Pod or Gravy?

[bruinft]

I'm transitioning from a 7'4" funboard and I'm thinking of picking up a Channel Islands Pod or a Gravy. Although more than likely, I'll have a local shaper make a similar board for me. During one of their recent demo days, I tried a 6'1" Gravy and a 5'10" Pod. I liked the Gravy more because the Pod felt a little more squirrly, but I'm not sure if that's because of the size difference or because the Gravy is supposed to be a Biscuit that's thinner and with more performance features. Anyone else have experiences with either of these boards?

[snolife]

not yet, i just bought the 5'8 pod, .. it took me a long time to choose .. but i will let you know what i think.

[bruinft]

I ended up borrowing my friend's Lost Round Nose Fish. Haven't been able to really test it out since wave quality was pretty poor in LA over the weekend. Has anyone ridden the Lost and the either of the Channel Island boards? Would definitely like some feedback on how the Lost compares to the Channel Island boards.

[Jimi]

I'm 75kg and 6'2 tall, and ride (local shaper version of) a pod (6'1). Dims are basically identical to the CI 6'0 pod, just a touch longer.
Basically I bought it to replace a retro style twin fin fish, but now I ride the pod almost all the time, and almost never take out my shortboard anymore - including up to about shoulder to head high when the shortboard works well too.

The pod I got made was able to swap fins to be either quad or thruster, and after a lot of debating, I now leave it as a thruster, as it has better drive and hold with the wider shape of the board, so I'd recommend getting the thruster fin option. I just found as a quad that I ended up at the bottom of the wave missing sections, when the thruster set up gives me more drive to make the sections.

It is a lot more sedate to turn than a proper short board, but it is near enough for me to be happy with top and bottom turns to my skill level. Maybe if I was a better surfer I would push harder, but it's fine for my style, which is pretty relaxed. I think if you're busting airs, then get a smaller size, and you should get some of that response back, but I need the extra volume and early wave catching ability more

Haven't ridden the Gravy, but if you found the pod a bit skittish, a slightly bigger one is fairly settled in my experience.
Hope that helps.