Hi. I`ve been riding a hard board for many years in the surf. I would now like to buy an inflatable primarily because I can pack it away in my van for travelling and also to use it on still water. It will also allow my wife to use it as she is not proficient but likes to paddle occasionally. I`ve looked at red SUP`s they seem by far the best but also the most expensive. I understand and appreciate that performance of the inflatables compared to hard boards is not great mainly due to the rails being a constant thickness throughout the lenght of the board. My question is how long is it before some clever manufacturer finally designs an inflatable with rail lines similar to a hard board. Should I wait for that day or bite the bullett and fork out for an expensive Red board. Secondly is it worthwhile paying the extra hundreds of dollars for the the new model "compact" red boards simply because they are lighter or just stay with the standard red board which is in itself relatively light. I`m thinking about buying the red 10' 6" ride. Any suggestions would be graetly appreciated.

There is already one inflatable manufacturer with proper rails: Tripstix
I dont think others will offer these kind of boards anytime soon.

www.tripstix.de/de/aufblasbares-sup/

www.tripstix.de/de/technologie/

Supboardermag has done a review of the HONU Bondi Hybrid Surf 9'3"x31", Aussie brand at a good price. They also did the JP-Aus Surf Air 9'7"x32" also one of ours and a premium product.

These are bloody interesting I reckon.
Imagine a board with adjustable shape!
Alter the rocker...
Various inserts for rail shape...

Imagine it... roll up in the morning have a gander, tiny peelers get out the ten inch hatchet and spoon nose insert.

Or it's pumping so wind the rocker up a bit, chuck in the hard rail inserts and quads!

thanks for the advice. the tripstix sounds good. Typical advanced german technology. Only problem is theyre only sold in europe and switzerland. bummer

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lonava said..
thanks for the advice. the tripstix sounds good. Typical advanced german technology. Only problem is theyre only sold in europe and switzerland. bummer

Just ask them. It is easy to ship inflatables worldwide.

On the other hand, they cannot be sure you won't just decide to ask for a return+refund after receiving the package, as the consumer protection laws entitle you to, so they have to be willing to take this risk...

There are also the hybrid (half inflatable) boards:
pendleboard.com/en/home/
www.duo-boards.com/

And Sunova can cut any of their boards in half for you :-)
sunovasurfboards.com/en/events/two-piece-boards

On inflatables:
- newer ones are better than older ones, they constantly make progresses
- most brands are made in the same factories, with the same processes. But brands/models can differ widely in qualities, depending of the quality of the materials used (cheap brands use cheaper second rate dropstiches) and the time taken during manufacturing (time is money). A bit like wetsuits.
- stiffer boards are more performing, especially for paddling in chop and surfing, but are heavier as they need more material to tolerate higher air pressures that give rigidity.

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colas said..

lonava said..
thanks for the advice. the tripstix sounds good. Typical advanced german technology. Only problem is theyre only sold in europe and switzerland. bummer

Just ask them. It is easy to ship inflatables worldwide.

On the other hand, they cannot be sure you won't just decide to ask for a return+refund after receiving the package, as the consumer protection laws entitle you to, so they have to be willing to take this risk...

There are also the hybrid (half inflatable) boards:
pendleboard.com/en/home/
www.duo-boards.com/

And Sunova can cut any of their boards in half for you :-)
sunovasurfboards.com/en/events/two-piece-boards

On inflatables:
- newer ones are better than older ones, they constantly make progresses
- most brands are made in the same factories, with the same processes. But brands/models can differ widely in qualities, depending of the quality of the materials used (cheap brands use cheaper second rate dropstiches) and the time taken during manufacturing (time is money). A bit like wetsuits.
- stiffer boards are more performing, especially for paddling in chop and surfing, but are heavier as they need more material to tolerate higher air pressures that give rigidity.

You are a wealth of knowledge...thank you. I understand the performance difference between hard and inflatable but I`m willing to compromise to a certain degree. the main use for me is in the surf as I have been a surfer my entire life on one type of craft or another. I`m a little wary of buying an overseas board I like to see what I`m buying and it seems no-one in Australia is ahead of the game like they are in Europe. Closest decent board I`ve found is from Red Paddle but I`m not so sure that I can justify the expence of their boards compared to others given that they don`t make a truly decent surf performance board. Maybe its best to just buy a JP or shark or NSP etc.. which are half the price and accept the fact that none of them will perform as i would wish and then wait a year or two until perhaps some of the more advanced european boards make it to our shores. Thanks for all your very comprehensive advice.

Thanks! For surfing with in inflatable, my advice is to look for some important points:

- rigidity, but not thickness. A 6" board is not very fun in the surf. Nor is a trampoline.
- length: The longer the inflatable, the greater the risk of having the nose stick to the water if it touches it. The inflatable bane.
- nose width: a pulled in nose alleviates somewhat the above risk
- nose rocker: same
- hard rear rails: some boards have a hard rubber edge along the rear rail, it helps a lot in surfing by adding the speed to carve turns. Round rails lower edges suck water around them, preventing water to release.
- proper fin boxes: FCS2 or Future, so you can use real fins. Avoid boards with glued on rubber fins at all costs, better have a single fin than these abominations that always get warped.
- weight
On brands, ULI was definitively the pionneer, that's for sure... but as I said do not blindly go by a brand, look for the features above. In the same brand some models can have them or not.

Starboard have just released their new SUPs. Check out the Starboard Surf Inflatable 2022. Colas might have designed it! Cheers

To be honest, most reputable inflatable manufacturers provide good models, but you should avoid their entry level ones for surfing

Just for fun, what can be done with an inflatable that has all the above points covered (notably the length: 8'5", and the somewhat pulled-in nose):

I can't answer your questions but I have Red's 8'-10" Whip and it is a really fun board. No, not a high performance board but it works well. It has stays that slide into each rail to stiffen it, FCS single fin and pin tail. I'm totally happy with this purchase. Better than traveling with no SUP!