UKC

Thinking of buying one of these. Anyone got any pro's con's between buying an inflatable vs regular one. The price is leaning me towards an inflatable but are there any major drawbacks?

In reply to Derry:

Thinking of one myself.

Mate who has one said inflatable ones are great.

I haven't done much more research than that though.

Obvious advantage of inflatables is storage/transportation.

In reply to Ghastly Rubberfeet:

yeah, I thought inflatable = less stable, like paddling a rubber dinghy... but have since seen a friend using one and looks really good. Thus wondering if there are any major drawbacks - the main one i'm thinking of is obviously tearing and being in the middle of the channel with a flaccid rubber ring.

In reply to Derry:

I used one down in Pembroke (hired) last summer and they seem pretty robust.

The hire shop seemed happy they would last a good while.
Given the hire cost I think they expect them to last a good while.

They would have to be hired out for about 30-35 days to break even, so I'm thinking they'd be expecting 50-60 days minimum, without incident.

Hire kit gets much more hammer than owned kit IMHO.

In reply to Derry:

They are good fun, and from what I've been told and seen the inflatables are very robust. I saw a video of someone standing on one between to trestle tables with minimal flex. Seen them in use on rivers too and they were taking a bit of scraping (hired).
Personally, I'm sticking to an old windsurf board and a paddle, net price of £5 (including a pair of doors and a skateboard) from the local scrappy!

In reply to Neil:

Windsurf board huh. How stable is it?

In reply to Derry:

Neither, get a longboard instead.
Surfing's the source man... Swear to god.

What ones sell better second hand? I'm guessing an inflatable one will depreciate less, especially if bought new.

In reply to Derry:

Main drawback of inflatables is that they are less stiff, however as has been mentioned here if you're just starting out and you're never going to be going miles etc then they are more than fit for purpose.

In reply to SteveoS:



I know. but left my board back in New Zealand. Looking for something more portable, and to take the kids on out an adventure too.

In reply to TomBaker:

Cheers Tom. Think that's it then.. inflatable here i come.

Any good value models you'd recommend?

In reply to SteveoS:


Nice Point Break reference there

In reply to Phil79:


ha, totally missed that

In reply to Derry:


Just bought from here.
Complete Kits
Expecting delivery on Tuesday


http://www.twobarefeet.co.uk/stand-up-paddle-boards/stand-up-paddle-boards....

In reply to Derry:


I'm not an expert, but I have found the inflatable ones disconcertingly jelly-like in choppy conditions

In reply to nufkin:

I live down on the Solent and we use an old 90's windsurfing board and paddle.
£20 from fleabay locally. Gave it a bit of a clean up and it works as well as any £700 plus paddleboard.