Select to expand quoteI have just got my hands on some good used fins but don't know much about them I have the fins listed below and would appreciate any info about them and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
Venom
Viper
Sting 2
Meanline
Drake slalom DW
MFC liquid pro
- the Sting is a G10 Slalom Fin, I have never used these but used to be very popular.
- the Venom is a G10 slalom to freeride rough water quick off the wind fin, you need to use these about 2 cm longer then an equivalent slalom fin. I used these fins for many years, and loved them, but when I changed from a Futura to a Slalom board they didn't provide enough upwind ability for me.
- the Drake DW is a slalom fin and good off the wind and in rough water the DW stands for Down Wind, I'm still using these fins as my main fins as I sail in open bay rough conditions but looking to replace as they are getting pretty old now and a bit knocked around. Hope this helps 
I've had a 36 & 46cm Drake DW for 4 years now. Very happy with the performance, considering they were reasonably priced when I bought them. Guess they are 50% carbon, and were about 50% the price of a top quality 100% carbon fin at the time.
Not as good as my 40cm FHot fin I got secondhand, but new those are very expensive, like all top quality carbon fins. The FHot feels 100% safe, the Drakes not quite as much, but still fine.
I also bought a 38cm Slalom-8 Drake, a bit more upright, for when I did a year going for 1 hour speeds. The tip on that was more fragile than the other 2. Nothing to do with fin shape, just QC I think. I prefer the more swept back fins on my Exocet S3 110l, which has quite low rocker.
As far as top speed goes, I dont think me on my Ezzy Lions is fast enough to justify spending more money on FHot fins. If I had a faster board & sails it might be a different story.
I was going to buy a Drake 46cm Slalom-8 for my largest board, but they had sold out, so got the DW instead. Its been fine.
