I was searching the archives and couldn’t find a direct answer, so here’s the question- anyone riding a bonzer gun? How do they work? Pros and cons? Measurements?
I’m still ruminating on my “mush gun” project. I love fast, drivey surfboards (who doesn’t?), but my go to spot when the swell is up in a longboard spot (Palos Verdes Cove) and I shortboard. I was thinking maybe a bonzer 5 might work, although most folks tend to shy away from concaves in larger (and bumpy) surf.
Thoughts? Experiences?
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. I’ve ridden a couple of (borrowed) bonzers on bigger days and didn’t appreciate the experience much. Maybe if I’d had more experience on the boards I might have felt differently…
I’m sure there’s somebody out there with the opposite opinion, but that’s my 2 cents worth.
llilibel03,
I rode a 7’ Bonzer 5 fin semi gun for two winters and I can say that it is definitely a specialty board. I used it primarily for heavy, hollow waves and it worked very well. ( Silverstrand, Hueneme and Jalama). It rode well at Rincon but really excelled in fast hollow beachbreak surf. I’m also very familiar with the Cove and would not recommend this type of board for it. I’ve been riding a 7’4" Becker Speedshape with a pin tail and tri-fin setup at the cove on bigger days and it works great. Also had a 7’8? double ender from Pat Ryan that was pure magic.
Marc
I didn’t appreciate the bonzer in big waves. I felt the bonzer action
didn’t happen on waves under shoulder high very well
was great from shoulder high to 10 ft
wasn’t necessary over 10 ft, and almost felt slower not faster than a modified thruster (slightly reduced toe-in and slightly smaller side fins)
YMMV
me on a 7’6" bonzer-five
9’5 five fins bonzer.
rides like a charm.
beautiful board Chacal. I would not want to get hit in the head with that pointy nose, though!! Ouch!
I have a Point Blanks 5-fin bonzer in eps/epoxy—i use it as a bigger wave board and travel board—it’s based on their rocket sled design and it is a rocket! in panama , it handeled everything that i cared to paddle into no problem…i ride a bonzer all the time in all conditions, my impression is that the sloppyer the surf the worse it behaves, on a long wall–hang on and go ! i love the darn things
Blakestah,
I agree with you on all three points as long as we’re talking about a semi-gun or gun shaped board. There are a number of round nose fun shape Bonzer 5’s floating around here and they seem to handle average size waves just fine. However, I have not had the chance to ride one.
Loved riding that board in the 6’ - 10’ range!!! Had a healthy confidence level when dropping in on it.
Davey Miller has been riding Bonzer guns in Hawaii for years. Wonder how he feels about them in smaller surf?
Marc
Have we ever ridden a board in glassy conditions that didn’t surf well? Funny how perfect waves make the board. I think the difference in a great board and a good board is, a great board surf in crappy conditions really well.
I’m not a big Bonzer fan, they don’t surf in medicore conditions well. I’ll stick to my tri fins…I guess I’m just funny that way.
-Jay
Hey Walrus, You say it handled anything you cared to paddle into, but I know some surfers, good ones too, that don’t like it when it gets solid overhead. What I want to know is how they handle double overhead.
And how about some dimensions of the board you’re riding?
i not being a bummer but once waves get size and hollowness, side fins are just negative drag. nothing better than a single fin in my opinion.
Have we ever ridden a board in glassy conditions that didn’t surf well? Funny how perfect waves make the board. I think the difference in a great board and a good board is, a great board surf in crappy conditions really well.
I’m not a big Bonzer fan, they don’t surf in medicore conditions well. I’ll stick to my tri fins…I guess I’m just funny that way.
-Jay
Ive ridden plenty of boards in really good surf that were horrible to ride or mediocre. Very few were very good to magic boards.
I get tons of flak for saying my thoughts on Bonzers, so might as well get it here too…
Basic design hasn’t changed, deep concaves underfoot, lotsa drive when up on one side of the board, kinda slow on the initial drop, good distance once going down the line…
Mostly bonzer 3’s, I never tried bonzer 5’s, but like any design, when applied to bigger surf, basic are basics.
Main problem, and i reiterate in OBSF 10-14’ surf, VFW’s outside almost connecting thru to inside pound… slow to get down the face initially, gets fine once turned, not quick rail to rail, feel lots going on in the bottom, sluggish but fast…
Once again, wave sizing is the key. My 3 worked just fine in glassy 5-8’ surf, especially slow moving fast peeling points.
