Snapped My First Fin

[12ockSteady]

Albeit the FCS G5's are the crappy plastic stock fins that came w/ my board, I have no clue how it snapped off in yesterdays session and I'm still a beginner trying to master the bottom turn, so it's not as if I was pushing the board hard. Anybody who owns/owned a board w/ this fin system have any good recommendations for buying something that's worth buying? I understand that you get what you pay for, but this'll suck paying a lot of money just to have it bust again.

[oldmansurfer]

I use FCS fins but haven't snapped one yet. I would advise you but I haven't been able to determine effect of the variety of fins beyond size and configuration (thruster vs quad). Maybe because I don't surf enough to experiment. So my advice would be to buy the same size. Sorry but others can probably help you more. You can go to the FCS fin site and they have descriptions of what the fins are supposed to do and the differences between them and pick what you seems good to your desires. I still use the original fins on some of my boards and it seems fine to me.

[dtc]

I've never snapped a fin either, except when I've hit something. So obviously it could be a production fault, they will show up very early on in use (bathtub curve); but it could be a 'user fault' as well.

In any case, just buy a replacement. Most surf stores will have a drawer full of the basic fins and you can buy just one of them rather than the whole set (might be able to buy them online as well). Or just go for another set of the standard nylon fins - they work 90% as good as the expensive fins and (without being rude) you arent going to know the difference at your level. You will notice the difference if you get a smaller or bigger fin, but you wont notice a G5 nylon fin from a G5 super carbon fibre with embedded diamonds fin.

If you want to move away from the basic fins then you need to tell us more about the board, you have to match the fins to the board at the very least. However, I dont see any particular reason to move to expensive fins at the moment.

I have some expensive sets and some sets from alibaba, and the difference is pretty minimal.

[12ockSteady]

Ended up getting a $40 UPSurf carbon fins on amazon... the board is a 7'6 Doyle BB Swallow tail. The stock fins were cheaply made and the FCS I box just begs for those pressure points to give way. Oh well comes w/ the territory I guess.

[waikikikichan]

Albeit the FCS G5's are the crappy plastic stock fins that came w/ my board, I have no clue how it snapped off in.

The black plastic G-5s were okay. I pretty much use just the M series of GlassFlex material. I don’t like the honey-comb carbon fiber stuff.
Question: when you say they “snapped off”, how did you remove the broken off tabs still left in the FCS box ?

[waikikikichan]

The stock fins were cheaply made and the FCS I box just begs for those pressure points to give way.

Could you please post a photo of the remaining G-5 fins. I’m curious to know how you know they were cheaply made.

[12ockSteady]

The stock fins were cheaply made and the FCS I box just begs for those pressure points to give way.

Could you please post a photo of the remaining G-5 fins. I’m curious to know how you know they were cheaply made.

Luckily the tabs weren't lodged in, and I was able to pop them out with a toothpick. No expert on fins, but from what I've dug up on the web, stock fins that come w/ a board tend to be cheap to keep the overall cost down. Can't believe everything but that point makes a lot of sense, as a new board is already roughly $400 and up depending on what your looking for.

[waikikikichan]

Well if you do a bit more deeper digging on the web, you’ll be surprised to find out that FCS originally promoted the fact that their fins do break off on impact as a marketing tool.

I’m thinking those G-5s haven’t been manufactured for over 10+ years. That says a lot about their durability if they lasted that long.

You may not currently have the awesome power to snap off fins on a bottom turn, but in that session where you lost a fin, did you ever fall off the back off the wave with your board going over with the lip? ( or vice-versa where you went over with the lip and your board hung back ?

[12ockSteady]

You may not currently have the awesome power to snap off fins on a bottom turn, but in that session where you lost a fin, did you ever fall off the back off the wave with your board going over with the lip? ( or vice-versa where you went over with the lip and your board hung back ?

I do remember getting pitched over the falls, so that could have been it.

[waikikikichan]

Most likely the culprit isn’t turning too hard or hitting something hard like the reef or your knee. Most likely it was your leash cord wrapping around the fin and yanking it off.

[12ockSteady]

Good lookin out on the solid surfing insights master Chan, much mahalos!

[dtc]

Keep in mind that fins are meant to snap off before the fin box gets pulled out, so the fin breaking may have saved you a much more expensive repair!