Anybody have any experience with this line of fins? Rubber fins with a little bit of flex around the trailing edges. Another question I have is that O’Fishl puts out carbon fins and deems them as extreme stiffness fins. What is the advantage of stiff fin such as what O’fishl puts out and a flexy type fin that Proteck puts out.
Anybody have any experience with this line of fins? Rubber fins with a > little bit of flex around the trailing edges. Another question I have is > that O’Fishl puts out carbon fins and deems them as extreme stiffness > fins. What is the advantage of stiff fin such as what O’fishl puts out and > a flexy type fin that Proteck puts out. Carbon fins are intended to be light relative to the amount of stiffness that a fin foil shape will lend. If you make a fin with too much carbon vs. the binding medium the fin will be rigid to the point of brittle and heavy. If you put too little carbon in they will be light, but flexy. If the fin foil shape is thick it will add to the stiffness. If the fin foil is thin it will tend to be flexy. These are are variables that fin manufacturers (or any manufacturer working with high modulus composites) have to find the optimum balance for. After saying all that. A well made carbon fin will be stiff along the length from base to tip. If the mounting system is very secure the end result is better transfer of energy from the tip to the base and into the board. If there is any non-flex movement from the mounting system, unwanted turbulence and flow seperation will occur resulting in stalling fins. So the benifits of a carbon fin are realized from the extra leverage it can create. Pro-teck and Speed Fins advertise that there benifit is realize along the foil of the fin. The flex is focused primarily in the trailing edge of the fin. The concept is that in theory they have a less turbulent exit flow of the trailing edge as it bends under load. Consequently, their flex is designed to be from the leading to trailing edge; rather than from the tip to the base. But, the best transfer of energy comes from ensuring that the base of the fin is VERY SECURE in the board.
Are the Protecks good fins and not just some gimicky thing?>>> Carbon fins are intended to be light relative to the amount of stiffness > that a fin foil shape will lend. If you make a fin with too much carbon > vs. the binding medium the fin will be rigid to the point of brittle and > heavy. If you put too little carbon in they will be light, but flexy. If > the fin foil shape is thick it will add to the stiffness. If the fin foil > is thin it will tend to be flexy. These are are variables that fin > manufacturers (or any manufacturer working with high modulus composites) > have to find the optimum balance for.>>> After saying all that. A well made carbon fin will be stiff along the > length from base to tip. If the mounting system is very secure the end > result is better transfer of energy from the tip to the base and into the > board. If there is any non-flex movement from the mounting system, > unwanted turbulence and flow seperation will occur resulting in stalling > fins. So the benifits of a carbon fin are realized from the extra leverage > it can create.>>> Pro-teck and Speed Fins advertise that there benifit is realize along the > foil of the fin. The flex is focused primarily in the trailing edge of the > fin. The concept is that in theory they have a less turbulent exit flow of > the trailing edge as it bends under load. Consequently, their flex is > designed to be from the leading to trailing edge; rather than from the tip > to the base. But, the best transfer of energy comes from ensuring that the > base of the fin is VERY SECURE in the board.
Are the Protecks good fins and not just some gimicky thing? patrick, The primary foil material is very strong and rigid. The people I have talked to that have them like them. With a soft material on the leading and trailing edges the rider is less likely to get cut. But, you’ll have to make your own determination if they’re good or not.
Are the Protecks good fins and not just some gimicky thing? I’ve only used a few different fin sets, G5, the large proteck thruster set with yellow(soft) edges and the smaller thruster set with white(hard) edges. The big seemed to me that they created alot of drag, I don’t know if it’s the template or the soft edges or the size of the fin or the setup on my board, but I really didn’t like them. The smaller ones worked great on the same board, in particular in small waves. I think they have saved me from quite a few cuts and wounds, I didn’t really think about it until I got hit by the glass fin on my longboard on top of my head. I don’t bleed that bad nor does it hurt as much with the protecks. regards, Håvard
Tom, You had an interesting point about the mounting system. I have O’Fishl fin boxes on my 8’ hybrid. I have had the board for about 1 year and during the first 6 months or so the fins where extremely hard to remove from the box. Took all my strength to pull them out. At this point in time, it is quite easy to remove them. All it take is a little pull and they pop out. They seem to be stable in the water, but does this mean that the mounting system is unstable or not right in some respect? Thanks>>> The primary foil material is very strong and rigid. The people I have > talked to that have them like them. With a soft material on the leading > and trailing edges the rider is less likely to get cut. But, you’ll have > to make your own determination if they’re good or not.
