Inflatable SUP's. School me

[detrusor]

I see them from $250 to $1250. Don't know a damn thing about them. It looking to go pro, more to noodle around w the wife, maybe roll one up to play on river trips. Go.

[SkiBall]

Get what you pay for. Wife and I have Hala (Hoss & Straight Up). Love em. There was a thread about this recently might have whatever info going to get here. Do river, lakes and wife did harbor ocean ride.

[Kailua_Boys]

They're mostly all pretty similar since you're not going to be surfing them. The tower boards are pretty reasonably priced. I just came from Costco and they had one for 275. That would be worth considering. I wouldn't spend too much on an inflatable.

I would probably go with the Costco Jimmy sticks since they have a solid return policy and it's fairly cheap.

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[SkiBall]

Just make sure they have more of a deck and less surf boardy if you plan on taking on a river at some point. You'll want that stability.

[Ottoclave]

We got an Ulli Steamroller 11.5' a few years ago because the portability of the the inflatable was really nice while on our boat. The Ulli has been really solid over that time, but not significantly more so than a friends West marine cheap-o inflatable.

If I were to do some surfing, I'd much rather have the Ulli, but otherwise it doesn't matter much. Neither of those inflatables will match the speed of a 14' race board.

[schindlerpiste]

I just bought my daughter an Earth River 10.7 for mostly intercostal and ocean use. I've heard that both Earth River and RED are bomber inflatables.

[summit]

Like skis: dimensions and camber are king

Width: Lateral stability... how good is your balance? Easy boards have 34-46, pretty easy boards have 32-34, and as you get narrow you get a faster board (less drag) trading for stability. Fatter for rivers, thinner for lakes...

Height: How much float? Also affects stability... 4" is less float, lighter and less wind resistance, 6" is more float and particularly better stability in the river

Length: longer is faster and tracks better plus more buoyancy... shorter is more maneuverable/playful

Rocker: flat tracks better and is faster, more rockered for playful/maneuverable

Construction: some are lighter builds, others are burly to bounce off river rocks

I like my Hala

[detrusor]

Thanks!

[XXX-er]

https://redpaddleco.com/ca/know-how/durability/

hard boards get easily dinged up but inflatables can take a beating ^^ the redpaddle boards are more $$$, use higher pressures so they are stiffer and come with wheeled luggage

[CKSPADDLER]

I see them from $250 to $1250. Don't know a damn thing about them. It looking to go pro, more to noodle around w the wife, maybe roll one up to play on river trips. Go.

I am a Hala Fan as well. I own www.coloradokayak.com - we sell a few brands of SUP. To generalize:

Hala - 3 year warranty, wide variety of shapes and boards - something for everyone. The Rival Series is great, they come with a free paddle and are under $1K. The Atcha is a great board for river, and the Hoss and Straight Up are good for utility - they do it all.
They have all the bells and whistles (top notch construction, great carry bag, electric and hand pump,etc). Pete who own's Hala is a good buddy of mine, and has his boards dialed for Rocky Mountain living - they are perfect for mountain rivers lakes, etc....
Uber durable - we have had 1 warranty in the 6 years that we have been selling the brand, and it remains to be seen if it is user error.

Starboard - 1 year warranty. They are the lightest shapes out there. Coastal company - lots of shapes that rip on ocean and big water river surf. If you make trips to the coast this is your brand. The 10' Inflatable Whopper does it all - super light, great for ocean, mild river and flat water. The Astro Stream series is awesome - the 9'6x 36" x 6" is the most stable river board out there IMHO. The 11' Stream is fast and fun for flatwater and up to class III river.
They do have their warranties. They can leak. Customer service is great and will replace older model board with current model. We have not had as many warranties with 2016-17 boards, but def something to think about.

NRS - 3 year warranty. Great family boards. Not the most high performance shapes in the world, but perfect for family floats. Bring it to the lake, Ruby Horsetheif, etc...they are stiff, durable and will not break. If they do, it's NRS - they will take care of you. But it will not leak.

90% of the SUP's are made in the same factory. There is a damn good chance that the $350 SUP on Amazon is the same quality as the the $900 one elsewhere....With so many brands out there, it's hard to tell what will last, and what will not. A brand like Hala puts more time and effort where it counts - they proto their boards more than other brands, have a higher level of QA testing, etc...

Feel free to email me at bobby@coloradokayak.com if you want to get a board - I can give you a mag deal for sure.

[summit]

^CKS is legit fo sho good peeps

[The SnowShow]

What's more stable - inflatable or hard? Or is it more a factor of the width?

[XXX-er]

I think stability is about flotation so width AND length, at 160 lbs I used to fall off a 9'8" all the time but I haven't fallen off the 10'6" yet

inflatable is way more durable, I use my inflatable to cushion my GF's hard board from abrasion on my truck

hard board is faster, if I lived on a lake where I didn't have to transport the board a hard board would be great

[babybear]

we have one of the costco jimmy styx inflatables and it has been great considering the price
We also have a solid/non-flatable sup and the inflatable is decent compared although I always get the solid and andrew takes the slightly more challenging inflatable.
It sits up a bit higher than the solid one so catches the wind a bit more but it's mobility being deflatable is sweet.

[Supermoon]

With inflatable, the thickness is important for stability. A larger person will generally need more thickness and more pressure or the SUP will have a tendency to cave where you stand.

I don't own one, but my wife works at a boat shop and they all swear by the Slingshot inflatable SUPs.

[detrusor]

Props and thanks to ckpaddler! Got me all set up with the birthday present for the missus!


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