Comp Gun

In 2005, a young Anthony Tashnick paddled a 9’4” bat tail quad gun into surfing history by winning the prestigious Men Who Ride Mountains contest at Mavericks. The board that Stretch shaped him was unconventional. It was shorter, had a wider tail, different lines and most obviously had one fin too many compared to the rest of the field.

The publicity of Tazzy’s win on a Stretch quad gun lit fire to the already snowballing movement of the four-fin being led by Nathan Fletcher. The Comp Gun had every surfer re-thinking their perspective on what was to be considered a performance quad. The January 2006 issue of Surfing Magazine announced Stretch as Shaper of the Year and highlighted his fin theories, big wave designs and evolution of surfing.

Fast forward over a decade later and the quad movement is as strong as ever. There’s no place where quads have really pushed the limits more so than into the big wave frontier. The Comp Gun is four-fin that showed the surfing world that quads are here to stay.

The Comp Gun is not only relevant today but is a go-to for guys like Nic Lamb for charging slabs and having the confidence to put it all on the line around the globe on the Big Wave World Tour. It is one of the most copied designs and for good reason. It’s faster and more maneuverable than other gun designs. The wide point dead center and fuller outline than traditional guns offer confident inspiring paddle power. Reverse vee bottom contours and thin tail provide control and responsiveness when rocketing down rough faces.