I just recently bought a 9'2 Stun Gun and was lucky enough to have two weeks in Bali in glassy overhead conditions to put it to the test.
I have owned a 10'2 and a 9'4 Jimmy Lewis Mano for the last couple of years and that is pretty much all I have used in the waves, except for a few goes on mates boards, so don't have a lot to compare it to.
I found the 10'2 Mano to be a fantastic board but wanted to go a bit smaller so bought the 9'4 x 28 but at over 90kg's I found the 9'4 Mano to be a little unstable in the surgey offshore reefs that I usually surf and so was only using it in clean beachies and using the 10'2 90% of the time.
I had decided that I wanted something around 9' x 30 so when I heard about the JL stun gun at 9'2 x 30 1/4 and 126ltrs I figured that would suit because I was so impressed with the strength and build quality of my two Mano's.
Although 2' shorter than the 9'4 Mano and the same volume it is way more stable (not all that much less stable than the 10'2 Mano) and I think I could have got away with the 8'7 but am happy to have the extra stability for when it gets a bit choppy.
I was mainly hoping to replace the 9'4 mano with this board and thought I might keep the narrower 10'2 Mano for the big stuff that it handles so well but after using the SG in some well and truly overhead waves (some around double OH) I think this board will replace both the Mano's very well and be my one board surf quiver.
It paddles in and catches waves almost as well as the 10'2 (which is awesome) and holds on on steep late drops just as well but is way looser to turn and go from rail to rail.
I must admit the first day or so it did feel a little bit twitchy and skatey but I moved the centre fin right back and it stiffened it up plus also I think I just had to get used to not moving back quite as much as I was on the 10'2.
With the Stun Gun you don't have to move around anywhere near as much to initiate a turn.
I still want to try it out in my normal conditions back to back with the Mano but so far I am very impressed with its performance.
I did take a little bit of gopro video footage that I may post later when I get around to it but unfortunately in the humid conditions over there I found it was fogging up fairly quickly so didn't use it much and didn't capture any of the big days, here is a couple of stills anyway for now.
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