ProBox on the Move - ProBox / Larry

General Discussion
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7/28/07

Just got my personal board back from Larry at ProBox and Joe Hendig who did a killer job on the installation! I’m taking this board with me to a group of secret islands in the Indian Ocean and it will be really fun to try some new variables. I call this the “Versatile” model and now thanks to ProBox it is the “Super Versatile” with the newly added Versa-Plane system. With about thirty different fin configurations and two weeks of surf ahead of me, it should be a blast! Will let you know how it holds up and also what fin set up works the best!

Mahalo to Larry and Joe!

Aloha,

Randy Rarick

Randy, Thanks for your support. Have a safe trip and looking forward to some surfing pics. Mahalo,Larry

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Here’s the Terry Martin Versa-Plane as a single fin with all Proboxes filled with Anti- Drag Plugs. This board will give the rider a true feel of a single fin without the extra boxes and also let the same rider change his board to a Quad or anything esle. The fin in this Terry Martin is a Pivot Flex I make with a Digital Design Inlay, this Picticular Inlay design is exclusive at ICON of SURF in the CHOCOLATE FISH Series.


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Larry, can you give a little more background on the versiplane boards? Looks like the Bing is a Bonzer and the others are more conventional bottom? Is it just a versitility thing? More fin placement options only? Or is there something more to the system?

Love your boxes. And the service.

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Larry, can you give a little more background on the versiplane boards? Looks like the Bing is a Bonzer and the others are more conventional bottom? Is it just a versitility thing? More fin placement options only? Or is there something more to the system?

Love your boxes. And the service.

It’s super tricky…but boards can be made to ride as both single fins and multi fins. Me personally…I ride single only at the moment, but I am going to get the pro box Versa - Plane on my next single fin.

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Larry, can you give a little more background on the versiplane boards? Looks like the Bing is a Bonzer and the others are more conventional bottom? Is it just a versitility thing? More fin placement options only? Or is there something more to the system?

Love your boxes. And the service. Greg, You are right on all assumptions! “Versa-Plane” means; “Versatile Planing Surfboard.” Which can only be done using ProBox and not to be confused with a 5 fin set-up. The simplest way to describe the Versa-Plane Concept is comparing a surfboard to a Swiss Army Knife. Above is a board that brought the Versa- Plane concept into reality. Alittle over 2 years ago in the shaping room of a good friend, Roger Hinds. Mark the owner of Cool Breeze Surfboards in San Clemente was getting this board shaped by Roger. Mark always rode a 2 Plus One set up on all his boards, I told Mark, “Lets add 2 more boxes and try this board as a Quad.” Mark answers,“NO,NO, I don’t ride Quads!” I told Mark," If you don’t like the board I’ll by it." Roger told Mark, “You got nothing to loose Larry will take care of it if something goes wrong.” So we added 2 more boxes which above is the finished board from the Brain Storming in that Shaping room at 6 o’clock in the morning between a Shaper, Shop Owner and Rider and Fin Guy, me. To this day Mark of Cool Breeze never rode a 2 plus one set up again, he’s riding a Quad Versa-Plane style. Now what makes the Versa-Plane concept different that a 5 Fin board is the adjustablity with just a set of side bites and a set of thrusters with a few cant inserts and this board has over 30 adjustment points. But if you don’t use these adjustments points for fine tuning, you do need them to convert the board properly. I will show you more steps explaining the Versa-Plane process on the next post. Mahalo



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Here is the Roger Hinds Versa-Plane again with the front fins of the Thruster set placed at 4,6, or 8 degree and the back fins of a Side Bite set placed at 0,4,6,or 8 degree is the first pic at the left creating a Quad set-up.

The middle pic is just the Thruster set-up using 4,6 or 8 degree in the front boxes.

The pic to the top right is a basic Twinzer set-up using your Side-Bites in the front always 8 degree insert, fin all the way back. The back fins are your Thruster front fins in a 0,4,6,8 degree insert most of the time all the way forward in the insert.

