Not me Toppleover. Just taping my paddle. My Deep boards are just too damn pretty to go sticking stuff on.
RSPro on all my other boards, but that stems from fear of repeat performances of rail damage on previous boards. 
Select to expand quoteBrenno said..
Had my first crack at my minion yesterday, and the only problem i had was trying to wrestle it back off my kids! The shortest sup i had prior to this was an 8'3" x32, which i found a struggle especially in the slop. The minion is pleasingly stable, and "wake you up" quick. Thanks to Simon at Deep, for another superb board, and cheers to Darren for talking me through the process and getting the board half way home for me. I predict many hours of fun with this beasty.
Brenno,
I'm currently riding a 8'8" X32 x 140L, am 5'11" and 82Kgs, intermediate SUSer.
Having a lot of fun on my X32, but still struggling when it's choppy.
I'm hoping get something a little more stable, easier to catch waves and more turnable.
I am looking at the Simsup which is made here in Calif.
But, the Minion has caught my attention esp seeing how popular it is down-under....
What size do you think would be right for me?
I wonder if Deep has sales outlets here..... or will ship.
Bob
Hey Bob,
I handled the 8'8" x32 ok, but struggled on the 8'3". It really rolled around in the chop.
In the same conditions (slight chop) I am fine on my 8'0" minion. In fact the other day I stayed on until the onshore got up to about 10-15 knots (gusting), which for me at 6'3" and up to 100kg was pretty amazing. I was purposely testing up to what conditions I could handle.
The fact that i can centre one foot and put one back, turn and get straight on a wave on an 8'0" board shows how stable these things are. And quick too.
I found that with both types of boards it has been crucial to work out exactly where to put my feet when paddling around, as my centre of balance is quite high.
You are quite tall, but weigh a fair bit less so reckon you could go a 7'10".
I didn't get a chance to demo, but put my trust in other minion owners, and Simon at Deep who really knows his stuff.
Talk to him, tell him what you're after.
I'm going for my third Deep board (cause they're tough, good looking boards that surf really well); each one is for different days and different conditons, so I don't have to mope around on a crap day - I still get to sup surf!
Cheers
Brenno
Thanks Toppleover for your helpful response.
Husband and I bought a 7'8" Deep Minion today. Demoed a 7'4" which we both found too small, not enough stability, surfed very well when we managed to catch a wave in between falling off. It was the only size available to demo. The shop we bought our minion from put clear rail tape on it at our request. We also use electrical insulation tape on our paddles. Cheap and easy to apply. In our experience there has only been pro's to using rail tape. 
No worries wavechaser, congrats on the new board, & glad my reply helped - still not sure how taping your paddle helps to save your rails though 
Ive tapped my rails from the front to the back. Just gives me some piece of mind really.
Hi Toppleover,
I have had the experience when the edge of the paddle has been damaged through hitting the board and also the paddle edge has left marks on other parts of the board when I and equipment get a rinsing and pounding in the surf - which happens often. These experiences have led me to carefully tape the edges of the paddle.
Can't wait to try out the new board.
DEEP 7'10 Minion FOR SALE
AHH those words would bring shock horror to this thread... But...
Its because I have another love...my Stretch minion 8'4'
The board has very little use and all the pictures are here on this thread www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/DEEP-Oceanboards-84-STRETCH-Minion-Review/?page=-2#lastpost
Just PM me for details
P.S. It its the premium Vacum Bagged version so definitely no dings or repairs Surfed approx. 10 times (and that's honest as the 8'4 arrived 4 weeks later)
Was going to keep it for the young fella but at 6 years of age he has a long way to go and I will probably go thru 20 boards by the time he becomes of age.....
Regards
D
PPS can deliver anywhere on the Sunny coast thru to goldie as I travel there every few weeks
Me & a mate of mine who has been consistently bagging me about the Minion/Vangaurd shape "being just a fad" for the last 4 months swapped boards the other day. His being a 9'3 Prowave & my 7'10 Minion.....I was surprised of the glide & how much more stable his PW was but it just wasn't as much fun to surf as my board is & was glad to get mine back.
The very next morning my mate bought djansen,s 7'10 pictured above.........fad,,,,,,pfffft. 