Talking GUNS here, and the initial drop is key, a basic long powerful bottom turn, and a trustworth ride even if offshores are blowing whitecap conditions on the drops…
I’ll take a deep V any day over any kind of concaves…
Couple guys ride then on Oahu, and do well. But pros can surf anything, and sometimes, you gotta consider what works best for YOU, not a pro…
Let’s see some dementions?—it;s raining like heck here today so i don’t really want to walk out to the shed, but! the travel board is 8’2" x20.25"x14"T x 12"n and about 2.7 " thick–gets in early and goes like hell on the drops and off the bottom and down the line
my daily board is 7’8" same overall numbers and less mass(travel board has lots of glass)out on this one yeserday in 3-5ft and offshore–ton of fun inspite of the 4/3 wetsuit
over time — i’ve found that in BIG waves the overall speed of the board really dosn’t matter, it’s the control that’s important…bonzers can be tooo fast but i like the sence of control…the 5 fins are a giant leap past the older 3 fin versions
overall, i think it’s about what you like…it takes time to getthe ‘feel’ of bonzers–too many dis them with only one or two sessions
I’ve been surfing a circa 93 campbell brothers bonzer gun of and on all winter at ocean beach in San Francisco. the dimensions are 8’-3’-20.25. I have had it out on some very solid days and have absolutely loved the down the line speed and projection I’ve been experiencing, especially backside. So it has been great for those days when you are just outrunning the waves, but when it comes time to make a turn, I feel l’m just waiting for the thing to respond. Just doesn’t respond like my quad fin gun. I’m generally a front foot surfer, and I feel bonzers really like to be surfed of the back foot. Definitely found speed in places I haven’t before though
My question is not whether or not they work, they do of course, anything from one to 5 fins seems fine, but WHY?
Bigger surf, speed is not what you need, control is, early takeoffs, solid turns, easy fast dropins.
I see no advantage in Bonzers in big surf.
Disadvantages…slightly slower initial drop, when you drop straight down, a little more action under your feet, which you may or may not like, and a little stickier out in the flats.
Now show me a 18" Bonzer out in the flats cutting back, so you can refute that…
I agree!
i’m very comfy on single fins, thats why i ride them in big waves. you can make it down the face quick, stay in a nice high line in the tube etc.
if your comfy on bonzers in small waves, you’d be able to surf them in big waves with ease, but once you try a good single fin…
In the early 90’s I bought, rode and sold(out grew them) a couple of Davey Miller’s 5 fins that Pat Rawson made for him both were extremely pulled in mini swallow tails I think he got for riding pipe or sunset but they were very gunny… I think I got them from the old SurfnSail shop next to Ku’u Aina across from BK’s.
7’2" and a 7’6" 19" at the widest with glass ons…
rode like hell on the forehand but not so hot on the back hand unless in the hook making those baby turns.
They like power lots of it
angle in drops too…
I think they are good boards for guy like me who missed out on the whole thruster era cause we grew up surfing like those guys in Comic Children kind of like how Davey surfed too…
Anyway when the going gets tough I think a shallow vee, brewer beak profile and a nice pulled in narrow tail is the call like most here have said. You can never go wrong with that combo where-as alot of the new fangled stuff will let you down sooner or later when you least want it…
But I do like bonzers they tend to support a narrow stance, smoother more powerful style of surfing than the typical wiggle your butt weighting a thruster requires…
But what do I know I never made a career out of it…
Have we ever ridden a board in glassy conditions that didn’t surf well? Funny how perfect waves make the board. I think the difference in a great board and a good board is, a great board surf in crappy conditions really well.
I’m not a big Bonzer fan, they don’t surf in medicore conditions well. I’ll stick to my tri fins…I guess I’m just funny that way.
-Jay
Jay you have to stop eating just squid and open up to foods like veggieburgers…
from what I find, 5 fin bonzers need a clean, fast and steep wave to really open up. “The 5th Grear” maybe? Seems on sub/medicore slower waves, feels like the hand brake is on. On waves with some power and size there is nothing they couldn’t handle. I am suprised more of the paddle-in big wave guys are not riding them…
I saw Joel Tudor at average pipe back in 98. I thought he was riding a single fin until I saw him get out of the water.
from what I find, 5 fin bonzers need a clean, fast and steep wave to really open up. “The 5th Grear” maybe? Seems on sub/medicore slower waves, feels like the hand brake is on. On waves with some power and size there is nothing they couldn’t handle. I am suprised more of the paddle-in big wave guys are not riding them…
It really didn’t feel that good to me on big clean waves (20 ft faces and up).
It really felt great to me up to 12 feet faces, or so.
I’m not at all surprised. There’s been a LOT of fin experimentation at Mavericks in the last 15 years, lots of singles and thrusters and quads and even bonzers. The only thing really making a move on the thruster supremacy is the quad, two different versions, one led by Jeff Clark and the other by Stretch. Fin placements, and bottom contours are different. Stretch runs concaves, Clark uses forward vee into roll through the fins, ever deepening roll.
And some really good big wave surfers try them and hate em, and some use them exclusively. I honestly believe any fin setup could work adequately on big waves. The focus is more on control than maneuverability. And few big wave surfers make it past the point where they desire more control to the point where they desire more maneuverability.
The thing I didn’t like on the bonzer gun in big waves was the speed through the bottom turn, too slow, which is strangely the opposite of what I felt on smaller waves. It felt like the added lift from the rail fins was unnecessary because you’re planing really high in the water already, and it seemed to slow me down and I didn’t make waves I expected to. On an 8-10ft wave face, though, the added lift helped, a lot, and I was truly surprised at the waves I made because of bottom turn speed.
YMMV.
