H2s

[prjwebb]

Anyone used the Large H2s in a Sweet Potato? Just bought a used thruster set on ebay with the intention of trying the fronts in the SP with some other rears.
Fingers crossed I won't regret it.

[Gnubee]

I have not used them, and this is not exactly applicable to the SP, but a lot of guys do use the H2 fin where I normally surf. The word is that the cant of the fin generates a lot of lift in the back of the board, making it a bit looser/faster. Dont know how that would translate in a board like the SP.

[prjwebb]

A board that is already fast and loose, made faster and looser. The world could end!

I'll post some feedback when I try them. Chances are they will be a smaller wave set but well see.

[FW - Fan]

I didnt like them. Gave them several goes..just felt like an anchor on the board to me...hope you like them though.

[prjwebb]

Yeah seems like people either love them or hate them. We'll see.

[Slowman]

... Chances are they will be a smaller wave set but well see.
Those are the reports I've seen on fora regarding the H2 thruster set. The thrust, if you'll pardon the pun, is they don't hold in bigger waves. One of the reasons I waited for the H3 release.

I've tried the H3s, now I don't know if you could say they are a refinement of the H2s or "another attempt at the perfect fin" starting from scratch, so take from this what you will. I have an H3 tri-quad set, as a quad they're fast and drivey but a bit stiff, however that is using the H3 rears which could be swapped out for something a little smaller. As a thruster set I found them quite good.

By changing the rears it's like creating a whole new fin set anyway, match the H2 in front with something like GQ-X rears and it might not be too loose, something like the R2 QR might make it go like a ratty skateboard with super loose trucks. Might be fun!

[FW - Fan]

I too love the H3's and have a tri quad set...much much better than H2's IMO and the H3's are a cross between H2's and the K2.1's and less radical than the H2's.

[buzzy]

I used the H2's when they first came out in a Webber Fatburner. I wasn't a huge fan of the board and the H2's made it worse. I thought so little of them I threw them out! Thruster configuration.

[prjwebb]

Ouch!

[FW - Fan]

I used the H2's when they first came out in a Webber Fatburner. I wasn't a huge fan of the board and the H2's made it worse. I thought so little of them I threw them out! Thruster configuration.

Buzzy, dont hold back brother. Tell us how you really feel...and PRJ..how much did you pay for them???? Ha !

[prjwebb]

I paid about 50% of retail and they are listed as immaculate so hopefully if I don't like them I can sell them on and get my money back anyway.

[Slowman]

I usually hang onto fins that don't work in one board in the hope they'll work in another...sometimes though it never happens. I bought a set of Sunny Garcias tried them in a few different boards and never worked for me, gave up and sold them.

[prjwebb]

Yeah I think something like the SP is the only board I'd use them in. I like the most neutral fins possible in my shortboards.

[cuttlefish]

I have the same feeling about the Sunny's but haven't sold them off.
The centre fin is in a FCS single fin box adaptor and I can't get it out so there it stays.

[prjwebb]

Pete, I should have taken your advice on the Indo Fins for only a few £ difference but was a bit worried about getting stung with an £8 customs handling fee + 20% VAT and then ending up an expensive set of fins...

[FW - Fan]

I usually hang onto fins that don't work in one board in the hope they'll work in another...sometimes though it never happens. I bought a set of Sunny Garcias tried them in a few different boards and never worked for me, gave up and sold them.

Sunny Garcias are about the only FCS fin I havent tried. Still looking for that immaculate set on ebay for less than retail....one day. PRJ make your own mind about them..I know you will but I know about half a dozen guys that love them....I just didnt. If they werent popular FCS wouldnt have made the latest carbon kevlar version of them...so someone must love them.

[prjwebb]

Yeah I've got mates who liked them in short boards in smaller conditions. We'll see!

[cuttlefish]

I used to have the LB1s (gasp, Layne Beachely Oooh, eerrrr, girly fins) which were PC versions of the H2's.
Great fins in thrusters.

[buzzy]

Yeah, I truly hated those fins. It was those fins that had me firmly in the camp that said all the expensive fins were a marketing con. I've definitely resiled from that, but while I can say when I don't like a fin I honestly find it hard to differentiate between performance characteristics of fins I do like.