Select to expand quotetoppleover said..
Me & a mate of mine who has been consistently bagging me about the Minion/Vangaurd shape "being just a fad" for the last 4 months swapped boards the other day. His being a 9'3 Prowave & my 7'10 Minion.....I was surprised of the glide & how much more stable his PW was but it just wasn't as much fun to surf as my board is & was glad to get mine back.
The very next morning my mate bought djansen,s 7'10 pictured above.........fad,,,,,,pfffft.
Ha. Great story.
Just got back from Bali having taken my Minion over there to surf the beautiful East coast for 10 days.
Only board I took and surfed the Sanur-Simszy/Shipwrecks area but spent half our time surfing Baby Serangan with the last couple of days on Oka Point just around the corner which surprised with wave quality and length of ride.
Surf was generally in the 3-6ft vicinity with the wedge at Oka almost doubling any size we were on.
Loved the way the board handled and nice to finally get it in some big/clean/fast waves to really push its abilities as well as my own.
Had a lot of people very curious on the design and a few converts coming from tyring no doubt.
Good to hear Danny Lee. Any footage or pics? Been having a ball on my minion, but have thus far failed to get any decent pics. Plan to have yet another attempt next break!
I picked up my Minion on Friday morning - thanks to Chris Clarke and Simon at Deep - and took it straight down the Prom. I had been out of the water for almost 4 weeks (with travel) so I was pretty keen.
Minion: 7'10" x 29" 4 3/8 124 ltr
Current board - Naish Hokua: 8'8" x 32" 140 ltr
Me: 90 kg, SUPing for 16 months
Conditions were pretty good: sunny, light wind, but smallish waves.
First thoughts: Pretty unstable at first. That was in part because of lack of match practice, and I just had to get used to the board. And it is 7'10" x 29"!
I was very happy with how the 3.5 hours session went (but I was knackered by the end). Although it took a while to find the sweet spot (still searching in honesty) I was very happy how it handled. I was surprised how smooth it seemed to be on the wave.
I am like Zoolander - I struggled to go left. That has never been my strength, but I have to figure out how to use my back foot more. Using my front foot didn't give the same control as on my X32.
And I often struggled to turn the board before catching the wave (i.e. turning 180 degrees to paddle for the wave)... I kept tilting/rocking the board rather than turning it. It wasn't windy but there was a lot of backwash off the rocks, so that didn't help. Just need more practice.
I had another 1.5 hour session on Sunday at Zappers, but the waves were tiny. All the same, I was very pleased that I was able to catch my share and ride them all the way. I caught a bunch that I think I may have struggled to catch on my X32. My theory is that the lack of rocker made it have less resistance when paddling on to the wave, and the extra weight (it is heavier than the Naish X32) gave it extra momentum on to the wave - if I paddled hard of course. I also thought it was more stable when the wave broke.
And I only fell off a few times - and only when I had tired legs. But I used a different stance thanks to the forums - feet staggered and closer to the centreline.
Anyway, not a proper review, and it is early days; just two sessions.The picture of the board follows, and some video from the Prom - pretty lame but I had fun!
Sweet looking ride & as per previous comments, I guess it takes few sessions to dial in but it certainly looks like you're making easy work of it - nice one!
I took delivery of my 7'10 Minion the other day however it's barely touched the water (not from lack of enthusiasm but rather crap#y onshore conditions) so I'll post review a.s.a.p.
Thanks.
I went out yesterday in very trying conditions (great waves, but strong 20-25 knots off-shore wind) and I reverted back to my Naish. Had a ball. Similar conditions today. May try the Minion.
just got this board a few days ago.
1st day. 4-7 ft. slight chop, hight tide back wash. I will say that its pretty stable for the 1st day, fell a few times, had a tricky time trying to get to the back of the board, but once I did boy was it sweet.. The board held fine in the bigger set waves, felt odd to basically be so close to the nose and at the same time be so close to the back of the board. As expected it was a little different trying to take off but once I figured it out, it was a sweet victory!!
