So in a fraction of a second and with the tiniest little jolt, and my PB fin was gone at the weekend, some brass thread material being the only bits left of it, still hanging to the fin screw. I'd hit something hard at speed and so it was instantly bye bye fin.

A quick Google reveals replacing these things with the OEM version seems very difficult - they appear to be as rare as hen's teeth. Some dealers have them, but mostly they show as being permanently out of stock.

Severne, for example, state that their F-series fin is specifically designed to work with and even optimise the performance of the Fox. Yet if I'd hit the submerged object with a Fox, and lost my fin to depths, that would be it forever now. I literally would not be able find a potential spare fin in the correct size for this board anywhere in the world outside of Europe.

Similarly, Tabou say they have the shape and flex of their fins optimised for each of their boards, and anecdotally - at least with the people I've talked to - they generally struggle to find a better G10 fin than the OEM one supplied with these boards, yet OEM replacements are virtually impossible to find.

A fin is a 'consumable' item that massively influences enjoyment on the water - why do board manufacturers appear to make it so hard to find replacement OEM fins specifically designed to work with their boards?

ptsf1111 said: You're probably lucky that the fin gave and not the box.

But that's the whole idea of having a stainless steel fin screw tightened in a brass fin nut.

On impact, the threads of the brass nut shear, saving the fin box (most of the time).

Hope this helps.

I'm totally sold on PB fins now, to be honest - I barely felt a thing! First thing I knew about it - suddenly the board was sliding sideways. The only thing left was some bits of brass in the screw thread, which shows it must've done its job. Tracing my path backward I found a massive submerged tree trunk, only 15cm below the water

If I'd hit that with my Tuttle fin, I'd probably be in hospital now. Close call...

Good idea about checking the fin box. I gave it a quick look over, and everything seemed in order, but I'll give it a close inspection now.

I must be the only weirdo then who loves OEM fins. I have full carbon ones, but no way am I going to use a $700 fin at a spot I'm not 100% sure of not touching the bottom. Every other spot gets the stock OEM G10 fins, which in my experience are 90% good as the full carbon ones. Hence, wanting to replace like for like. Seems it's generally not possible.

Thanks! The Fox fin query was more a hypothetical one. What if I totalled a Fox fin. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that!

By some miracle I have now managed to source a replacement OEM fin for my other board, but that was a lucky outcome.