FCS H4

SharkBoy

Miki Dora status
Oct 22, 2004
3,881
188
63
His surfing did look radically different on those though!
think he looked pretty good, most noticeable when he switched to the longer boards

update: I had set to review that i had to send back, broke my FCS board so only have boards with futures atm , will try again soon.

Any one else tested them?
 

waxfoot

Michael Peterson status
Apr 21, 2018
2,081
4,002
113
think he looked pretty good, most noticeable when he switched to the longer boards

update: I had set to review that i had to send back, broke my FCS board so only have boards with futures atm , will try again soon.

Any one else tested them?
Sometimes I wonder if there's a need for a sarcasm font. One one hand people will be able to tell easily, but on the other hand, it takes the fun out of being sarcastic .
 

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
9,269
113
eastside oahu
My sister ordered me a set of the Large h4’s, that I had little interest in. I asked how much I owe her but she said never mind. She brought us lasagna dinner and free fins last night. Winning.

Put them in my Tokoro X2. I’ve been using the Large Apex AM Comps from NVS. Which is their G10 fins. The board has a lot of built in speed already.

First wave I got a head high set at Bowls on a lower tide. First pump and the board just took off. I squared off and hit the lip, came down and did it again. Tons of drive and release. Raced to the inside and did a roundhouse but slid out in the bs rebound. Oh no. But regular fins slid doing that too.

I was surprised. The fins made a fast performance board faster without loss of performance.

Got a couple more waves. Which were fast and really rippable. Had a set I raced and high lined and used all that speed to do a carve down to see if the fins would hold. They did and kept speed through the turn. My friend Gregg was in the way so I had to jump off before I brought it all the way around and run him over. Although I owe him one. He said you were going so fast I didn’t know which way to paddle to get out of the way.

Last wave got a medium runner I raced and laid into a hack at the end. Saw a couple of regulars in the parking lot that work with my sister. Told them this is the future, Celeste gave me these fins. They said I was flying on my last wave and the last turn was sick.

$150 for 3 fins is a good chunk of change but they made a fast board noticeably faster and kept the performance intact.
 

chilly1

Nep status
Jan 4, 2010
734
1,094
93
Great review!
I was hooked on the H2 in my Flyer then Rocket (sounds like you getting hooked H4!). I think a lot had to do with the extra cant. Problem was the fin tabs kept breaking. I was away and one broke but local shop only had H3, they turned out great too, more normal template and allowed vertical turning. They discontinued I think both and Ive been strictly Futures since. But thinking of ordering the new Rocket with FCS. H2 same thing on the rebound slide, I love that! How was hold off bottom turns? Only concern me and my boards have grown since I ran those H2, maybe out grew H4, rocket likely 44L.

Sounds like Sis has favor banked!
 

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
9,269
113
eastside oahu
Bottom turns no problem. I felt like whatever rider feedback I put into the board and fins I got returned at a higher level than the other fins I’ve had in that board. I really appreciate that I didn’t have to bleed speed into turns and the release off the top was good. The slide on the rebound concerned me, I didn’t get a second chance at a turn like that but I’ll be ready next time.

You know what surprised me most? I’m tired and surfed out. I probably wouldn’t have gone out if I didn’t have new fins to try. There’s a big south forecasted was thinking of saving my energy for tomorrow. First wave was eye opening. Woke me right up.
 

ANIMA

Legend (inyourownmind)
Feb 11, 2020
353
363
63
Planet Earth
Bottom turns no problem. I felt like whatever rider feedback I put into the board and fins I got returned at a higher level than the other fins I’ve had in that board. I really appreciate that I didn’t have to bleed speed into turns and the release off the top was good. The slide on the rebound concerned me, I didn’t get a second chance at a turn like that but I’ll be ready next time.

You know what surprised me most? I’m tired and surfed out. I probably wouldn’t have gone out if I didn’t have new fins to try. There’s a big south forecasted was thinking of saving my energy for tomorrow. First wave was eye opening. Woke me right up.
I want to give these fins a try now that you posted this review. ;)
 
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Aruka

Tom Curren status
Feb 23, 2010
11,981
22,508
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PNW
My sister ordered me a set of the Large h4’s, that I had little interest in. I asked how much I owe her but she said never mind. She brought us lasagna dinner and free fins last night. Winning.

Put them in my Tokoro X2. I’ve been using the Large Apex AM Comps from NVS. Which is their G10 fins. The board has a lot of built in speed already.

First wave I got a head high set at Bowls on a lower tide. First pump and the board just took off. I squared off and hit the lip, came down and did it again. Tons of drive and release. Raced to the inside and did a roundhouse but slid out in the bs rebound. Oh no. But regular fins slid doing that too.

I was surprised. The fins made a fast performance board faster without loss of performance.

Got a couple more waves. Which were fast and really rippable. Had a set I raced and high lined and used all that speed to do a carve down to see if the fins would hold. They did and kept speed through the turn. My friend Gregg was in the way so I had to jump off before I brought it all the way around and run him over. Although I owe him one. He said you were going so fast I didn’t know which way to paddle to get out of the way.

Last wave got a medium runner I raced and laid into a hack at the end. Saw a couple of regulars in the parking lot that work with my sister. Told them this is the future, Celeste gave me these fins. They said I was flying on my last wave and the last turn was sick.

$150 for 3 fins is a good chunk of change but they made a fast board noticeably faster and kept the performance intact.
How much is FCS paying you for this post?

