?Diagram?
The previous replies all offer good but not foolproof suggestions, for the baggage baboons are nothing if not creative, and damned deliberate, in their mayhem. Bite the bullet, get a hardcase, then pack the board as if it were NOT going in a hardcase. It’s the only way to be (reasonably) sure.
OR…
As another suggested, replace the glass-on with a long box. Only disadvantages attach to primitive fabrication glass-ons. For those who say their board can only come with a glass-on, I say horsepucky, you haven’t made a determined effort.
All my boards have glass-ons these days, and I’m real happy none are big singlefins .
The trick is to pad the fin with a stiff foam that goes enough above the fin to give protection without making so large a cross-section that it won’t go in a board bag. A hemispherical item would work, or something shaped kinda like a pyramid or cone tapering to the rails to give the maximum of support.
Either way, the baggage demons will frown on you and chances are your board, fin down, will be placed under an air-freighted grand piano and squashed very thoroughly, probably more damage than just a busted off fin.
Options
- hard case - big bucks but your best chance of it getting there in one piece. do put lots of ‘fragile/muy fragil’ and ‘top load only’ stickers all over it. Plus a fin block as big as will fit in the hard case. Boards get screwed up inside hard cases too.
- Leave the fin sticking out of that slot all by itself. Bring lots of ding repair supplies and a spare glass on fin. Expect it to get munched badly, maybe the tail busted off into the bargain.
- A big foam block over the fin. And I do mean big, I’d maybe get or make a billet of foam as wide as the tail, 2" higher than the fin is long and a couple of feet at least front-back. Make a slot in it and duct-tape the bejeezus out of it, around the foam and around the board bag. Plus half the free world’s supply of ‘top load only’ and ‘fragile’ stickers in several languages. Plus a fat tip to the baggage guy at the gate, to get it top loaded. And lets not forget the power of prayer.
- Have a fin box put in. This actually may be the cheapest way out in the long run.
- Before you leave, grind away the glass and fin rope, take the fin off and when you get there, glass it back on. The other cheap way out, but only if you’re skilled at this sort of thing. Bring the necessary supplies and a grinder with you, 'cos guess what you’ll have to do before the return trip.
What do I do? I have tris and quads I travel with, and they get either hard foam or thick foam blocks, as wide as the board and thicker than the fins are high. Inside a padded day bag, inside a thicker padded travel bag. Plus tipping the skycap on every flight leg, plus stickers all over it begging for kindly treatment. So far ( knocking on wood) so good. But my next boards ( that I intend to travel with) will have removable fins.
hope that’s of use
doc…
Two 10" x 2" strips of high density foam, packing trash.
Two 10" x 10" paneling scraps etc.
(just make them longer and wider than the fin template)
Slot/Glue the foam and jam the wood in
Butt the foam blocks up to the fin base on either side and tape it tight.
I made it through all of Central America in the '70’s (pre board bag days) with 2-ply cardboard boxes and a roll of duct tape. The more stops we made the more padding I had, knife cut the seam on the rails and retaped as we moved on. Never lost a fin. BUT…I also watched my amigo’s board, standing on end against the airplane wing, get nipped by a speeding baggage train. His knuckles were bloody from banging on that really thick plastic window.
Tom S.
“Baggage Baboons”… thats funny as hell.Back in the Seventies I made a board for a Giant Samoan who worked baggage at the Honolulu Airport.He and his buddies got great pleasure out of "Cracking da Haole’s Feens"The game was to just crack em enough so they came off in the lineup.A few rail squeezes were thrown in for good measure.Aloha
I had a local plastics fabricator - like TAP Plastics - build a heavy-duty plastic u-shaped “fence” with feet to spread the load that went over the fin. Kind of like an upside-down letter U with serifs. I taped it in place with lots and lots of duct tape. Seemed to work on that particular trip.
I guess, the bisect approach where your board is “hidden” in a rectangular case seem to be a good option. A trisect board would even fit as hand luggage.
Pierre