i’m hearing rumblings of a soon-to-be-released Futures twin keel fin? who’s got the scoop?
kirk
Hey kirk,
Sounds like an ugly rumor to me. They’re gonna have to come out with a new fin box too cause you can’t get a keel fin into the box their making now.
There’s a cool way to solve the problem though if you want to make fins for their system. Just take two fin boxes and cut the front off of one and back off the other. Then epoxy them together. You’ll have fin box you can build a fin with a nine inch base for.
Landlocked, Rich
I’ve got their new catalog in front of me and don’t see one unless they plan to do a limited run which they do occassionally of a wierd material fin…they have a new larger twin fin template that is bigger than the FT1… could be for their new longboard box… whenever that comes out…
If you call 'em up they will send you the new brochure/ catalog…
I inquired about them a couple of weeks ago, and was told that they were getting ready for production (should be ready in the next month or so). I asked for a pic or diagram. This is what they sent me.
They didn’t specify dimensions, and I’m not sure if it’s foiled on both sides or not. Also, True Ames states that they are going to have their Hobie fish fins (truelite rtm composites) available in fcs and futures in the near future. ( http://trueames.com/truelites.htm).
But they’re only available in glass on now (as far as I know).
Seay
I know the side boxes are deeper/stronger than the center box but are they strong enough for the bigger twin fins and keel fins? I can see blowing out a futures box would do lots of damage to your board
That fin template looks very similar to the Al Merrick fish template
-Cam
Locbox already has them. Real Keel fins. I saw them just a few days ago at Sun Diego or Encinitas Surfboards. Might have been surfride. But I saw them. Real keel fins. And they were definitely removable. I think they were locbox. Not sure.
Yep, Jim [‘lokbox’] posted shots of some here not long ago … here’s a couple…
My brother works right next door to Futures and has been telling me for a few months that Futures is coming out w/ a keel fin.
Too bad the trailing edge of the base of the keel fins can’t lie flush with the board (see pic). The fin has to rock backwards in order to remove it from the box.
I’m having a little doubt about the boxes holding up to big keels… I have seen a lot of rolled Futures boxes (with regular fins) coming in for repairs lately, so I am having my doubts similar to the FCS system/installations (the Futures plugs are not all that wide and pretty shallow, so the few I have seen obviously failed under leverage).
That template was designed by myself, working closely with Rob Machado, and Dan Malloy, and was given to the guys at CI. It is now their template. The fact that future is making them too is nothing short of flattery! Thanks guys! However, I would like to mention the couple of factors that allow a Lokbox to hold up a fin with such a large area. Flange thickness of the box has lot to do with reducing flex. If the part(box) moves around too much within the board, cracks will form. Also the elliptical shape and width also minimize cracking. Glassing schedule has alot to do with it as well. Flex must be minimized locally around the part, as well as in the part itself, or failure may occur. We recommend 6 ounce patches over the boxes, whether you do them in the foam or through the lam. On the foam, use a 6 ounce football patch, then at least a 5 ounce bottom lam over that. Then they hold up great!
I have custom made Rainbow Fin 9x5 keels sitting in 10 inch Bahn boxes. Had them built before I knew about Halcyon. No blow outs yet. The fish is supergreen foam and I built up the glass layers around the boxes a bit. The Lokbox set-up sure looks sweet. Mike
hi Mike !
…any chance of a photo of that please ?
I’m wanting to do the same for one of my side fin boxed boards…
thanks mate!
ben
Hey Chip,
I think mom is coming over this weekend. She has a nice digital camera and I’ve asked her to take some pictures of my boards that I can download into this pile of plastic and wires. Soon as I can. Mike
Hey, locbox, that picture of Rob Machado holding the board by the tail does NOT show keep fins. Those fins look like regular twin fins to me. No offense.
But that other picture, with the color swirls, really is a keel fin.
So, are these things officially on the market or not? I definitely want to buy some for my next fish for travel purposes. I love the look and feel of glassons, but for flying (on planes) it isn’t too practical.
Well if you call a fin with a 6 and 3/4 base 5 and 1/4 tall a twin…well what can I say. Call it that. Everyone else calls it a keel. And yes they’ve been available for almost a year now.
Just ask for the Al Merrick “keel”, or “fish”. The swirl fin would be what we call a “retro” keel w/full base. The other fin we call a modern keel. Shorter base to initiate tighter arcs…
Man, I would love to get me a set of the swirl ones, they look sick!
So where can you get these lokbox keels? I tried their website with no luck.
I think you can buy them through Rainbow Fin Company site (http://rainbowfins.com/), if this doesn’t work, try sending a private message to Lokbox here in Swaylocks.