2nd day. 3-5 fairly clean, little bit of wind but not to bad. This day I really found my groove, caught some pretty long backside waves, was able to get the cutback pretty good, went to hit the lip and lost a little speed, but I think its because I wasn't at the back at the board, a few of my bros mentioned that I look slightly funny trying to figure out how to get to the sweet spot, but a few more days should be fine..
Thanks to all you minion guys that gave me so much free advice, and the courage to pull the trigger with getting one snapped for myself.
Lastly wanted to say dealing with Kirk at L41 surfboards was super easy, very patient shaper, and very knowledgeable about these type of boards.
Select to expand quotetempo2 said..
good to know I have ourded a 7'10 and was thinking that my whate 90kg would be to much for it, but now I think its a good step down from my 10'6
will update when I get it...
Any update Tempo2........
I have JP 10'2" X 32 and am thinking about one of these boards. I'm also about the same size as yourself.
I took the Pepsi challenge today. Yesterday in 25 knot winds I did 'OK' on my 8'8" X32 so I thought I would try the Minion today. (I wore a helmet because of the number of times my Naish was blown off the water over my head yesterday.) Again, there were some good waves around, but it was 25 knots off-shore and there was some wind chop. Bottom line, I need more time on my Minion... These weren't the best conditions for my third session... I caught a few, but I caught more on the Naish - but that is far more about me than the Minion. But I would say to Bobajob that going from a 10'2" to a 7'10" Minion is a pretty big step. (I am 90 kg)
Select to expand quotecantSUPenough said..
I took the Pepsi challenge today. Yesterday in 25 knot winds I did 'OK' on my 8'8" X32 so I thought I would try the Minion today. (I wore a helmet because of the number of times my Naish was blown off the water over my head yesterday.) Again, there were some good waves around, but it was 25 knots off-shore and there was some wind chop. Bottom line, I need more time on my Minion... These weren't the best conditions for my third session... I caught a few, but I caught more on the Naish - but that is far more about me than the Minion. But I would say to Bobajob that going from a 10'2" to a 7'10" Minion is a pretty big step. (I am 90 kg)
And I would say that this is precisely the sort of conditions that you need to take your board out in to determine efficacy. Too often we are subjected to reviews which depict the fluffy niceties
of glassy waves when most of the time conditions are not like this. How does a board handle in extreme chop with the wind up and plenty of cross current is what you need to determine.
CheErs Ozzie
Select to expand quoteghost4man said..cantSUPenough said..
I took the Pepsi challenge today. Yesterday in 25 knot winds I did 'OK' on my 8'8" X32 so I thought I would try the Minion today. (I wore a helmet because of the number of times my Naish was blown off the water over my head yesterday.) Again, there were some good waves around, but it was 25 knots off-shore and there was some wind chop. Bottom line, I need more time on my Minion... These weren't the best conditions for my third session... I caught a few, but I caught more on the Naish - but that is far more about me than the Minion. But I would say to Bobajob that going from a 10'2" to a 7'10" Minion is a pretty big step. (I am 90 kg)
And I would say that this is precisely the sort of conditions that you need to take your board out in to determine efficacy. Too often we are subjected to reviews which depict the fluffy niceties
of glassy waves when most of the time conditions are not like this. How does a board handle in extreme chop with the wind up and plenty of cross current is what you need to determine.
CheErs Ozzie
OR you could just come to terms with "needing" (as I tell the missus) more than one board.....
Just had five days off shift. The first 3 of those I had an absolute ball on my minion, and the 4th was a challenge dealing with big backswell coming off the beach, as well as a hangover. This sort of day will in future be reserved for my next board......
Yesterday was nice lippy beach breaks, but choppy with a very strong offshore gusting up to 20 knots, definitely not minion conditions (for me anyway), so out came the Jackson Close. Great Fun.
I've spent the last 20 sessions nutting out the minion, and what conditions I can use it in. This isn't to say that a better SUPper could use it more often!
I never imagined I would be carving on an 8 foot SUP, even if it does need a rest from my fat ar5e every now and then.