Now if you take their cost of this approx. Probox: 1 set of Thruster Production Fins at $30.00 retail, 1 set of Side Bites at $18.00 retail and the cost of 2 extra insert expandable kits at $5.00 each total = $58.00

Now if you take any other system and compare pricing you will see what happens to your wallet, except with 4wfs because of their cant adjustment. By the way welcome to Swaylocks 4wfs. Starting with the Side Bites in Production form which also would have to come in 4,6 or 8 degee at approx. retail costs of $18.00=$54.00, Thrusters would have to come in 4,6,or 8 degree also at the average retail costs of $30.00 each=$90.00. Total=$144.00

The fin cost to do the Versa-Plane concept is only part of the concept, being adaptable to different bottom contours is another issue. And that’s where ProBox is the only Fin System that can make that claim, adapting ProBox to a simple bottom, to a deep double concave bottom like a Bing (Bonzer Style Bottom) which creates the Versa-Plane Concept offering a unlimited range of possiblities without breaking the Bank. It doesn’t matter what your Fin System’s offers if they can adapt to any board. You shouldn’t be shaping a board to adapt to a Fin System.

I will show you on another post some boards retro fitted from a Thruster to a Versa- Plane and how those retro fits helped me in finding a formula for the Versa-Plane Board Concept, which can be used on any board shortboard or Longboard. Mahalo



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your stuff looks GREAT, larry…i’m really diggin’ the versa-plane, and though i’m a tried and true single-finner, i’m finally starting to expand my palate. i have a board that i first made years ago, that i’ve been refining ever since. in its current form, it’s 6’6" with a bumped rail (like on a Jacobs 422), a squared off nose, nose channels (a la Harbour), and a moon tail. it’s been fun as a single fin, but i’m really curious as to how it would go as a twin, or a quad, or a 5-fin. i have a feeling we’ll find out…soon.

:smiley:

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Guy Takayama in front of the fin factory in Torrance holding a 9’ (2 plus one set up) glassed by Moonlight Glassing. Guy has been using ProBox since day one almost 4 years now. The unique thing about Guy’s 2 Plus One set-ups is that he surfs them with 2 different side bite fin sizes and even 2 different cants. Take a close look at the top pic to the right and look at the inserts, the left insert (white) 8 degree with a 4" fin all the way forward in the box. The right insert(black) 6 degree with a 3" fin all the way back in the box. Guy calls this his asymmetrical concept. Guy Takayama will be posting here explaining why he surfs with this fin set-up. Guy also has a killer Versa-Plane Board called a “Guac,” that I will try to get some pics of but they are sold before they are done. Mahalo, Larry



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Here’s some ProBox Production Fins we are experimenting with a special water Printing process, the fins on the left are the before and the fins on the right are the after… This printing process is so insane that you can make these fins look like they are made out of real leather and no one would know the difference except for the feel. The fins from this process can with stand the elements of surfing. I am going to start a new Thread called ProBox Graphics just for the Swaylockians to give their input with some different graphic ideas, because you guys come up with some pretty cool stuff. The owner of this process will be following the Thread so be nice.



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Hey Randy!!

Welcome aboard to Swaylocks. It’s nice to see another master shaper joining the group of "Swaylockians.

I’m another fan of the Pro Box Hawaii Fin System. The number of shapers and laminators using ProBox here in the Islands is growing by the day…especially with massive resurgence of Quad fin boards!!

Again, welcome, we look forward to seeing you post here often!

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LARRY, YOU COULDNT HAVE A BETTER TEST PILOT WITH MORE SHAPING AND TRAVELING EXPERIENCE THAN RANDY RARICK HIMSELF. THE GUY IS A LIVING SURF RIPPING SHAPING LEGEND. HE’S BEEN DOING IT BEFORE MOST PEOPLE ON THIS SITE WERE EVEN THOUGHT OF, OR BORN FOR THAT MATTER. HIS QUOTE ( DOZENS OF FIN CONFIGURATIONS IN SECRET ISLAND SURF SPOTS) THAT’S A MOUTHFUL! CAN’T WAIT TO READ HIS THOUGHTS AND IDEAS THAT COME FROM HIS TEST TRIP. MUST BE A TOUGH JOB…