;)
 

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
9,269
113
eastside oahu
Popped the h4 fins into my 6’0 Tokoro 4X. I was debating if I should try it if Big Bowl was breaking. The wave supplies a lot of speed and all i want to do is make the drop and stall for the barrel. There were waves in the Bowl but it was slow and mostly Middles.

We were waiting a long time and a medium nugget rolls in. Gregg asked me if I wanted a push I said yeah and I pushed off his hand and almost slipped. Came around the section and got a nice barrel on the inside section. I yelled I love you Gregg. Haha. Fins worked fine in the little tube I got.

Got a long shot set that I bottom turned did a wrap and hit the closeout in a sketchy part and made it. Got in front of the whitewash but it didn’t reform. This is the section I had questions about the fin. If it would get squirrelly driving thru that frothy water. So far so good. In fact when I turned to hit the closeout I felt the board accelerate and I hit it hard.

Could really feel the drive off the fins on a smaller long shot. Took off really deep and pumped through a couple sections.The groms had to pull back while I flew through. Hit a chop at the end on the roundhouse and fell. But I was flying past sections that most weren’t making.

Not sure if I’m going to run these fins in my 6’2 or 6’4 tomorrow to hunt tubes. Would try mediums if I had them in those boards.

I think the h4’s are a great performance fin but it needs rider input to light up. If you just want the cruisey fast drive of a fish without going rail to rail I don’t think these are the fins. But if you want to go rail to rail get tons of speed into a carve or hit the lip so hard the cops come the h4 is worth trying.
 

ANIMA

Legend (inyourownmind)
Feb 11, 2020
353
363
63
Planet Earth
A review that paints a picture... is a good review indeed! :)

I love the part about the groms having to pull back while you flew through. lol. Nice story/review.

I want to hit the lip so hard the cops come...
1591129267836.png
 

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
9,269
113
eastside oahu
Surfed Big Bowl with regular fins but Mason Ho came out using the h4 in his hpsb. Think he was riding a 5’9 or 5’10. Koa Smith had the h4 sides in his quad and gx trailers. Mason said FSC is working on trailers for quads.

Mason is one of the most creative surfers you’ll ever see. His videos are awesome but watching him surf from the water takes it to a whole different level. Saw him take off and do a 70’s style layback in the tube and while getting pitted switch to a seat belt grab. He got a set it had a bump on it and it threw him in a weird spot but he did a bs snap stall got a quick coverup did a bs chop hop reverse and ended with a big bs hack. I just looked at him and told him that’s why you get paid to surf. Haha.

I told him I saw his vid about the h4’s and had been riding them. He lit up. Said he was skeptical about the hype involved until he rode them. I told him I stood up and pumped on my first wave with them in and I was wtf. He got all excited and said that’s what happened to me.

If you’re not sure about dropping $150 on a set of thruster fins I’d see if a shop is offering demo sets. Worth giving them a try.
 

ANIMA

Legend (inyourownmind)
Feb 11, 2020
353
363
63
Planet Earth
Surfed Big Bowl with regular fins but Mason Ho came out using the h4 in his hpsb. Think he was riding a 5’9 or 5’10. Koa Smith had the h4 sides in his quad and gx trailers. Mason said FSC is working on trailers for quads.

Mason is one of the most creative surfers you’ll ever see. His videos are awesome but watching him surf from the water takes it to a whole different level. Saw him take off and do a 70’s style layback in the tube and while getting pitted switch to a seat belt grab. He got a set it had a bump on it and it threw him in a weird spot but he did a bs snap stall got a quick coverup did a bs chop hop reverse and ended with a big bs hack. I just looked at him and told him that’s why you get paid to surf. Haha.

I told him I saw his vid about the h4’s and had been riding them. He lit up. Said he was skeptical about the hype involved until he rode them. I told him I stood up and pumped on my first wave with them in and I was wtf. He got all excited and said that’s what happened to me.

If you’re not sure about dropping $150 on a set of thruster fins I’d see if a shop is offering demo sets. Worth giving them a try.
Yew! fun fun fun! Mason seems like a cool a$$ dude. Was Koa riding his new El Tomo fish?
 
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SharkBoy

Miki Dora status
Oct 22, 2004
3,881
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I got to give them a go, backhand reef break , short, thumpy but only like chest high, it's like a two turn wave, two bottom to tops and then a maybe a cutback at the end. Only right which is backside for me.

Fins felt solid, frictionless in-between turns seemed to keep the flow well but felt really solid to the board in turns and you could push on them and get a lot back (drive) once I was on rail.
Felt a little sticky in some turns, but was able to adjust for that by getting my backfoot about an inch further back.
the set was bigger than I normally surf (usually have the small accelerators in this board which are a medium small fin) so a bit of the sticky could be due to that, would like to try them frontside and in some other boards.

Teeroi, you given them a go any more?
 

teeroi

Miki Dora status
Oct 21, 2007
5,107
9,269
113
eastside oahu
Teeroi, you given them a go any more?
The Large H4 are the fins I use in my DD. And I’ve been using them in my 6’0 Moonfish, which is my cheater board and my 6’0 4X, which is my steep and hollow board. The only time I haven’t used them are in my twin fin and step ups.

But I picked up a set of mediums that I used this morning in the Moonfish. And intend to use them in my step ups and the 6’0 4X.

I tried to get an extra set of Large and a medium set but they’ve been sold out for weeks. Luckily a friend had the med. set and he can’t go back to work until his child care is available so he’s been panic selling a lot of his surf gear. He asked my sister if I wanted them. I jumped at the chance. He’s kind of a long boarder and fish guy or I’d feel bad for buying them.

Still very amped on the way these fins are going.