I spent ages agonising over buying fins ... I made a couple of board for my kids and didnt want to spend more than the board cost on over-priced fins. I also didnt want to buy cheapo crap made by non-surfers. I think I found a compromise and since it took me ages to find I thought I'd share my experiences ...

I ended up chatting to Barry Jolly on swaylocks.com - he is ex-Burleigh guy living in china and has a min factory making fins for a lot of the bigger names. However he is also happy to sell to small guys. Really nice dude.

Sold me this 5 fin set for $35 US incl. fast registered postage.

They seem really good quality, hexcore,



very light and stiff. Only thing I dont like is he doesnt do a keel/controller type template for wide tailed quads - keep asking him and maybe he will!

Ultralite Fins - [email protected]

Nevo you're outta luck ... i couldnt find fin plugs for cheap anywhere ... or definitely not anywhere reputable. I'm happy to give a cheap set of fins a go, but i would be hesitant to put a sub-standard set of plugs in, cos it'd be a bugger to drill them out and put new ones in if they cracked.

I've just done a board using the shapers s-plugs, seem pretty good, I reckon I'll use them for the next ones if I don't really splash out and get FCS II plugs. Which in Aus you can only seem to get from surfboardstudio.com.au @$60 for a 5 fin set ouch! I've also used the old fcs plugs from shapers.com.au, no problems and they're about the cheapest I could find.

Consider talking to the dude at [email protected], he will do a good deal if you're buying 3 sets at once

We stock Futures boxes and Gearbox2 finboxes also the install kits also.

Futures boxes start at $10 per box including Grubscrew.

Gearbox 2 boxes are $8 per box including Grubscrews.

www.sanded.com.au/collections/surfboard-fin-system

Thanks Sanded

www.sanded.com.au/

Ted the Kiwi said..
How much longer till you have copies of fcs2 equivalent fin boxes and are selling them???

FCS 2 are crap you need to screw them in anyway so whats the point....I know of 10 people that have lost fins because there not screwed in

I have had no issues either - any others had thoughts on them? I know that some people are preferring not to put the fcs2s setups in super lightweight boards as they have had problems with cracking. I love fcs2 now and wish all my boards had them. They will going forward I think though.

Buster fin said..
I haven't used them. My shapers won't touch them. And I dislike Futurez.

Why?

Legion said..
Neither will mine. He's happy to use compatible alternatives but refuses to use their branded stuff. In many cases the alternatives are better or cheaper or both anyway. Like Gearbox.

JD has his 'FCS' plus made and look much better than the standard FCS plugs. His plugs look nice as well.

^ I have them on a CE board I have, using the old fins, it's fine.