Surfing Waves

I got banged by a fin on the elbow yesterday. I recall reading about some sort of caps you can put on hard fins to prevent cuts, and don't affect performance much, but can't find anything online.
Does anyone know?

To prevent cuts, just sand down the edges of your fins (front and rear side) so they aren't sharp. Sharp fins are unnecessary and dangerous. Do this anyway.

But the fins will still give you a good bruise if you hit them. The only way to reduce that would be either to get a soft edge fin (Pro Tech are the best) or maybe you could cover the edge with something. But the latter seems a bit risky, you would get a fatter edge with variable water flow

Or not fall off, of course...

I had a set of fins that were like knives on the trailing edge; sliced my foot open twice with accidental nudges going from sitting to paddling with a frog kick.....I used a file and took the edges down slightly, same amount of passes on each side at the same angle to keep the original foil as much as possible. Really light with the file; only takes a little bit to take the edge off.

BTW the file is aces to taking out dings from low tide bumps on the leading edge as well.

Sometimes a wipeout just puts u in a dangerous position, all u can do then is curl up and protect ur head and hope for the best. Always try to put as much distance between ur body and board during wipeout, most of the time u can push or kick ur board away during wipeout.

Check out these fins
http://www.surfcohawaii.com/Pro-Teck-Fins-s/26.htm

I got a set of these for the board my kids are using to learn on....


http://www.surffcs.com/shop/surf-specia ... ex-tri-set

The pro teck ones Jaffa linked are hard fins with a hardish rubber edge, rather than a flexible fin. I have a set on my longboard and they are just as good as normal fins. highly recommended. The only downside is limited sizing and shapes, but it will be fine for most people esp at the start of their 'careers'

Thanks for the suggestions, I don't want to get a new set of fins.
The injury seems to be more of a blunt impact than a cut, though it broke the skin, I haven't seen any cuts in the wetsuit (thick 6mm).
But I have yet to look closely at the area.
I was hoping for some cheap rubber caps.

dtc wrote:I have a set on my longboard and they are just as good as normal fins.

Really?

I believe that they might be good, but just as good?

pmcaero wrote:Thanks for the suggestions, I don't want to get a new set of fins.
The injury seems to be more of a blunt impact than a cut, though it broke the skin, I haven't seen any cuts in the wetsuit (thick 6mm).
But I have yet to look closely at the area.
I was hoping for some cheap rubber caps.

Full body helmet recommended
Even the blunt parts of the board can kill you.
My worst injuries have been in small waves.
Do I do a show and tell of surfing injuries?

Big H wrote:

dtc wrote:I have a set on my longboard and they are just as good as normal fins.

Really?

I believe that they might be good, but just as good?

Yep. I mean, maybe they are '90% as good', but since I'm only using 50% of the fins ability, it makes no difference whatsoever. The edges, although rubber, are quite hard. You won't notice the difference from otherwise identically sized fins.

The only reason I don't use them on all my boards is that they are hard to get in Australia (have to order them from overseas) and they didn't have the size I wanted for my mid length Oh, and my other board has glassed in fins.

Honestly never seen one in person....looked at them online....the soft ones I got for the girls are pretty worthless, they are floppy and don't do much other than keep the board going straight. I have another one, an 8" single for the single fins for the girls and that one is a little better. Same kind of material but more firm....fin came from Japan but that's all I remember about it; was a quick amazon buy and I threw the packing material away without even really looking at it.

The body of the fin is just like any normal fin - fibreglass or carbon or whatever. The only difference is that the last 3-5mm or so around the edge is a hard rubber (probably some kind of composite) which bends a tiny bit (in your fingers) but not much; but its not hard enough to be a cutting edge.

jaffa1949 wrote:Do I do a show and tell of surfing injuries?

A while ago I thought about putting a "Show Us Your Wound" thread - sort of like the latest surfs thread, but with more gore

Fortunately, since then, I've not had a wound worthy of posting* so maybe that sticky thread is up to you Jaffa




* Note self-inflicted kiss of death there.

so, since my post, I've had my thick 6mm wetsuit top layer breached in tow spots by the same fins. Guess it's onto sanding.
Sharp edges are only useful for supersonic flight anyway

The good news is that you're getting out often right? Silver linings.....

Hope it is not sharpened leading edges, looking for more performance.