G'day all,
I'm just wondering if many people have rode both boards and can give some insight. I currently ride a 7'11 evoke in carbon and just wondering what the 7'2 bam bam is like. I have to go that length to carry my 92 kgs. I'm very happy with the evoke and can throw it around no worries but was thinking of getting a bam bam to finish the quiver and use for the mushier days and keep the evoke for the bigger days. Is dropping the 9" really worth it for performance difference between the two or just keep what I've got? I'm extremely happy with the build of the boards and the company's service is second to none and just can't afford and justify the extra $$ for the big name boys and really would prefer to support local. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Cheers Whitey

I never tries the Bam Bam, but I am quite familiar with the Gong fatal it copies, and I can say yes, it will be much looser and quicker to accelerate in small to medium waves, if you want to have a shortboard style (pumping to accelerate).

Colas, thanks for the reply and yes I would love to relive my youth and old short board style. I just checked out some gong videos and they do look good. I do have a 10' in my collection but have to admit I get bored on it pretty quick as I love to turn as much as possible. They have a sale on at the moment for the bam bam but don't think I can get all the cash before it finishes, so I'll have to keep saving. Cheers.

At this stage Whitey I would keep what you have got. Your 7'11" Evoke is so similar to my JP Widebody 8'2" But your Evoke is a higher volume board at 131 Litres compared to the JP 124 Litres but you are about 15 to 18 kilos heavier than me so that just about makes us twins when riding our boards. Lol!!!!!

My JP is so stable and yes I could throw it around if wanted. But since bought a better performance board, a Sunova Soul 8'3" which is soooo much lighter to throw around & I believe is easier to control & catch waves due to its lightness. But your Evoke is carbon so might be just as light, but might not be as fast due to the Sunova being less in width. And yes, I noticed the big increase in speed.

But my JP Wide is great in mushy waves too, except I would have liked more rocker or nose kick in the steeper waves.

So since I have tried & purchased a Coreban Hyper to assist my balance, paddle & late take off practise, so when I return to my Sunova & JP I would have the confidence in more critical surf. Lol! Well I hope so. Lol!

But what I have noticed with the Hyper, it will bog down when the waves get fatter & the board slows & I think because of its excessive rocker. But I want this board mainly for those steep sucky waves that will generate speed very quick by the time you do that bottom turn.

So going back to you wanting a board for those mushy waves, I think the Bam Bam at that volume would be too much work & boggy due to its volume to your weight. But its rocker may help you out being what I think is a little less compared to the Hyper. Understanding that I haven't ridden or viewed a Bam Bam in reality.
But. the Bam Bam will help in balance & paddle practise. And if it has a more pronounced rocker or nose kick then it will help with late take offs too as the Hyper will do for me.

So in my opinion, if I were you, keep the Evoke for an all rounder especially for your average surf & mushy days. And look for a higher performance board with a little less width for average to bigger surf.

At your weight & affordability. I would get a Vex Profusion Carbon at probably 8ft or maybe the next size up. Which I nearly chose except the volume was too high. But if I was your weight I would have snapped it up. They look the goods & heaps cheaper right now too. With a more pronounced rocker. I think that would make your quiver.

The Bam Bam for fun, paddle & balance practise at your weight.

But that is my opinion at 55 years of age, 78 kgs plus weight & being just an average surfer wishing to be more aggressive in wave shredding. Lol!

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yt04 said..
I do have a 10' in my collection but have to admit I get bored on it pretty quick as I love to turn as much as possible.

I would advise then that you try a Simmons-like shape (very wide tail + concave or channels), with a semi-pointed nose or a square one, as you like (minion or the other vanguards): The day I tried a Simmons in SUP I knew I could resell all my longsups: you get the early entry of a longboard + you can turn all the time because of the speed of the board and the fact that it doesnt sink the tail when you put your rear foot on the pad: you can carve turns in very slow and mushy waves!

I think the Bam Bam / Fatal shapes require a tad bit more of power to be fun, and may be a bit too close to your evoke.

Do not be afraid of the short length: short is what makes them plane in slow waves, where a 10' would still be in displacement mode. If the board is wide enough, it will be surprisingly easy and stable.

