Inflatable paddle boards.

Allan

Allan

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I thought this is too boaty for the lounge.
I'm thinking of buying an inflatable paddle board and wonder if anyone has any information and/or recommendations.
My googling has found loads of different sizes and prices. One supplier says that if they say max weight 120kg you should not go above 100kg. As I weigh almost 100kg I'm inclined to go for a larger (10 feet plus) board. It's just for occasional use, sometimes off the boat.
I'm thinking of buying a reasonably priced one, just to see if I enjoy using it. I live ten minutes walk from a sheltered part of the Solent.
Allan
 
Hello,
We have 2. We bought a Gladiator (10'6") at SIBS (https://gladiatorpaddleboards.com/en/) which was great so we decided a second board would be good. Thinking they were all much of a muchness, we bought a second one much cheaper on Gumtree. The cheaper one is MUCH less stable.

In short, spend as much as you are willing, higher pressure is best (over 20psi).
 
We have a couple onboard. One is longer than the other but pointy ends. They are both the same width but the shorter one has rounded ends and is more stable, even though its shorter. The longer board, with pointy ends is faster. Don't go too wide. In my experience they are less fun. Too large feels like standing on a barge. We have standard paddles but our full carbon paddle makes a difference you wouldn't believe until you have tried one.
 
We bought one from Decathlon before the start of last summer. My wife had never used one before and mastered it in no time and now uses it almost on a daily basis. As far as I recall it is 9' and the max pressure is 15 psi.
 
Irish Rover said:
We bought one from Decathlon before the start of last summer. My wife had never used one before and mastered it in no time and now uses it almost on a daily basis. As far as I recall it is 9' and the max pressure is 15 psi.
Click to expand...
9' is very small. Our small one is 10'. The longer one is 13'. They are both the same width.
 
We carry our very cheap 10 foot 15psi one in a safety rail attached carrier on our small 28 foot trailerable cruiser. When I was 110kg I found it difficult to stay upright on when learning.
Now at 85kg and with some practice it’s easy to use and also provides a quick alternative sitting down and paddling with two of us to launching our dingy for short hops.
IMG_1386.jpeg
 
Many thanks for the replies. It would be good to hear from any other 'big boned' chaps who use paddle boards.
I'm interested to hear what constitutes a wide or narrow board and what thickness people's boards are? The pressure seems quite important to some but not others which is interesting too.
Nice to hear that Mrs Irish Rover has been compared to a child, I can assure everyone that I was not compared to a child, even when I was a child!
Allan
 
Grith said:
We carry our very cheap 10 foot 15psi one in a safety rail attached carrier on our small 28 foot trailerable cruiser. When I was 110kg I found it difficult to stay upright on when learning.
Now at 85kg and with some practice it’s easy to use and also provides a quick alternative sitting down and paddling with two of us to launching our dingy for short hops.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for your reply. Do you think your diet, congratulations by the way, helped your balance or did the weight loss make the board more stable? I'm now focusing a little on pressures, do you think a higher pressure board may have helped?
Allan
 
Hi Allan I think being 25kgs lighter definitely helped! 15psi is still a very hard inflatable board. (feels like a solid one)
I think width has more to do with stability than an even higher pressures.
At the price of the Kings board A$300 and likely secondhand resale if it didn’t work out I think you would end up still cheaper than just a few hours hire!
I have had and used it for about 4 years now and it’s still fine.
Pumping it up to 15psi is good exercise in itself! :)
PS My lovely new partner just cut most of the bread and pasta from my regular diet and my weight dropped away over 18 months.
 
Allan said:
Many thanks for the replies. It would be good to hear from any other 'big boned' chaps who use paddle boards.
I'm interested to hear what constitutes a wide or narrow board and what thickness people's boards are? The pressure seems quite important to some but not others which is interesting too.
Nice to hear that Mrs Irish Rover has been compared to a child, I can assure everyone that I was not compared to a child, even when I was a child!
Allan
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I worked on the principle I wanted as much acreage as I could buy so bought a 3.8m one and as wide as I could find at 81cm, I don't get chased by Japanese whalers but I could do with losing a couple of stone. Once I get a grip on the activity it will probably be slow and I'll want a smaller one but it's fine for falling off right now, which is most of what I do alongside wobbling a lot.
 
Allan said:
Many thanks for the replies. It would be good to hear from any other 'big boned' chaps who use paddle boards.
I'm interested to hear what constitutes a wide or narrow board and what thickness people's boards are? The pressure seems quite important to some but not others which is interesting too.
Nice to hear that Mrs Irish Rover has been compared to a child, I can assure everyone that I was not compared to a child, even when I was a child!
Allan
Click to expand...
I weigh 100kg but as I’m 6’4” think I carry it well!

Paddle board wise we have two, a FatStick and a BlackFin Model X. Both were about £600 but vary in stability and weight quite a bit.

Width I think they’re both similar 33-34 inches and 10’6 long. The BlackFin is much more stable but heavy compared to the FatStick board.

I’ve used the more expensive Red Paddle boards too, these are very similar to the BlackFin and nothing added to justify the price.

The FatStick board is quicker and more manoeuvrable, when you get good at it probably more fun but a little trickier to start.

I’ve used other boards, none of them have flexed in the middle when you stand on them, apart from the charter spec board provided by Neilson holidays.

We got them about 6 years ago and they’ve been banged around the boat etc, no punctures or issues yet.

One thing to note in my experience boarding is a flat water, zero wind pastime unless you want a serious workout and don’t mind getting wet.

BLACKFIN Modex X SUP Review - SUPBoardGuide.com

Pure Art 10'6 Inflatable Stand Up Paddle Board SUP Package
 
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Thickness is also relevant. We have one that is a tiny bit wider and an inch or so thicker than the other. The difference in stability is marked.

The narrower, longer one is a lot easier to propel though and so long as you go fairly fast its stability improves.

My stance has a huge effect on how unstable the board feels and counterintuitively, having my feet closer together is better.
 
We carry 2 on board generally deflated in stern locker for daughter/SiL . Both by decathlon so budget end but differing sizes. On rare occasions I have used prefer the larger one but it s not so easy to manoeuvre deflated etc . Worthwhile buying a battery pump and ours by ryobi also inflates car tyres etc. much prefer the blow up selvor canoe though for usefulness . Just remember thicker longer ones that much more bulky to lug around deflated carry from car etc to boat . Maybe you could try out a few types at a rental/training school. There was one on the beach at Jersey but I guess others exist in Solent -a wetsuit might be an idea if jellyfish about plus a buoyancy aid if floating around yacht haven etc.
 
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