Best Stand Up Paddle Boards

Congratulations! You’ve found a comprehensive, easy to understand primer on stand up paddle board construction… the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sadly, there is a ton of confusing, and conflicting “mis-information” out there on the web. Good news - read this one page and you can knowledgably decide for yourself which is the best stand up paddle board for your intended use and budget.

At first glance, most people assume a paddle board is a paddle board. If they’ve looked around a little bit, they’ll be aware that there is a handful of different shapes and sizes, and of course dozens of brands. On the surface most of them really do just look like really big longboards (surfboards). It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that they’re pretty much all the same, aside from the branding… and of course the pricing! And why the heck are they so much more expensive than surfboards?

Stand up paddle board insides
The difficulty in differentiating one stand up paddle board from the next is that you can’t peer inside. Thus, as a prospective buyer, you’re left to sort thru the unfamiliar industry lingo which all kind of sounds the same. You’ll repeatedly hear terms thrown around like:

• Hand shaped
• CNC machined
• EPS foam (Expanded polystyrene, or beaded) cores of different densities
• XTR foam (extruded polystyrene, or solid shape) cores of different densities
• Glassing - double and triple top or bottom glassing of different weight glass (fiberglass cloth that gets resin added to it to form a reinforcing layer of strength)
• Biaxial glass
• Stringers
• Epoxy resins
• Wood veneers
• Sandwich wood construction
• Specialty high-density foam sandwich construction
• Vacuum bagging

You can find definitions of these terms in our SUP glossary, but for purposes of this primer we’ll discuss them in the context of the different types of stand up paddle board construction on the market. This will, in part, help you understand why one board costs $800 while another one of similar size that looks pretty much the same costs maybe $1600.

Distribution channel factor in the pricing
While price is generally a good indicator of quality for most products, differing distribution channels for SUP boards muddies the water. In fact, a board you can buy for $800 from a direct to consumer brand is likely equivalent quality and cost construction to a board you’d pay $1150 retail for in a local surf, kayak, or outdoor shop. Before you can separate out construction quality factors and costs, it is essential to wrap your head around how the differing distribution channels in the stand up paddle board marketplace affect the pricing you see as a customer.

The traditional three-tier distribution channel brands
As stand up paddle boards originated from the surf industry, the vast majority of SUPs are sold thru a traditional three-tiered retail/wholesale/factory distribution channel. The customer is buying from a local surf shop, kayak shop, or outdoor retailer at a 20% to 40% retail mark-up. The retailer is buying from the brand (or wholesale middleman) at a 20% to 40% wholesale markup. The brand is buying from the factory, which also has a profit margin cooked into the pricing. And there are two (or sometimes three) levels of shipping costs built in here: the shipping from the factory to the distributor, the shipping from the distributor to the retailer, and (sometimes) the shipping from the retailer to the customer. Aside from private label brands purchased direct from the factory by a local retailer (which are rare), the brands you find in a local surf shop, kayak shop, or outdoor retailer ALL follow this three-tier distribution channel and the MSRP of the boards reflect it. These SUP brands typically don’t sell direct as they want to support their distribution partners, and not compete with them. It doesn’t always happen that way, but that’s the theory.

Direct to consumer brands
In the stand up paddle board market, there are a handful of direct to consumer brands that buy direct from the factory and then act as the retailer themselves to sell directly to consumers. There is no wholesale middle man in this distribution model. These are typically boutique brands that primarily serve their local markets and sometimes customers in other areas via the web. If a customer picks up a board locally there is only one level of shipping (from the factory) built in to the retail price. If the stand up paddle board is shipped to the customer, it will cost another $125 to $175 to ship across the country. Still there is no wholesaler to retailer shipping cost built into the retail price nor will the customer incur any sales tax, so part of this retail to consumer shipping cost is offset when you view the components of the direct MSRP holistically. In summary, you’re going to get an equivalent quality board at a lower cost here every time with the direct to consumer brands even when shipping is factored in. On standard boards, a customer will save around $200. On the very top-end boards, the customer will save $300-$400

Confused distribution brands
Typically there is no wholesale middle man in the direct to consumer brand distribution model outlined above. I say “typically” because some confused distribution brands wholesale their product to retail surf shops, kayak shops, and outdoor retailers, AND also sell direct to consumers (typically to the chagrin of their retail partners – it’s called channel confusion). This is an important distinction, because IF they’re doing both then their “so-called” direct to consumer retail prices are obviously inflated to accommodate both a wholesale margin and a retail margin as they’re employing that channel as well. So, aside from the lip-service of claiming to be “direct to consumer”, in reality these brands pricing strategy is no different than that of the traditional three-tier distribution channel brands. As a rule, most major brands won’t sell direct, so brands that use this confused distribution strategy tend to be off-brands. Also as a rule, most major brands shy away from producing lesser quality product out of fear of damaging the strong brands they’ve established AND out of fear of alienating their retail partners with lower quality product that produces returns and such. Off brands that employ a confused distribution strategy are not constrained by these same fears, so they often times are the ones introducing low cost, low quality products to the market. That’s kind of where the SUP market is right now – some of the confused distribution brands have introduced SUP boards that are priced almost unbelievably low compared to the rest of the market. How do they do this? They are simply going as low quality as possible, where the existing brands don’t dare tread until they see how consumers react. If consumers are satisfied with the lower quality products, some of the major brands may then enter that market.