As an example you can also see this video of a 7'6" AHD Sealion on a tidal bore, a very slow and weak wave: you can see that with a wide tail and a twin fin setup, you can turn all the time without killing the speed:



And of course me, 55 years of age & quite overweight at 100kg, in the videos in the thread: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/New-610-Simmons-SUP/

Seajuice and Colas, thanks for both your replies and definately food for thought. I'm always hoping to loose some kgs and slowly working on it as I got to 98 not out and now down to 92, but should be around the 85 max but love food too much.
Seajuice, I haven't said but I already have a few year old 9' vex that was my first board. Definately still a great board that got me going but only my kids ride it now as I found pretty well stay on the evoke.
Colas, I looked at your vids as well as your link and your boards are very impressive, especially how they perform. That performance is exactly what I'm after hence my original q re the bam bam as it's the only gong type shape I have found in oz, but would love that larger tail. I thinking of running your photos past my shaper mate and see what he reckons if he could knock one up. Cheeres Whitey

Hey Whitey,
We have a demo 7'2 on the Gold Coast if you can make the short drive down.

Here is a quick vid from a couple of quick sessions in Byron of Tim riding the 7'2.

Cheers Jarrod, I've watched that vid of Tim dozens of times and would love to give it a go. Any chance you could organise a 7' demo to Mooloolaba? Call me fussy but 30 mins to there is better than nearly 2 hours to the goldy! I don't go that far for my holidays

For the demo, be sure to read the tips here: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/a-bit-of-advice-short-boards/

Try the board first in flat water, trying some mock take offs to get the hand of the row and the front/back balance before trying the waves.

Will do mate, thanks for the tips and pm.

My lil’ Bam Bam arrived at last.
I got the 7’2 / 116 litre.
With some trepidation (1. I’m still recovering after nearly a month of no supping with suspected broken hand, & 2. the ridiculous small size of it) I took it for a paddle this morning straight out into lovely glassy clean 2-3 footers. Couldn’t be bothered doing the calm water thing. Going straight from a 9’1 Allwave, I assumed I would take a week or so just to get used to balancing on the thing. To my utter surprise, I was catching nice waves within minutes and ended up doing nearly an hour in surf. Only chucked it in due to the painful hand, and had to get to work sometime.
So, if anyone is keen on getting one of these little rippers, but hesitant to drop so much in size, go for it. You may be as surprised as I am.
Also, due to not being able to SUP for nearly a month I am currently quite overweight – around 91-92 kg. So can’t wait for my hand to heal properly and to get back down to my previous weight.
The fins that come with it are pretty ordinary though, but I will fix that.

Colas - First of all cheer for all your info in this site ....

With these simmons stye boards what do you think s max width ?? ?

Like the new naish board been 33 width .... Would it still be ok in some 3-4 ft peaky stuff or only really good for the mushy waves ??

Me been at 95 i feel the 116 litre might be a bit to much hard work and esp to the outer reefs

Like for all boards:
More width: stabler, slower to paddle, more row, work on slow mushy waves, need to move your rear foot around more, harder/slower to get on a rail, you can push harder on your turns to leverage this resistance to great effect as long as you can control it.
Less width: the opposite :-)

The max width on a Simmons can be less than a regular shape to get the same effect. For instance the Naish Raptor at 33" could be as stable as a 36" wide Hokua...
In 3-4ft surf would be fun for a very powerful heavy rider, but a normal rider will not enjoy it.

For you the 116l could be a miracle for windy/choppy session with insane stability... but low paddling speed. And tricky for steep/hollow waves. Clean 3-4ft (I guess it means well overhead?) would be better on a ~29" 120l Simmons/Vanguard shape.

Cheers colas for the info ...

Interesting ... Might see if the Zu gonna put the smaller raptor out on demo .. Gonna hate the long paddles tho ..

Actually paddling on a Simmons is not so bad. Partly because of the parallel rail (less row on board rolls), partly because the fins are so far back relative to the board length:
Picture yourself paddling on the board on the left, the fins will be as far from you as on a board at least 1' longer. Granted it will not raise the hull speed limit, but you will be able to paddle with less effort to control the row...

Couldn’t be any more happier with my Bambam.
Got some decent Shapers fins for it and even with my still semi broken hand, have been having a ball on it in the extra nice waves we’ve had lately.
I’m still over 90kg but reckon after a few weeks on Bambam I should quickly shed a couple more kilos.
Not sure I will ever get on my 9 foot Allwave again?? I’m finding a great bonus is that the much smaller board is so much easier to keep under control and I don’t have to worry so much about hurting some sooky proner.








My neighbour’s missus got a couple of photos of me on Bambam yesterday. So, again, if you’re thinking about a massive step down in board size, just do it!

Yep! Bam Bam! ... so what is the board called?

Even my youngest grandson recommends the Bambam

Good work et and keep the reports and pictures coming. Still saving the $$ and working out what I want in size etc.