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We're in the market for possible two SUP boards, and I am eyeing the inflatables for their ease of travel and storage.
What are the pros and cons of inflatables vs solid foam boards?
A friend of a friend recently had his inflatable pop in the heat of the day perhaps due to over pumping. Is that a common problem?
I found this...
www.criticalcactus.com/inflatable-vs-solid-sup-best-first-board/
But it recommends an inflatable for waves (not that I will catch any up here in the tropics). I was surprised as I would have thought a solid foam SUP would handle bumps and waves way better than an inflatable, which could be prone to bending or deforming temporarily as you navigate around a 10 foot set!
Also, I am not confident with those rubbery fins on an inflatable. They look weak and bend too easily.
I recommend also an inflatable for SUP beginners in waves, if they have no previous surf experience.
- They are safe and feel safe, bringing confidence, especially useful for girls
- They surf really OK for the beginnings, until you try the first rollers. Contrary to the popular opinion, round rails hold better in the wave than rails with a sharp edge (which are faster since they release the water earlier)
- They only drawback is the nose that "sticks" to the water, so you cannot let the nose touch the water on takeoff, otherwise you will nose dive. But once you learn to always take off with the nose safe above the water, the thick rear rails gets pushed by the wave easily, easing the takeoff.
- You can surf and have fun in micro waves or even chop. safe conditions away from any "real" surfer.
Avoid the rubber fins. Their problem is that they bend and stay bended when you roll up the board, and having to heat them to straigthen them up again gets old very fast. Choose boards with only fin boxes.
Some pics of inflatable in the kind of conditions they are good for:
And inflatable surfboards works, too. You wont be able to do tight rollers, but they bottom turn and hold the trim line. Great as spares for travelling
The thing about inflatables bursting in the sun is not so much about over inflation, but when they are inflated close to maximum capacity, the hot sun naturally heats the air inside which pressurises it even more and takes it beyond maximum. Meanwhile the sun's heat melts the adhesive holding the seams together. The end result is a clean separation along the seam. It's like a burst, but not quite as bad. It's fixable, but best avoided completely. Basically, don't leave an inflatable in the sun on a hot day. Or if you are at the beach, put a towel over it or keep it wet.
As far as waves are concerned, colas is quite correct in that you can surf them but you just have to avoid the nose sticking to the water. That's easier to do on a stiffer board so you should consider the better built boards rather than a cheapy, The big brands such as Starboard*, Naish and Fanatic, along with inflatable specialists Red and Uli have various proprietary solutions to keep the boards as stiff as possible.
* Disclosure statement: I am affiliated with Starboard as a team rider.
From this what I know its all about the drop stitch inside. Good quality drop stich is more durable withbigger presure and heat. The board that i am having www.supairsurf.com/product-page is made of Korean MIRASOL dropstitch and it can lay in the sun or be inflated more than recommended. I did it few times and everything is ok.
The cheapest boards on the market bellow 400$ are not a products You can rely on in 100%. Its impossible to do a high quality inflatable board and sell it for less than 400$.
Hi NorthernkitesAus,
If you had asked a few years ago, I would have steered you away from inflatables but they have progressed so much in the last couple of years.
just look at Colas images, nose riding an inflatable... who would have thought they would go that well.
If you decide on an inflatable, a good set of fins will make all the difference and as Michael said drop stitch is also important (they are the little strings stitched in to the top and bottom of the board for firmness, you will identify them by the amount of dimples on the board... the more the better).
Personally I would always go a solid SUP so my opinion is bias. But I do own an inflatable... Great for interstate or overseas travel.
I might be lazy, but the thing I dislike about my inflatable is the same as my kite gear.. setup time. I spend 10x to 20x longer pumping the damn thing up and installing the fins than if I were to just grab a solid board of the roof racks and jump in the water and same goes for rolling the darn thing up.... it's time consuming!
If time is no problem, you travel a lot or are short on space than an inflatable is a great option, but if you are going to paddle your local creek or surf a local break than getting a solid board is a better option.
And lastly when it comes to heat, sadly all of them are susceptible to damage (inflatable, softy or rod) if left in the sun for large periods of time.
hope this helps
Regarding the progres of Inflatable SUP's check out this photo as well. photo from www.supairsurf.com/
I found surfing an inflatable very tricky.. Sure it's do'able but I'm not sure I'd call it enjoy'able.
I wouldn't want to be trying it in big surf or even beach break waves but in small waves they are ok.
If I had a choice I'd choose the hard board any day.. 
One of the best things of having an inflatable in the quiver is days like yesterday, 6 kids jumping all over it, off it, smashing it, etc. and not a mark on its, try that with a hard board...
My 10 year old girl loves the "challenge" of the 9ft Starby isup.
No worries about dings , knocks or head bumps. Technique pretty good !
ISUPs are great for travel. We took our Fanatic Air Fly Premium boards to Cocos Keeling Island and had a great time paddling the lagoon there. Cost a bit extra for excess baggage but was cheaper and gave us flexibility in not having to hire gear over there. 3 piece paddles that fit in the SUP backpack made travelling easier too.
iSUPS are great for the river too as no dings for close encounters with rocks in shallow water.
I don't know what the rate of failure of iSUPs is but it does happen and it is not due to over inflation.
This is my less than three year old Fanatic Fly Air Premium SUP after a trip out to nearby Penguin Island on a warm, sunny 35 degree day. The iSUP was inflated to the recommended 15PSI which was the same pressure used in my wife's Fanatic Fly Air Premium 9'0 iSUP. When we got to the island, we pulled the SUPs onto the beach and stacked my wife's board on top of mine and went for a walk. This was the state of my board on return about an hour later, even though it was shaded under my wife's board. Board was unusable although it still floated so managed to get towed back to shore by a kayak.
As the Fanatic warranty is only 12 months, even on their Air Premium product, they did not want to know about the failure with their product as it was out of warranty. Board was great up to this point but I would have expected a longer life than 3 years for a premium product. Here's hoping the other board last longer otherwise I'll be sticking with kayaking.
Wow that's a catastrophic failure and not just a few stitches letting go. Just curious, did you leave it inflated for extended periods, not that it should really matter?
I have a Red Paddle ride pumped to 20psi which hasn't been let down for most of summer, stored outside in the shade and I often wonder if I am tempting fate... I know a lot of the rental fleets are inflated in November and deflated in April with no issue.
DJ and PT Woody. Thanks for tip.
Do you deflate down to 10PSI after each use and then reinflate next day ?
I generally take my inflatable down the coast and keep it fully inflated for one or even two weeks ? Are you referring to longer term storage when deflating ?
Exploded on a very hot day in Sydney in February, 2017. The board was approximately 3 years old and in very good condition. There were a bunch of snorkels, rashies & flippers on top of the board that went 2m into the air when the seam failed. It went with a loud boom. The nearby Balmoral boat shed had a bunch of hire red paddle inflatables in exactly the same heat and sun without any issues at all.
The retailer I bought my Red Paddle board from said as long as you allow 10% of the maximum inflation rating for expansion you could leave it fully inflated.
From my understanding the failures are more directly associated with the impact of heat than inflation, i.e. A board inflated to 15psi in direct sun is at more risk than the same board at 20psi in the shade.