Production cost versus quality
Most of the highest quality stand up paddle boards are all made in the same 60,000 square foot factory in Thailand that has been producing surfboards and such for about 30 years. A dozen different brands use this “gold standard” factory. Each of the brands is made to different specs and with slightly different construction techniques, but as a group they are typically of much higher quality production build that boards made in the other major SUP factories which are in China. There are a handful of assorted surfboard and boogie board manufacturers in China that have taken up stand up paddle board production in the last few years. Production quality varies. As a brand, you can produce boards in these Chinese factories with lower quality targets at almost half the cost of using the gold standard factory in Thailand. The discount boards you see available in the market primarily come out of China.

High-quality versus low-quality SUP construction
Low quality SUP boards tend to use inexpensive polyurethane foam or low density EPS foam (12 kg or 14 kg) cores simply coated with a few layers of glassing. If they use polyurethane foam (which is cheaper, yet typically heavier than EPS foam) they can use polyester glassing (which is cheaper, yet more susceptible to cracking and chipping). If they use EPS foam, they have to use epoxy glassing, but production costs (and subsequently quality) can be driven down by using lower density EPS foam and only a few (maybe 2 or 3) layers of glassing. The result is a stand up paddle board that looks pretty much like everything else on the market and will work reasonably well for most flat water applications, yet:

1. Will easily crack and if not immediately fixed properly will subsequently absorb water and add significant weight
2. With generally not hold up well over time even under normal stand up paddle boarding conditions due to the lower density foam which can lead to a mushy feel of the deck over time
3. Be vulnerable to water absorption from even small scratches due to its thin outer shell
4. Is susceptible to outright snapping in waves

High quality SUP boards tend to only use EPS foam (up to 20 kg) cores, some form of sandwich construction (sandwiching a wood veneer or specialized high-density foam sheet between layers of glassing), high-density foam blocks to reinforce all insets (fin boxes, leash plugs, etc.) and multiple (maybe 5-6) layers of inner and outer glassing hardened with epoxy resins using a vacuum bagging technique. The result is a stand up paddle board that is designed to endure most everything you or the environment can throw at it, and retain its original form, weight, and performance characteristics for many years of use.

Foam density
The density rating of a foam core is measured in pounds per cubic foot or kilograms per cubic meter. A cubic foot (12 inch x 12 inch x 12 inch block) of 1 lb density foam would weigh 1 lb. While not an absolute correlation, in general, the higher the density of the foam, the harder and more rigid it is, and thus harder it is to snap in half. Additionally, the more resistant it is to pressure dings from standing on the board and bumping the board into random obstacles. On the flip side, the higher the density of the foam, the heavier it is. With stand up paddle boards (which weigh between 20 and 35 lbs), the trick is to figure out how to get the most strength from the least weight.

Typical surfboard foam
Surfboards have historically been produced using a polyurethane foam core (also called a PU foam core). The density of typical surfboard foam is about 2.3 lbs per cubic foot (or 37 kg per cubic meter, as EPS foam core densities are quoted). EPS foam cores used in stand up paddle boards range from 12 kg to 20 kg. In surfboard construction, the polyurethane foam blank is shaped to its final surfboard shape and then coated by one or two layers of fiberglass woven cloth and hardened with either a polyurethane resin or an epoxy resin. You have your choice. An epoxy resin is more expensive, but will create a stronger, more rigid, and more durable coating.

While it’s possible to make a stand up paddle board following this exact same process, the result due to the massive size of SUPs would be a very heavy board. SUPs, and many modern surfboards, typically use EPS foam (expanded polystyrene, beaded foam pressed together - think of the foam used on a cheap cooler), which is lighter, and are then (typically, and by all means should be) reinforced with more than just one or two thin layers of glassing you’d find of a traditional surfboard. When EPS foam is used, you can only use epoxy resin, not polyurethane. Epoxy resin is stronger and more ding resistant that polyester resin.

Stand up paddle board brands use varying “skin” techniques over this lightweight EPS foam core to add rigidity and strength to their boards. The biggest issue with EPS foam is that its open cell structure means that if it’s exposed to water it will soak it up like a sponge. Therefore, it’s very important that the exterior of an SUP board is not easily cracked or penetrated. The best SUP boards have a built in strategy to address this issue. Their skins are multilayer, often with a sandwich structured skin component that further reinforces the overall strength of the board. The low-quality boards just sort of focus on cost concerns, ignore the very real issue, and leave it to the customer to deal with when the problem eventually arises. On any EPS foam core SUP board, it is essential to deal with cracks and penetrations immediately as they happen (to minimize the quantity of water absorbed) and in a professional manner (which usually involves sucking the water back out first before the repair). Simply put, on a high-quality board, you’re going to have far fewer (if any) issues of this nature to deal with. On a lower-quality board you need to be very diligent or you may find your board packing on 5 or 10 pounds of weight or more in water absorption. If you don't get the water out as quickly as possible, much of the added weight will be unreversable.

A great resource on board construction

The Board Lady