Indo Gun
Kirke Bierke https://www.kbsurf.com/
IMO you could not go past Kirk as he is the only shaper I know of in oz that actually surfs big waves.
Here is a link to a pic of my boards, triple stringers cause I got sick of broken boards putting a full stop on a classic surf. 
[quote=crustt]IMO you could not go past Kirk as he is the only shaper I know of in oz that actually surfs big waves.[/quote]
Jim Banks? Splits his time between Oz and Indo but he still has a dig and shapes a mean spear too.
Amazing looking boards though Crustt. Breaking into a light sweat just looking at 'em.
Yep Jim Banks guns or Mitchel Rae guns also Dylan Longbottom, out of those guys Dylan probably has finer rails and the best quad settings also imo surfs the best if small or big death pits.
Dylans are available in Bali so are Banks so no need for huge bags on plane if you make sure with the shaper/shop etc first.
Gary McNeil makes lots of good board for bigger or small waves mostly experimental fishy shapes for rastavich, some will handle powerful hawaiian/indo and mexican style waves pretty well.
Banks keeps changing his prices though not sure what they cost now. i paid $1200 for one a few years ago.
Yeah, Jim Banks is good, specially for Ullu. I would be trying to get it in oz though, as a mate gets his boards in Bali and the foam is soft, I've checked them out after they have broke, also not a lot cheaper. Unfortunately I think you have to pay a bit extra for the name if you go to someone like banks.
I have had those boards for over a year now stu and they have stood up to the test a few times now, no boards unbreakable but it's nice to have the odds on your side.
Thanks guys a couple of extra options to look at there and those boards look unreal crustt.
I was looking at the Jim Banks boards and they looked pretty nice but just felt really light compared to some other boards. Felt like your thumbs would go straight through them duckdiving a solid chunk of whitewater.
filthy looking boards crust, strange to hear banksies boards feel light the guns normally have a 6x6x6 glass job with a gloss coat.
Hi Udo, I would have thought the same. It was in the rack so might have been an exception but there were points near the rail that felt spongy and that scared me off. .
My big board almost never get's used so it is heartbreaking when they snap in good surf.
Does anyone else have a good channel bottom reputation like AB did? The strength of glass and depth in his channels was unreal.
reecebn , out of interest I just spied a very nice looking brand new unwaxed 7' channell bottom on gumtree , Mossman Sydney , shaped by Gunther rohn .
Gawd...just saw that. And it's only a few k's from here. And I just got paid.
Decisions.
Michael Anthony in Torquay, been doing channels forever, quite a few guy's in Victoria ride his guns. Shapes under his label MAD and rip curl.
'Does anyone else have a good channel bottom reputation like AB did? The strength of glass and depth in his channels was unreal.'
Marty Littlewood at Delta in Margies has had tons of experience with channels. He makes some deluxe boards, strong epoxies as well.
Dale from Byrning Spears is continuing AB's legacy, they had been profiling AB's boards since his heart attack and have hundreds on file. He has been glassing/finishing at byrning Spears for 12 + years and shaping for hot stuff etc ..... be fair to say you wouldn't find a finer channel or shooter anywhere else! The glassing on these boards is so important and Dales the man!
I am picking up a 6'8 Deep six in two weeks time, if anyone wants Dales contacts send me a message.
Cheers guys, all helpful info, and great news to hear that AB's shapes and legacy will continue cycd. I had never surfed any of his boards until that last swell in Bali and although I was probably slightly under volume the board behaved beautifully in big ropy walls. Only one of the channels has a hairline crack after two solid days and after feeling bad about riding that board it is going to be retired to the wall with some great memories and still in perfect nick.
Hey Guys lets not forget one of the first channel bottom shapers, Phil Myres in Ballina, Free Flight surfboards, he's doing some classics at the moment, some really good looking single fin channels as well,
reecen, have just done the same with my favourite "go to" board when it's on - an AB 6'9 channel .... best he made me in the 12 years i got my shooters from him. It's now heading to the pool room as a sentimental ornament.
Re the volume with a spear if you look at a new one AB's template and side view etc you will notice they have a really flat deck & they carry more foam than most... a 2 3/8 spear paddles more like 2 1/2 - 2 5/8 due to AB's use of forward foil... this has never affected the responsiveness for me personally as it usually would and is definately one of the main benifits of his designs in my eyes.
You're right, in long smooth walls & hollow waves and/or turning hard at speed it is hard to go past channels.
The only other design for me that has come close is maurice cole's pro tow (deep single concave) which i used in the North West this winter for something different, that aside that i will always have a few deep 6's in the quiver and I still reached for them when it got big and thick and started firing..... acceleration and drive. If ya want a new one you should definately give Dale a buzz!
Thought I'd try and post a pic of my 7'6" Lopez gun by following cossovich's instructions. Bought it from Patagonia. It's a beast!
That's a beast reecen, love those channels!
I also looked at a 9'0"(red one) and a 9'6"(yellow one) but my balls don't extend far enough below my knees to require such equipment!
I've surfed it stu in around in 8foot surf and it felt good. Might try a 10 foot day if I'm feeling brave one day! Until then it lives up on the exposed beams in my lounge room so I can stare at;)
Mick Pierce on the mornington peninsula in vic makes great big wave boards. They really are works of art, not just Micks but all well made guns.
Nice one YS. As beautiful as it is it'd be a shame not to let it see some action.