[FW - Fan]

Yeah, I truly hated those fins. It was those fins that had me firmly in the camp that said all the expensive fins were a marketing con. I've definitely resiled from that, but while I can say when I don't like a fin I honestly find it hard to differentiate between performance characteristics of fins I do like.

Interesting. I keep trying fins until I come up with the perfect set for that board then I never change them (or rarely change them). I can tell the difference a good fin makes versus a fin that isnt working for that board. I give it a few goes but rarely does that first impression change. See I couldn't believe people actually liked H2's. I had a very open mind about them but just couldn't get them to work for me. I even bought a new set after I sold my first set because I thought I must have missed something that everyone else was getting. Second set left me just as disappointed as the first. I will say however the h3's work particularly well for a round tail quad I have so I like them. But they didn't work in an eps/epoxy, parabolic railed 6 channel quad I had made for me...horses for courses.

[Slowman]

Interesting. I keep trying fins until I come up with the perfect set for that board then I never change them (or rarely change them). I can tell the difference a good fin makes versus a fin that isnt working for that board. I give it a few goes but rarely does that first impression change. .... I will say however the h3's work particularly well for a round tail quad I have so I like them. But they didn't work in an eps/epoxy, parabolic railed 6 channel quad I had made for me...horses for courses.
Ha sounds like me! I have my "benchmark" fins that I try and then I can usually tell from there where I want to go next, for example, looser, stiffer, more drive and so on. Like you I generally never change what works, if it's bigger or smaller changing boards seems to work better. Though when you only have one board subtle fin changes can extend the range a little. I tend to stick with the same template but maybe vary sizes, particularly the centre fin in thrusters. Quads seem a bit trickier, I tend to just leave them once they work. A slight change in fronts or rears can wreck everything.

Sunny Garcias are about the only FCS fin I havent tried. Still looking for that immaculate set on ebay for less than retail....one day. PRJ make your own mind about them..I know you will but I know about half a dozen guys that love them....I just didnt. If they werent popular FCS wouldnt have made the latest carbon kevlar version of them...so someone must love them.
For a so called XL fin I found them to be very short on drive, good release off the top but it's that release, too much of it, that seems to kill the drive off the bottom...and this was in a TC Plus rounded pin with a tail that had plenty of bite. Perhaps the carbon was too stiff, I have a set of Soar Mick Fanning fins which looked like a very similar template but had noticeably more flex and they had good drive. I even tried the SG side fins as fronts in quad sets but they brought that driveless feeling with them even with rears that in other combinations provided good drive. Another reason why I think I started to just stick with complete quad sets. Quads just seem more sensitive to changes so they take a bit more work when it comes to mixing and matching...and I'm getting lazier!

[FW - Fan]

Ha sounds like me! I have my "benchmark" fins that I try and then I can usually tell from there where I want to go next, for example, looser, stiffer, more drive and so on. Like you I generally never change what works, if it's bigger or smaller changing boards seems to work better. Though when you only have one board subtle fin changes can extend the range a little. I tend to stick with the same template but maybe vary sizes, particularly the centre fin in thrusters. Quads seem a bit trickier, I tend to just leave them once they work. A slight change in fronts or rears can wreck everything.

For a so called XL fin I found them to be very short on drive, good release off the top but it's that release, too much of it, that seems to kill the drive off the bottom...and this was in a TC Plus rounded pin with a tail that had plenty of bite. Perhaps the carbon was too stiff, I have a set of Soar Mick Fanning fins which looked like a very similar template but had noticeably more flex and they had good drive. I even tried the SG side fins as fronts in quad sets but they brought that driveless feeling with them even with rears that in other combinations provided good drive. Another reason why I think I started to just stick with complete quad sets. Quads just seem more sensitive to changes so they take a bit more work when it comes to mixing and matching...and I'm getting lazier!

I never did like full carbon fins. The ones I will be trying are the Performance Core model. I dont think you can even buy the carbon ones anymore, the new series is Performance Core. Carbon is very stiff which can mean early release but I wouldn't think as much as you are saying. Will get a set one day.

[Chris]

yeah i have often wondered about the correlation between function and aesthetic when it comes to the layup of fins....

[prjwebb]

I think from a lot of the fin manufacturers point of views, the aesthetics are the function.
People love to buy the crazy looking tech fins!

[Chris]

true. There is no doubt a bit of both...