I've noticed since FCS patent on their tabbed fins ran out, a lot of companies making compatible fins. Mostly chinese copies but there seems to be a few good ones in the mix as well. Has anyone got any recommendations or reviews for some of the alternate brands. There seems to be a lot of "ebay" chinese crap floating around. But it's nice to have some affordable alternatives to experiment with.
Here's some I have tried so far:
- Shapers Fins (shapers.com.au) - RTM injected honeycomb fins. Decent quality fins and have a good range. Probably close or equal to FCS quality wise. Cons - they are pretty expensive.
- Fin Solutions (ausfinco.com.au) - Their handfoiled glass fins and the honeycomb fins are quite nice. The composite injected (plastic looking) ones are a bit flexy and i'm guessing popped out of china. They only have a basic range but are priced well.
- Scarfini - honeycomb core handfoiled fins - great quality, fit well and are nice and stiff. I only have 1 pair I found on the shelf of my supplies shop and haven't found too much other info on them. I think price wise they are up there with FCS.
I would be interested in hearing any opinions on others they have tried in particular:
- Indo Fins (indofins.net) - Apparently they are hand foiled fibreglass. They have a decent range and reasonable pricing. Coming out of Bali, quality could be a concern?
- Eclipse fins (surfeclipse.com.au) - They have some very well priced RTM injected honeycomb core fins, including some carbon fibre based fins. At the price they are listed at I would guess they are coming out of china so am concerned about quality.
It would be nice to put together a bit of a database on people experiences with the lesser known (and lesser expensive) fin brands out there.
I bought a quad-set of the elipse fins (about $50AU) for my 5’6 compand (see below) and I’ve been very happy with them. For comparison, I have a set of FCS PC-7 on my Steve Hughes 6’6, and when I hold the two sets of fins side by side, I honestly can’t tell the difference in feel, weight, foil, and manufacturing quality (apart from the logos!). When surfing them, I haven’t had any issues with drive or flex or humming.
As for the Indo-Fins, I was planning to try them out on my next board. At that price, they’re worth a shot.
[img_assist|nid=1056450|title=Board #002 - Balsa/EPS 5'6 x 20 3/8 x 2 5/8|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427]
Would like to hear some opinions and feedback on the plugs and boxes sold by some of the above mentioned fins. Also "Standard Fin System" is sold by Surf Source in Florida. Standard System is reasonably priced, an easy install and FCS compatable.
Most of the RTM and Glass Foiled fins come from 3 or 4 of the same factories in China.. i have visited a few of them.. FCS, Futures, Kinetic racing, True, Ames, Raptor, Shapers, etc etc etc,
Dont Know about the plastics from them all but i do know the Plastics from Fin solutions are made right here in Currumbin on the gold coast. Steve makes all his own tools and moulds them with his own mixes of ingredients. he will custom your own templates if your going to order enough. he can also print your own logos on them etc at minimums of 50 sets etc.. http://www.ausfinco.com/finsolutions/fs.html
all plastic fins suck in moisture which make them more flexi.. try drying them out in an oven and see how stiff they are...
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Thanks Dave - Good info to know. What Temp and How long should i whack em in the oven?
I actually have a set of the DQ Quads that steve sells - they are your design aren't they? I love them on my mini sims/swwet potato style board.
I absolutely love the Standard Fin System boxes. They are all I use. Stronger than FCS plugs. Easy Install. Inexpensive. I think they are superior to anything else out there in my humble opinion.
Shapers are pretty solid all round, but I am just kinda addicted to buying stuff off them LOL. I am pretty sure their fins come from the same place in HK Tru Ames come from… only 2 factories I know of can produce that quality, Feraldave knows the ones I mean. ;)
Indofins have quality issues… pot luck you might get an OK set… you might not. Foils are all over the shop and there’s a reason why they are all pigmented - hides a myriad of production issues. I see Honrysports ( Guandong mfr I think ) have jumped on ebay too selling RTM fins recently, they have just copied everyone else but over time they will get better.
If you really wanna be hardcore have a go at making your own molds and lamming up some fins ;). I’ve messed around with different core materials and had a few successes. Plenty of crushing failures too!
I got a set of Rainbow ‘quad heater’ fins for my 5’10" stubby. I needed FCS bases and the controller fins are only available for Futures. The heaters are similar and have almost the same drive and feel. The fins from Bali are close copies but I didn’t want to buy some crappy plastic fins and have to wait that long for shipping.
Why don’t you just make your own fins? Its not that hard, and with a bit of practice your custom made fins will be more satisfying. FCS have to be the easiest fins to make, with those tabs. it takes a bit more thought and skill to make futurds.
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