inflatable surf board for running rivers

[elguapo]

Been looking at getting a Stand Up Paddle board for a while to use on the local lake and rivers.
Found some that are inflatable and people even run rapids on them.

does anyone know if they are worth the investment. seem like a lot of fun and i like the idea of not taking up 12 feet in my garage.


here's a video of one i found.

any feedback on if this is legit or not?

[ACheateaux]

I've been Paddlesurfing for about 7 years now, and running WW for almost 4.

I have a crap load of boards. I make all my surfing / touring boards, but buy my river and inflatable boards.

Inflatables are fun, but don't do any one thing well. They tend to be a bit to soft at punching through holes well and kinda bouncy through wave trains. They paddle like turds and surf like shit. But at the end of the day, you're still on the water on a pretty damn indestructible water craft ( if you buy the right one).

I keep 2 for loaners to beginners, but that's about all I use them for anymore. I fly my surf boards to Mex, and take my rotomolded boards to the river.

[AsheanMT]

I've been SUPing for three years now in NW Montana and can attest to the turd like paddle qualities of the inflatables. They're getting better but for big guys like me (210lbs, 6'2") they never seem to be rigid enough. They either "taco" in the middle on flat water making me go too slow or they also twist on me causing my up-river rail to dip in causing immediate falls. They are still fun though and if you're not gonna get too serious they work just fine.

I prefer running rivers on a rigid SUP. My current favorite for rivers is the 10'6" Softop from Surftech. Inexpensive and very durable. I believe Surftech just came out with a new river board that is supposed be tough enough for any rock bashing.

Super fun sport though. Running rivers on a board is seriously challenging and a super fun way to stay in ski shape during the summer here in NW Montana. I got to take a coast trip this past fall and had a blast in the ocean for my first time. Surfing in the ocean was WAY easier than running a river. IMO

[ACheateaux]

I've been using the imagine eco rapidfire for the last 3 years and it kills anything down river. I highly recommend you give one a shot.

[nbt]

I've been using the imagine eco rapidfire for the last 3 years and it kills anything down river. I highly recommend you give one a shot.

True, the Rapidfire/Traverse is money on bigger rapids. Plus they're only $450 at REI. For park and play surfing, you want a glass board like a badfish or one of the others.

[elguapo]

nice,

i'll go check those out.

[Alaskan Rover]

WTF?????

What kind of crazy madman runs rapids on a SUP???

Rapids usually Rocks, and taking a header into a jagged Rock from the height of standing = No Fun....no matter what type of helmet you're wearing.

I think I'd rather practice spring-board diving into a gravel pit.

But then again, I've never had the slightest inclination to sky-dive or bungy-jump. The closest I go to such death-defying is ice-climbing.

I'll stick to sitting down in my 'yak in the foamy stuff, thanks!

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[Tech Tonics]

Badfish designs out of salida. No doubt what you are looking for

[Harv]

Been looking at getting a Stand Up Paddle board for a while to use on the local lake and rivers.
Found some that are inflatable and people even run rapids on them.

does anyone know if they are worth the investment. seem like a lot of fun and i like the idea of not taking up 12 feet in my garage.


here's a video of one i found.

any feedback on if this is legit or not?

My company makes an inflatable that was designed specifically for river running

I agree that in the end an epoxy board is higher performance and we make those too, but there are some reasons an inflatable is good choice. They are way easier to take on a multi day river trip since you can deflate and store them in the back of your raft on windy days or when you need to make miles. They also great for airline travel and easy to store.

[mathew12]

Inflatable surf board for running water is really awesome. Here is a link “http://www.uliboards.com/standup.php” take a look to find more in inflatable surf boards.
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kayaks ontario

[Cyber Cop]

I'm interested in getting a Badfish mvp and a river surfer. I'm interested in learning how to surf the river, but I will use these mostly on flat lake water. Would both of these boards perform fine as a flat water toy? Really don't care about flat water speed or performance, just wondering if both models would have good stability for tooling around. Would the 8ft river surfer be good for the lady as a flat water toy? I figured then I could try to learn to surf on it, but I would get the 9' mvp as my flat water board.

[Harv]

I'm interested in getting a Badfish mvp and a river surfer. I'm interested in learning how to surf the river, but I will use these mostly on flat lake water. Would both of these boards perform fine as a flat water toy? Really don't care about flat water speed or performance, just wondering if both models would have good stability for tooling around. Would the 8ft river surfer be good for the lady as a flat water toy? I figured then I could try to learn to surf on it, but I would get the 9' mvp as my flat water board.

The short answer is yes. The 9'0 MVP paddles well in all environments including ocean surf understanding that it was designed specifically for whitewater so you are giving up some performance in other applications.

The 8' River Surfer in flat water will be OK it has plenty of volume but again it's designed to surf river waves so after a while it will be annoying in flat water. But for goofing off with your wife/girlfriend in flat water it'll work fine. Its pretty fun in ocean surf too.

Email me for more info/questions info@badfishsup.com thanks.

[Cyber Cop]

Thanks. Sounds like I should probably get my wife an appropriately sized MVP instead of trying to figure out how I can have 2 boards. Kid in a candy shop...

[TahoeJ]

They also have inflatable kayaks now, but they're like $700. Kind of neat for putting in at places where you couldn't carry a regular kayak down to.

[Harv]

Thanks. Sounds like I should probably get my wife an appropriately sized MVP instead of trying to figure out how I can have 2 boards. Kid in a candy shop...

The 7'6 MVP is a really fun surf board too. It's not just a smaller 9'0 MVP, it was designed with river surfing in mind. Here is a blog post that talk about the board. Here is a little video of my son and I surfing the 7'6 MVP.

[skideeppow]

I have a number of boards as well. C4 rapid rider, finless with dakine straps for bigger water Great big water runner, west water, shashone.
Badfish mvp 7'6" great smaller wave rider and does pretty good downriver. Great board for this smaller water we have right now.
c4 Dave Parameter Glass 10'6", great super fast and manuverable but very fragile. Road grizzly a few weeks back and put 4 holes in it.
Joe Blair, use for guests.

[XXX-er]

I tried one of these things at tatlow falls and just a simple moving water eddy turn was a major drama, the only real positive is that an inflatable SUP board is soft when you slip and fall on it so NO bruises ...you don't want people to think you are beating the wife or she is beating you

Maybe riding a blow up sup gets to be more fun but I would rather spend my shekels on a blow up doll

[Alaskan Rover]

The 7'6 MVP is a really fun surf board too. It's not just a smaller 9'0 MVP, it was designed with river surfing in mind. Here is a blog post that talk about the board. Here is a little video of my son and I surfing the 7'6 MVP.

Hmmm....looks kinda fun, actually...like surfing a standing wave. But I'm still not big on taking a headplant from standing height into a set of rocks.

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[skideeppow]

Here is the MVP on the Glenwood Wave. I am still surfing down there, even though the flow is at 1900. This board allows you to surf on any size wavve. It is really nice.