And can we talk about mounting places...ahem, that is surboard mounting places, for a moment? I've just moved down the south coast a bit and got a joint with an epic shed outside. The beams across the roof are just the right distance apart for boards of a certain length to go up.
It's a shed, so it's probably not as comfortable as your lounge room, but still, I like to just sit out there and stare up at them. 'Tis good for the soul.
.thornton fallander custom handshaped guns ......the stormrider himself is charging on one right now in deepest mexico.
Yeah I get a sore neck sometimes just looking up staring at that thing! With the change of season/wind directions some new opportunities are opening up to get Gerry back in the water! Note the unusual ceiling in my shack. Gets a lot of comments!
This is why I reckon that AB was a little under in volume, would have been nice to have a little more paddle power so the drops weren't so late.
Anyone know who this guy is? Was only two of us out for a while and this guy got a couple of bombs.
Fuck that was an awesome clip reecen! Hats off to you for having a dig that day!!!!
What dimensions is your AB (thickness and width)? Those deep channels can take quite a bit of buoyancy out of the tail of a board.
I've had a 7'4" Rusty(flat bottom) that's 18 1/2 x2 1/2 for about 10 years but it feels too thin now that I'm in my 40's and over 90kg.
My Lopez is 7' 6"x 19 1/2x 2 3/4. Just bigger all round and paddles good. Solid glass too.
YS it is 7'6" x 19 x 2 1/2 and it paddles pretty well but sitting out there sinking the whole board while others looked like they were on long boards didn't inspire confidence.
Must have been mushrooms in the nasty gorengs cause after donweather said it was going to be one of the biggest swells for October I was looking at booking a ticket to sheltered islands then next thing I new I was picking this off the rack in the Rip Curl shop.
The only thing I had a problem with was when laying it over on rail my poo man stance had my back foot so far back on the really raked pin that the water coming across the rail was trying to blow my back foot off the board.
That raked pin saved my skin on a couple of blind drops though.
Atomised! How's the attitude? Doesn't dive, doesn't ditch, just lets that thing mow him down.
Hope he had a good leggy...
No worries cossovich, it's not my footage I just found it on youtube while trying to see if there was any film of that swell.
Stunet that's what I thought, he popped up after getting worked and had both arms raised frothing and got straight back out. He hunted down a couple of bombs that day. Again not sure who he is but the story was that he was out there on a sub 6 foot board the day before trying to scratch into a couple and was surfing a big day earlier in the year on a soft top.
Ha ha...
Was that you punching through ReeceN?
You jag any sets?
Yeah was a good view from up there. I got a couple that were more than big enough for me. Surfed from ulus down to Bingin that night which felt pretty special.
...'cept when you gotta walk back.
Bali can feel like paradise lost these days, but I bet you were feeling the magic that night.
Cheers,
Felt it big time except for stopping at Padang, waiting ages for a wave, finally jagging one only to be dropped in on and told to "wait my turn". paddled off to impossibles fuming and muttering something about "never again". I still love going to Bali and it is the easiest spot for me to surf as far as travel goes. I find you just have to pick your times, places and tides and some times be prepared to leave a bit of skin on the reef to get an uncrowded surf.
This the AB in action;
reecen that's a thumper in the pic well done, that bloke in the vid.........he could of made that ? or was it sectioning down the line.........he must have got the flogging of his life just letting it mow him down. was it an indo surfer that dropped in on you ?
Hi Udo,
I don't know paddling over it I thought he was going to make it but looking at the video I think it would have been a pretty big ask to get around that wave, could have maybe tried to pull up into it but the chandeliers and pinches were pretty evil. He said he got really flogged but I was amazed how quick he popped up after it. Was another guy out the day before who got pitched out of the lip on a bomb and we were looking down from the next wave as his board tombstoned and he popped up just in time to cop the next one straight on the head. The photo of that stack looked insane.
Padang drop-in was either an Aussie or Kiwi tough guy.
watching it over and over on full screen looks like he sets his rail then looks down the line and sees a huge unmakeable section, and then as he does the claim the board almost stalls.......then the pummeling
fuck would have loved to have seen it from your view.
last thing on my mind would be a two armed claim....!
Reecen it wasn't Christian Fletcher doing the claim was it? I've seen him do stuff like that out there before..
No it was a guy with an aussie accent, looked half Indon maybe?? Sounds like a character anyway.
Reecen is that the AB at impossibles or padang? pretty big.. A guy told me once (good tuberider- he has go pro vids on youtube) that he took off at outside impossibles and got barrelled all the way to the end. wow.
When i havent surfed bigger waves like that in a while looking at a face like that below you steepening up is quite humbling like a roller coaster..seems to happen more often now than younger days.
Thought I would resurrect this - if you are looking for a good channel bottom one of AB's apprentices Tim Clarke is still making some good ones. I've seen a few of them out at Marrawah and they look great and reliable.
https://www.facebook.com/TimClarkeSurf/media_set?set=a.105677502907558…
...or you could by the last board AB shaped. It's going for just $10,000
See the same fella is winning two different auctions? If no-one pips him he's about to throw down over $15,000 on two boards.
All to a good cause of course, so good on him.
the u tube footage of scardy on the 7'10 non channel bottom first wave at huge ulu throwing it around like its a 6'6.
New Byrning Spears 6'8 deep sixas mentioned in previous post ...... feels all but identical underfoot
Retiring a Byrning Spear and want to know what other big wave board shapers you guys would recommend. In particular for Outside Corner.
Looking for something built heavy.