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Guy Takayama in front of the fin factory in Torrance holding a 9’ (2 plus one set up) glassed by Moonlight Glassing. Guy has been using ProBox since day one almost 4 years now. The unique thing about Guy’s 2 Plus One set-ups is that he surfs them with 2 different side bite fin sizes and even 2 different cants. Take a close look at the top pic to the right and look at the inserts, the left insert (white) 8 degree with a 4" fin all the way forward in the box. The right insert(black) 6 degree with a 3" fin all the way back in the box. Guy calls this his asymmetrical concept. Guy Takayama will be posting here explaining why he surfs with this fin set-up. Guy also has a killer Versa-Plane Board called a “GWAT,” that I will try to get some pics of but they are sold before they are done. Mahalo, Larry

In regards to my assymetrical set up using the pro-box system, I do this since I primarily ride a dominate right hand break, the board still works well to go left but not particularly set up to. With any other system I could’nt do this. I can easily switch this around to do the same for left hand breaks as I have done so in the past while surfing a very long left break in Boca Borranca Costa rica.The maneuverability and control by doing this is amazing. I am sorry to keep this brief but i am slammed right now working on my upcoming Oceanside Surfing event and I will have to comment more later.

Aloha,Guy Takayama

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Our contribution to the ProBox on the Move segment. Fins designed by Austin (after extensive testing) and created by Larry. The bonzer set-up doesn’t just work in the under 7 foot crowd. Try it on your next longboard.

Troy

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Larry --This is a great thread and I am excited and glad that you have gotten the rights or whatever to market ProBox. It’s a good system, a fairly easy install and has distinct advantages over other fin systems.

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waayyyy hot!

can you describe a bit of the difference between those runners and a more “standard” set of bonzer runners (say, for example, like what True Ames has on their website)?

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This thread could be very helpful for me. I wanted to use ProBox about a year ago, and contacted someone through the website via email and wanted to order install kit. At the time they website only offered a thruster install, I was doing a quad. I was refered to another contact person with ProBox. And to make a long story short, I got the “run around” and never had the opportunity to work with ProBox.

So are the materials pretty easy to get a hold of yet?

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waaaayyyyyy easy! i don’t know with whom you got the run around, but i ordered my first probox set well over a year ago, and NOT a thruster. i got the install kit minus the center box for a longboard 2+1 setup. if they could do that, i can’t imagine that they couldn’t hook you up with a quad! i ordered with Robin, and it was shipped out in a day or two by Mitch. nowadays, the go-to guy is Larry Allison at Fibre Glas Fin Co. (the guy who started this thread). just give him a call (or a PM) and i’m certain that he can put together whatever you need. i can’t make any promises, but do it asap, and i wouldn’t be surprised if you had boxes in hand before the weekend.

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Quote:

This thread could be very helpful for me. I wanted to use ProBox about a year ago, and contacted someone through the website via email and wanted to order install kit. At the time they website only offered a thruster install, I was doing a quad. I was refered to another contact person with ProBox. And to make a long story short, I got the “run around” and never had the opportunity to work with ProBox.

So are the materials pretty easy to get a hold of yet?

This does not sound like Larry at all. I have yet to meet a more enthusiastic and helpful person in the industry. I have no problem getting fins or questions answered.

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www.fiberglasssupply.com has them now. Can’t get any easier than that.

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Quote:

This thread could be very helpful for me. I wanted to use ProBox about a year ago, and contacted someone through the website via email and wanted to order install kit. At the time they website only offered a thruster install, I was doing a quad. I was refered to another contact person with ProBox. And to make a long story short, I got the “run around” and never had the opportunity to work with ProBox.

So are the materials pretty easy to get a hold of yet?

Hi Originalsin, Sorry for the mix up a year ago, things were changing daily. Please PM me your address and I will make sure your order goes out within 24 Hrs. The first order I will take care of personally, I promise you will be stoked when you get your package. After that Matt at Fiber Glass Supply or Scott at Foam Fins and Fiber Glass will take care of you. Mahalo, Larry