FinsOut: the world's first fin removal tool | Photo: FinsOut

Take a close look at this simple, yet ingenious surf item. FinsOut is the world's first fin removal tool.

We have all suffered at the hands of the thruster setup. And if you're riding a five-fin system, it's even worse.

Installing and removing FCS II fins can be a painful experience for your fingers and for your favorite beach towel. When you don't do it correctly, you end up with bruised hands.

The good news is that, sooner or later, there's always a solution for our surfing problems. The founder of FinsOut has come up with a smart way of removing or swapping the surf fins out of the surfboard.

"To get your fins out, simply slip the FinsOut over the fin and remove it with ease in a couple of seconds. The handy tool has a grip-contoured handle, and its patented fin friendly design allows you to lever it with ease," explains Kris O'Brien, the man behind FinsOut.

Kris realized there could be a solution for taking fins in an out of surfboards during a boat trip in the Mentawais when his fin flew out of my hand and went off the edge of the boat.

"I had to dive over to save the thing. It was a comedy act. About six months later, I woke up at 3 am and scrawled down some drawings on how to make it happen."

O'Brien has been working in the action sports industry for a long time. He started in Trigger Bros Surfboards, then moved to Brothers Neilsen and Quiksilver. More recently, as an entrepreneur, he founded OBfive Skateboards.

Top Stories

On March 7, 2024, Cloudbreak delivered one of the most epic swells in Fiji's big wave surfing history.

Is there any correlation between warmer or colder ocean waters and bigger waves? What is the influence of temperature on wave height?

It's one of the world's most out-of-the-radar big waves and certainly one of the most exciting surf breaks in Latin America and the South Pacific. Bienvenidos a El Buey.

Surfing is all about working the unbroken wave face and maximizing riding time. But how can you optimize and balance these two goals that cancel each other out?