Yep-as they say "horses for courses" - you need the right board for the right conditions. The challenge is to a) figure out what the right conditions are for a given board and b) get used to the Minion (or any new board) so that you making the most out of it. It is a bigger step from the 8'8" x32 to the 7'10' x 29" minion than I expected, but I am sure it will be worth it. 20 sessions is a lot of time on the water to invest in a new board, and that is the tricky question - how much time can you invest? Yesterday I caught half the waves that I caught the day before in identical conditions. I felt like I was wasting a lot of very good waves - it is a crime to see them unridden... But again, that was my third session in pretty tough conditions. Not long ago I would have struggled on my 8'8".
So, I am enjoying the challenge and I am convinced it will be worth it. And I am also pretty happy about being >50 yrs old and on a sub-8' board (that isn't 33" wide like the Raptor)...
Select to expand quotecantSUPenough said...
Yep-as they say "horses for courses" - you need the right board for the right conditions. The challenge is to a) figure out what the right conditions are for a given board and b) get used to the Minion (or any new board) so that you making the most out of it. It is a bigger step from the 8'8" x32 to the 7'10' x 29" minion than I expected, but I am sure it will be worth it. 20 sessions is a lot of time on the water to invest in a new board, and that is the tricky question - how much time can you invest? Yesterday I caught half the waves that I caught the day before in identical conditions. I felt like I was wasting a lot of very good waves - it is a crime to see them unridden... But again, that was my third session in pretty tough conditions. Not long ago I would have struggled on my 8'8".
So, I am enjoying the challenge and I am convinced it will be worth it. And I am also pretty happy about being >50 yrs old and on a sub-8' board (that isn't 33" wide like the Raptor)...
Invest bud, it's worth it. It took me 5 or 6 sessions to work out that the 8'3" x32 was out of my league/height/weight/whatever. After the same on the minion i was so stoked i kept pushing it in all conditions, until i worked out in what conditions i would be spending more time swimming than surfing - and sometimes it's just nice to pick up that big ol' favourite el relaxo board and chill.......
Select to expand quotecantSUPenough said..
I took the Pepsi challenge today. Yesterday in 25 knot winds I did 'OK' on my 8'8" X32 so I thought I would try the Minion today. (I wore a helmet because of the number of times my Naish was blown off the water over my head yesterday.) Again, there were some good waves around, but it was 25 knots off-shore and there was some wind chop. Bottom line, I need more time on my Minion... These weren't the best conditions for my third session... I caught a few, but I caught more on the Naish - but that is far more about me than the Minion. But I would say to Bobajob that going from a 10'2" to a 7'10" Minion is a pretty big step. (I am 90 kg)
I'm a pretty fussy bastard with my waves. Not glassy or offshore, not on, couldn't be bothered.
Too many other good things to do than surf slop!
Yeah, many reviews were done in glassy conditions, concluding "go smaller than you think on a Tomo shape". When considering the shape dimensions of my "WindSUP projekt" i was afrarid of going too small because i often have to surf in chop and i only want ONE board for all conditions (have to deal with another 7 windsurf/kite/surf/SUP boards i have in my + 2 sons quiver).
Now my fears get confirmed by the above reviews, accompanied by the "Stretch Minion" thread and the dimensions and first reviews of the bigger sized Hypernuts.
Good point of orientation is that the stability of a 7'10 Minion should be like a 8'5 Pocket Rocket, so when i ride a 9' Converse today and do NOT want to loose stabilitiy in chop i have to stay in dimensions around 8 x 30 - 8'2 x 31.
Alex
Please remember that this was my third session, and I knew that it was going to be a step up. I didn't want to just replace my 8'8" without any 'growth'. (And the challenge is fun.) But I did also want to point out that going from a 10'6" board to a 7'10" Minion would be a very big step. (I went from 10" to 9'5" to 8'8" to 7'10" in 16 months and I think I pushed things a little - but I was fortunate to be able to get a lot of time in the water last year.)
I am not 100% clear on how I will balance the use between my Minion and Naish in the future. Right now it is clear because I need good conditions for the Minion. And I still struggle on my 8'8" when there is a lot of water movement and associated chop (e.g. at big lefts or when there is rebound wash off rocks.)
I have to correct myself, the Hypernut 7'8 is said to have the float of a 8'5 Pocket Rocket, not the 7'10 Minion, but they should be about the same (just wondering?).
I hope it will be here this week
