Review: HIDRO MiddleFinner One

I’m writing a review of these fins, but I’m not going to give them a rating. Fins are one of those things which can either perform well or poorly depending on too many variables (wave shape, surfing style, location of fin boxes, etc). I’ll do my best to describe them in an objective way, but depending on your situation your mileage may vary.

Simply put, the HIDRO MiddleFinner One is a better version of the FCS VS Knubster. The shape is so close to the Knubster, that it’s basically a copy with some nice improvements to the base footprint. At the base the fin flares out, creating a nice transition from the bottom of the board to the fin. Although I have no data to back it up, I feel like the base helps when performing grinds and spins. You can imagine how it would be much easier for the water to flow sideways over the fin with the flared base.

If you surf a Starboard SUP, the MiddleFinner One is MUCH better than the Knubster. The Knubsters have a tendency to not seat correctly in the proprietary fin boxes that come on Starboards.

The MiddleFinner One completely solves this problem and are the only option if you want to surf Knubster style fins on a Starboard SUP.

As you can probably expect, these fins are super loose. I typically surf them in a twin configuration on my Starboard Impossible when I’m wanting to do long grinds or 360s. They don’t offer much hold or drive and any carving usually results in the board sliding out from under me. It also makes paddling in a straight line VERY difficult, which means catching the wave becomes a completely new challenge.

The durability seems good; I haven’t lost, broke or dinged them yet. Although this could be due to the fact that they are so small that it’s hard to hit anything with them.

They’re priced reasonably at 21 euros each with 8 euros shipping to the US. I guess it depends a bit on what the current conversion rate is, but with the Knubster costing $15ish on Amazon I’m happy paying a little more for a better fin.

If you’re looking for a fin to learn your spins on, or if you just want to try something drastically different than your run-of-the-mill fin, try the MiddleFinner One. If nothing else, it will offer a challenge that will help improve your surfing.