Tom,>>> You had an interesting point about the mounting system. I have O’Fishl fin > boxes on my 8’ hybrid. I have had the board for about 1 year and during > the first 6 months or so the fins where extremely hard to remove from the > box. Took all my strength to pull them out. At this point in time, it is > quite easy to remove them. All it take is a little pull and they pop out. > They seem to be stable in the water, but does this mean that the mounting > system is unstable or not right in some respect?>>> Thanks Alex, I’m not going to say that any fin system is better or worse. There are just different priorities. If when you flex your fins from the tip and they show movement at the base then there is an efficiency dilemna. If you look over at the ER sight the post by Leucadia8 on his new board asks if when he is fitting his Red X fins for the first time and they feel tight is that a problem. My response goes on to explain that our system was designed to be tight initially and gets more user friendly after the first installation. To some people this is unacceptable. O’Fish’l advertises that no tools are required to put their fins in. Ours requires a fastener to pull the snug fitting matched taper together. There’s no way we could make our system as secure as it is with out the use of a fastener. There are some people who feel this is unacceptable. There are others that would not have it any other way. It’s just different strokes for different folks.
Alex, …I have used and installed a lot of O’fishl boxes,and fins.Every fin system has it’s drawbacks even the all mighty glass-ons.For the most part Ofishl is a very worthy system and I would recommend them to certain people for certain uses.The biggest drawback for me on the ofishls are lack of templates for thruster type set-ups,I do however like there longboard sidebites.One last thing is that with the ofishls,and future type boxes,as they get old the fins tend to get wobbley,and fall out easily.This also causes mass drag on a shortboard. …I lived with fcs for a long period of time because there was lots of fin temps,and parts were everywhere,then the people at fcs started getting huffy about selling just plugs,then selling to non-pro builders then…you get my point. …It’s nice not to have to shave tabs,re-arrange screw holes,replace stripped screws,put in a multitude of boxes(6 or more just sucks)re-place cracked/defective boxes,bla,bla,bla. …With Red-X I HAVEN’T had a single problem,and they ride great!The closest to glass-on feel in a box system I have ever felt…maybe better. surfing Sunday,and seeing your Campbell Bonzer,I plan on building one soon for days like that!!!It was no less that hawaiian class waves(backdoor/kodak beach type) in power and shape.You could have really tested your board there.Herb
…I have used and installed a lot of O’fishl boxes,and > fins.Every fin system has it’s drawbacks even the all mighty glass-ons.For > the most part Ofishl is a very worthy system and I would recommend them to > certain people for certain uses.The biggest drawback for me on the ofishls > are lack of templates for thruster type set-ups,I do however like there > longboard sidebites.One last thing is that with the ofishls,and future > type boxes,as they get old the fins tend to get wobbley,and fall out > easily.This also causes mass drag on a shortboard.>>> …I lived with fcs for a long period of time because there was > lots of fin temps,and parts were everywhere,then the people at fcs started > getting huffy about selling just plugs,then selling to non-pro builders > then…you get my point.>>> …It’s nice not to have to shave tabs,re-arrange screw > holes,replace stripped screws,put in a multitude of boxes(6 or more just > sucks)re-place cracked/defective boxes,bla,bla,bla.>>> …With Red-X I HAVEN’T had a single problem,and they ride great!The > closest to glass-on feel in a box system I have ever felt…maybe better.>>> surfing Sunday,and seeing your Campbell Bonzer,I > plan on building one soon for days like that!!!It was no less that > hawaiian class waves(backdoor/kodak beach type) in power and shape.You > could have really tested your board there.Herb Glad you got it good Herb! Bummer I was going to head down there Sunday morning. But, we did a family day at the beach locally.
Where were you surfing Herb? I didnt see such epic waves Sunday. I went out at Northside HB and it was a very long wait between sets, I think southside was better…but to many people. I ate 5 advil for my tooth and spent around 3 hours in the water. Everywhere else I checked was breaking in chest high water.
Where were you surfing Herb? I didnt see such epic waves Sunday. I went > out at Northside HB and it was a very long wait between sets, I think > southside was better…but to many people. I ate 5 advil for my tooth and > spent around 3 hours in the water. Everywhere else I checked was breaking > in chest high water. …I’LL NEVER TELL!!!NAW… my old homeytown,IB.Herb
…I’LL NEVER TELL!!!NAW… my old homeytown,IB.Herb Word up yo
Tom, Could I e-mail you? Small ? on fin boxes. Thanks
Tom,>>> Could I e-mail you? Small ? on fin boxes. Thanks easternpacific, Of Course, everyone is always invited to e-mail me anytime. That’s why I post with my e-mail address.