Board: Signal TailGunner

Size: 158

Camber Option: Directional camber. Rocker in the nose and camber throughout the rest of the board.

Bindings: Rome Black Label

Stance: 21.5 Wide 15 Negative 12 Goofy

Boots: K2 Thraxis Size 10

My Weight: 200lbs

Resort: Arapahoe Basin

Conditions: Sunny bluebird skies, 5 plus inches of fresh, choppy mid morning pow laps, dust, crust, chunder, and soft groomers.

Flex: This comes in just below a middle of the road freeride flex. This means it’s more playful and soft than stiff and aggressive. What you get is a softer flex that progressively stiffens back up to the tail with a ton of torsional give.

Stability: This board is super lively and not damp. As such you get a lot of play in it that can buck you around so be aware of that. At high speeds the nose flaps and that is accentuated by the rocker out there. That flapping causes a reverberation of energy to hit your front foot so you will get some foot fatigue.

Ollies/Pop: The camber profile is very easy to engage and lets you snap right off the back foot. While not the poppiest deck out there, it has more than enough to get the job done for what you want it to do.

Butterability: If you set your stance more forward you’ll have an easier time buttering on the nose, but if you go with reference stance or even set back you’ll have issues. This board just has so much nose/setback that to get your weight way out over the tip it takes a ton of effort. High speed tail wheelies on the other hand are super easy and require no work.

Carving: This board has a slow engagement off the front foot which makes it a bit more methodical in how it turns, but when you get it up to speed and start cranking a turn it steers more from inside the rear foot. This will give you the power you need from the camber section to drive it. Short tight quick carves are delayed but doable, it’s those medium mellow carves where it truly shines. When you do lay it over hard it can handle it to a point but won’t engage any further so if you were hoping for a deep Euro-carve it’s not going to happen.

Rider in Mind: Pow chasing guy that wants a directional tapered softer deck.

Personal Thoughts: I think this board might be a little too soft for how they describe it. I body jarred myself on a ice boulder and thought I broke this thing, I did not so at least we know it’s sturdy, but man did my body feel it. In lumpy terrain this board was getting bucked all over and wasn’t as smooth as I would have liked. Overall it’s not a bad deck if you’re cruising around listening to Iron Maiden’s Tail Gunner and spraying untracked pow, but if it’s tracked remember to bend your knees and listen to Judas Priests Breaking the Law instead.

Comparable Boards: K2 Instrument, Bataleon Camel Toe

Recommended Bindings: Rome Katana, K2 Lien AT, Salomon Hologram