Futures find durability?

Sanded, brutus this ones for you..
is board EPS or PU ? post some pics tyler.

Tyler,
i think it may depend on when they set the futures.
I shape , glass and sand all my own boards.

Ask your shaper when they set the futures?
personally i shape and glass the entire board then set the fins.
most production shapers seem to shape the board, router the boxes then glass at the same time.
They are then supposed to put more glass patches over fin boxes when they glass the board and fin boxes all at once.
The method i use is fine for myself and seems to be far stronger.
i think alot of shapers / fin setters don't set the fins deep enough either.

some other things to take into consideration are the following.
How tall are you?
Do you leave your fins in all the time?
Do you actually need removable fin systems ?

I do have an old"brand name" thruster lying around that was shaped, routered and glassed at the same time. it has the stress cracks around the boxes on a fin.

Another thing to note is that you have to catalyze the resin when setting the boxes as sun cure resin wont actually harden in, under the future boxes.
i hope this helps, best of luck.

Thanks dean that was really helpful.
- I think the shaper gets his boards glassed by someone else. I’m guessing you are right re the timing of setting the boxes.
- I am 6 ft 1 and 82kg.
-I do like to swap fins and I have a bit of a collection so I am reluctant to change systems
-if I could be sure fcs2 would hold up I would transition though.
I do like the idea of glass ins. I’m just worried about travel

Thanks dean that was really helpful.
- I think the shaper gets his boards glassed by someone else. I’m guessing you are right re the timing of setting the boxes.
- I am 6 ft 1 and 82kg.
-I do like to swap fins and I have a bit of a collection so I am reluctant to change systems
-if I could be sure fcs2 would hold up I would transition though.
I do like the idea of glass ins. I’m just worried about travel

FYI.
I have problems with cracking around the fcs 2 fin plugs.- 5 boards in my quiver at the moment with or had cracks.
Two boards that haven't are glassed 6 ounce.

i have now giving my fcs fins a light sand on the tabs. otherwise too much pressure required to put in and remove- hence the cracking.

You can sand fcs2s pretty hard and just screw them down.

Too much of the old in, out, in, out?

Hi tyler, are your fractures from forward-back instability or medial lateral instability?

I'm glad you asked bigredcouch. Definitely medial-lateral stability. It is not caused by removing fins. I spoke to a shaper who explained the narrowness of the futures box decreases the medial lateral stability in comparison to the FCS 2 plugs that are nearly double as wide, increasing the base of support.

Interesting stuff Tyler. Please do keep us posted on your fin box journey.

Tyler great finding. Also consider the FCS Fusion system - big wide 'peanut' shaped fin plugs. The back of the plug is a hybrid foam so blends into the shape of the tail of the board, is light, and is strong. Uses FCS1 style tabs. I've found the peanuts very durable and the tails of the boards remain light with flex. Lanky Dean, good post, putting in the plugs after glassing is strong, and good point on the catalyst. I'd always slightly over catalyse if there was a volume of area to be filled, compared to the glass cloth, not too much over catalysing mind you in case of fire!

Are they "real" Futures boxes? Check the inside of the box to see if they have the Futures brand inside and also the pat no:
There is a few companies using "fake" futures and the plastic in those have a lot of problems, we sell the real futures boxes, been selling them for years and no changes to the quality.

I’ve been using FCS fusion for a year or two now for all my boards. One of the reasons is that the fins are a lot cheaper than the FCS2 fins. If you hit something the tab on the fin breaks rather than ripping the box out as often happens with the FCS2. You’ve got yourself a knackered fin but that’s a lot easier to sort than fixing the fin box. You can buy the fins and plugs from Ali-Express for nine tenths of fuck all.

The key to fitting the FCS fusion plugs (from my experience) is to make sure that there’s plenty of resin in and around the foam insert before you place the plugs into the hole. Also an extra patch of glass around each plug is worth doing.

Of course if you really want a bomb proof fin then it’s hard to go past glass- ons. My theory here is to use more glass cloth and less rovings. The rovings make the actual glassing easier but there’s basically no strength in them. Better to use a series of thin strips of cloth. I’ve hit rocks (very common round here) and actually had the fin break in half rather than rip off the board. Roughly half my boards have glass ons, but of course these ones don’t go on a plane. That’s where the removable fins come into their own.

Sanded - Heard of any problems with Gearbox plugs..?

Definitely legit futures.
I have seen photos of others using carbon to support the box. I think others are having a similar issue as well.
They are so narrow despite being an otherwise good system

Nah mate- they did have an issue with gearbox about 6 years ago but they pulled the whole shipment back and replace them - so shouldn't be an issue

Explain narrow? are you putting in "futures"fins or another fin brand made to fit futures? that could be affecting the boxes if the fins are slightly out?

"Carbon over the top" ? is that just carbon layer? or are you talking about The "carbon" futures boxes that some companies are trying out at the moment ? These boxes they are being developed as their next generation, as patents will be running out very soon so they want to change materials to extend patents.

Tell your Shaper to get a different Glassing shop.