Just general surfing stuff

[Yuke Hunt]

yep.
Total fin area is easy to feel.

Different materials easier to feel.

Confirmation bias, moite. I’m certain that in properly blinded testing you wouldn’t be able to pick up any differences

Indeed. Fin size and template variations are definitely noticeable to most, but separating the nuances between various construction techniques in the same size and template would be something the average surfer would most likely fail to do. Although some would like to fool themselves otherwise.

[buddy]

The confirmation bias could be you two thinking we can’t tell the difference.

(I don’t know, as I said, I haven’t swapped out same template with different constructions)

[steve shearer]

I have.

Had a beautiful custom 6'9" Peter MCabe step-up.

Came with cheap plastic FCS fins.

I'll never forget the day I swapped those out for a stiff pair of fibreglass fins of the same template.

It literally was like going from driving on bald tyres in the rain to feeling like I was in a Porsche with new tyres.

Went from a good board, to completely magic.

I had no idea how bad those shitty plastic fins were and how much difference it made having a proper stiff fin instead.

[Yuke Hunt]

I have.

Had a beautiful custom 6'9" Peter MCabe step-up.

Came with cheap plastic FCS fins.

I'll never forget the day I swapped those out for a stiff pair of fibreglass fins of the same template.

It literally was like going from driving on bald tyres in the rain to feeling like I was in a Porsche with new tyres.

Went from a good board, to completely magic.

I had no idea how bad those shitty plastic fins were and how much difference it made having a proper stiff fin instead.

Cheap plastic fins would be the exception to the rule (they're simply horrible) ... not to be confused with injection moulded glass reenforced plastic, like the FCS Neo-Glass, which have far better performance characteristics than the old style plastic ones.

[steve shearer]

True.

[Beanpole]

The confirmation bias could be you two thinking we can’t tell the difference.

(I don’t know, as I said, I haven’t swapped out same template with different constructions)

I think it’s more about the difference. I’m sure it can happen but the degree of focus and the access to high quality boards and a large range of fins relative to skill level makes generalisation silly. It’s a lurk to get the average recreational surfer buying fins.
Basically the shaper should designate the right fin. I take notice of that.

[steve shearer]

The best thing about fins, especially good quality ones, is they come with you on your journey.

You tune in what you like and transfer across boards.

It's a wonderful independent variable for any surfer with more than half a brain cell and a functioning skill set.

[buddy]

Actually I tell a lie, in a mate's board we both tried fcs2 accelerator mediums in neo glass and performance core and both much preferred the PCs.
But I'd love to test my bias one day with a blind test.

[swvic]

Perhaps it's bullshit, but I lost an fcs core fin. Replaced with same template fibreglass version (don't think it was neo - just real fcs fibreglass). Better imo. More twang and drive. Wanker alert maybe, but I stand by it

[Beanpole]

I had some Shapers fins in my Quad. Snapped one jumping off at McKenzies. Found a AM that was about the same but it never felt as good. They don’t make those Shapers fins in original FCS System anymore.
Anyone with half a brain cell wouldn’t keep saying anyone with half a brain cell all the time

[jimmy]

I’ll never forget the day I went from plastic to fibreglass fins. Dbah was pumping a few days in a row and I felt like I was surfing pretty well on my plastic fins and at that point thought the whole fin thing was bollocks. It was before I was living up here and was doing the relaxing commute back to Bondi every Friday and flying up again Monday.
Landed on Monday and went straight to Dbah and somehow snapped one of the plastic ones out so drove straight to Sideways in Tweed and got a pair of their shit fibreglass fins for about $60. (2012). When i put them in a paddled back out it felt like I was on different board similar to Steve’s experience above. Haven’t had a plastic fin in any of my boards since.

[foamy]

On Tim Bonython’s recent Shipsterns video.
Early on someone’s board has been smashed. They pull onto the boat the back section of the broken board. Basically, it’s just the fin cluster.
Laura Enever says, “Save the fins, yeah. Those things cost about 800 bucks each.”
Someone else says, “More that the board, hey.”

[buddy]

These were the fins I first upgraded to from plastics.

Big improvement. (When I later used them in another board that had plastics in them)
Not sure the exact construction of them. I bought them new and put them in a 6’2 bushman I bought from RCJ’s quiver.
Cost $99 which was a lot at the time - around 2006. I think the board cost me $300 and in perfect nick. Both from Zak in Thornbury.

[marauding mullet]

I remember NC years ago saying in a fin discussion here, that plain old fibreglass fins were the best. Any other rigid construction that cost more was a waste of money.

[godsavetheking]

He was probably in the pocket of Big Fibre at the time though

[Yuke Hunt]

I remember NC years ago saying in a fin discussion here, that plain old fibreglass fins were the best. Any other rigid construction that cost more was a waste of money.

There are two variations of fibreglass fins, the original layered fibreglass, that gets cut from a template and foiled, and the fibreglass fins produced in a mould. The layered glass fins could/would arguably be better due to the way the layers behave after foiling. The foiling can be done on a machine nowadays, whereas in the past it was labour intensive to foil them by hand. Maybe thats why FCS have started pushing their Glass Flex fins. They also produce Performance Glass fins that they claim are identical to and have the same characteristics and flex pattern to traditional fibreglass fins ... there's a lot of bullshit floating around in the fin realm, and surfers tend to lap it up with glee.

[Beanpole]

Makes sense to me. Everyone rabbits on about hand shaped boards but properly foiled fins have always been a better bet than moulds.

[BA]

Catching up on Margs. Sammy Pupo interview was brutal. Poor bastard.