About.....Big-wave surfboards -- known generally as guns and sometimes as elephant guns and rhino chasers -- are highly specialized designs with a single purpose: provide the rider the greatest chance to survive immense walls of water traveling upward of 40 mph. The boards must allow the surfer a solid surface for paddling, ability to hold vertical drop-ins, slingshot bottom turns and standup barrels.

And what's considered a big wave? Fifteen feet Hawaii scale, measured by the back of the wave, vs. a 30-foot face any other place.

The paddle-in boards -- as opposed to boards where surfers are towed by a Jet-ski into the swell -- currently range in size from 8 to 12 feet in length, and in Hawaii are designed primarily for Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay, Makaha and Outside Pipeline.

Hawaii is synonymous in the world of surfing with big-wave riding. Nowhere has the art and technology of big-wave surfboard design been tested and tried in more extreme, deadly conditions.

But these specialized machines are more than functional. They are also part of Hawaii's culture, with every "gun" connected to at least one epic moment in the surfer's life.

people are realizing you can get away with a lot less board in big waves, and perform much better. The average set of standard Hawaii boards has changed a lot because guys aren’t riding boards way up in the high 7-foot range unless they absolutely have to just for paddling purposes.