quad or thruster for a fish?

[morfevs]

Hello ladies and gents,

I have seen some fishes with two fins options:

Normal Thruster / Quad

As far as I understand, the quad uses two of the side fins from thruster plus two smaller fins placed slightly closer to the end of the tail. So in order to use quad I need to buy the two sidebits...

Do you guys have some experience with this? Do you think surfing in small waves (.5 to 1.5 meters) with quad will have some benefits or I should just stick with thruster?

I broke the central fin of my minimal, so I surf with the two sides. I have noticed it does turn easier, but also it tends to slide a bit from the pocket. Yesterday I put the central fin again and I noticed It was more stable and grabbed better the wave...

Perhaps a more experienced surfer can contribute?

Thanks again. Great website and lots of knowledgeable and nice people!

[oldmansurfer]

I haven't messed around with my fins on my current board but I am still learning to use the board as it is. From what I hear quads are faster and hold steep walls better so I figure to stick it out and learn to use the quad. Once I get them all dialed in then I will buy some new fins and put in bigger quads to see what that does and then a thruster. I figure if you are learning to surf it will help to have a faster board and if you aren't used to a thruster like me ( I am not used to multiple fins) then you won't notice any problems. I hear two fins are very unstable but if you are used to surfing a thruster than I would stick with that till you reach a point where you feel you need a change then try the quad. I surf my quad and I don't feel like it doesn't hold except when I am trying to do a very high power cutback like I used to on my single fin board but I am learning how to do a cutback with the quad the way it is so I am happy for now.

[morfevs]

Thanks dude!

I can maybe get both types and try. Not sure I would feel a difference though!

[drowningbitbybit]

In my experience, a quad set up will give you a much looser board that is good and fast down the line, but a thruster gives you much more drive and is snappier in turns. I like the looseness of a quad, but I prefer having the drive of a thruster.

A thruster set up is usually considered a better board to learn/improve on, but a quad can be a lot of fun. Again, compromises...

[drowningbitbybit]

Quad is way better and more stable