Leading manufacturers Starboard and Tabou have recently announced the launch of a new lightweight fin box to be incorporated into their multi-fin boards. They also hope that it will replace the current industry standard, the US Box, in the not-too-distant future.
Initially designed by Tabou's head shaper, Fabien Vollenweider, who then took it to Cobra for their expertise and opened the floor for anyone else to improve upon the design, the Slot Box was first initiated because Vollenweider felt that the Mini Tuttle boxes created a weak spot over the rider's heel, and therefore had the potential to cause injury.
Aside from the possible weak spots of the Mini Tuttle, there are two main advantages to the Slot Box:
Firstly, each box weighs a meager 77 grams compared to the US Box, which weighs 300 grams.
That doesn't sound like a huge saving for a board with only one box, but for those with two, three, four, or even five boxes, you're getting close to a one-kilogram saving, which is about a 15-20% weight save overall!
Secondly, the Slot Box utilizes the same dimensions as a traditional US Box, which means you could use all of your current US Box wave fins in the new system by simply removing the pin.