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 on traditional hard boards
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
Without getting into an overly technical discussion,
it is still relatively easy to understand what is
and is not a quality board. The below discussion
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.
The rising popularity of inflatable paddle boards
Prior to 2011, pretty much every paddle board out there was a traditional hard board made out of epoxy resin and fiberglass. There were some 4" thick inflatables out there, but they were not rigid enough and thus rode thru the water like a banana. That meant they were slow and the whole ride was sort of an undulating ride. Not ideal. In 2012 in an effort to make inflatable paddle boards more rigid, we came out with one of the first 6" thick inflatable boards on the market. This changed everything. Suddenly inflatable boards were super rigid - as in they could support a 200 lb guy over a 8 foot span and barely flex at all. Suddenly, they were a viable replacement for hard boards. Within a few years, pretty much every SUP company out there was starting to make inflatables. The benefits are manyfold - check out this video for more details:
Distribution channel factor in the pricing
While price is generally a good indicator of quality
for most products, differing distribution channels
for SUP boards, both hard boards and inflatables 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 $1200 retail for in a
local surf, kayak, or outdoor shop. Sometimes this difference is $400-$500, but it's not that uncommon for over a $1000 delta on exotic boards. 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 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 $400. On the
very top-end boards, the customer can save from
$600 to as high as $1000! This is Tower Paddle Boards business model.
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 AND thru the traditional distribution
channel, so brands that use this confused distribution
strategy tend to be off-brands. Additionally, 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 brand conscious companies don’t
dare tread.
Production cost versus quality
Aside from boards produced in the US (which
feature some of the best craftsmanship you can find),
historically most of the highest quality stand up
paddle boards made overseas have all been made in
the same 60,000 square foot factory in Thailand
that has been producing surfboards, windsurfers,
and such for about 30 years. A dozen different brands
use this “gold standard” factory still
today. Each of the brands is made to different specs
and with slightly different construction techniques
(most all use a base PVC sandwich construction),
but as a group they have historically been producing
boards of a much higher quality production build
that boards made in the other major SUP factories,
which are in China. The problem for consumers is
that as this one factory controls so much of the
SUP market share they have the ability to control
prop-up pricing to a certain degree. The quality
they produce is "better" but they have
been charging a disproportionate premium for that
quality advantage. If you shop around for many of
the major brands, you'll notice their prices are
higher than you would expect and their pricing is
similar, even across brands. Because of this "price
fixing" (see this
SUP
price fixing article
in Fast Company, one of
the world's leading business magazines), the door
has opened for higher quality production in many
Chinese factories at much lower costs, so the quality
gap is closing and the prices to end consumers are
slowing coming down. Today, nearly a decade into the SUP craze, there are a couple Chinese factories producing molded boards on par with their Thai counterparts.
With the growing popularity of inflatables (which are made in factories in China and South Korea), it's important to wrap your head around indicators of quality there too. The market is actually headed to a point where more people go the inflatable route. The high-quality boards can be pretty amazing from a durability prospective. It's also a lot easier to ascertain the quality level of an inflatable because brands can't hide how rigid a board is, or how cleanly the seams are and will hold up, or how the internal drop stitch pattern connects everything. There are a lot of reviews online, so check around and do your research on inflatables.
While 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.
Brands can now also produce very high quality boards
in Chinese factories. It all depends on the factory, and I've seen the entire spectrum of factories. The discount boards you see
available in the market primarily come out of smaller, and less experienced factories in China.
They will also, almost always, be painted boards. I've seen some of these brand's boards mid-production and you can instantly recognize them by the yellow, patchy foam blanks lying all around before they get that shiny paint layer to cover it all up.
The takeaway here is that if you buy a board produced
in Thailand, you can bet the quality is going to
be solid. Likewise, if you buy a board made in the
US, you can bet the quality and craftsmanship is
second to none. If you buy a board in China, on
the other hand, quality can be all over the map
and thus it's much harder to discern. This doesn't
mean it isn't of the highest quality (there are outstanding factories in China, a couple that I work with personally), but it varies.
High-quality versus low-quality SUP construction for hard boards
There are two basic types of SUP construction on hard boards:
Type 1: Traditional EPS/Epoxy Lay-up Construction - This is identical to traditional surfboard construction
in that a foam blank is shaped and then layers of
glassing are applied to the outside. The difference
here is that with SUP boards a lighter and stronger
EPS foam core is used (traditional surfboards use
PU or polyurethane foam), which necessitates a more
expensive epoxy resin is used in the glassing stage.
In this EPS/Epoxy construction, blanks are shaped
out of EPS foam, also called expanded polystyrene
foam. Then swaths of fiberglass fabric are laid
over the board and resin is poured over in a glassing
stage. This step is repeated on the top and bottom
multiple times with the rails overlapping each time.
A lot of skilled craftsmanship is needed during
the glassing process, so you can have good or bad
glassing jobs. On clear coat boards, you can see
the quality or lack thereof the glassing job directly.
One thing you'll notice is that many SUP boards
are painted. While sometimes this is a design feature,
it is also very frequently a means to cover up shoddy
glassing jobs. Once a board is painted, you have
no clue as to the quality of the glassing job. The
paint layer actually does nothing to strengthen
the skin of a board and just adds weight. In low-end
construction, you'll also run into issues of this
epoxy paint chipping very easily with use. In general
terms, this lay-up construction is less expensive
than sandwich construction (detailed below). Note,
however, that other type of materials such as carbon
fiber can be used in place of fiberglass on this
traditional construction, and this is what you'll
find on some of the highest end (and lightest) boards
on the market.
Type 2: PVC Sandwich Construction - Whereas traditional EPS/Epoxy lay-up construction
uses multiple layers of the same fiberglass to create
a shell, PVC sandwich construction uses a sandwich
with three layers - say an inner layer of fiberglass,
a middle layer PVC (or high-density foam), and then
another layer of outer fiberglass. All things being
equal, this sandwich construction is more expensive
to produce and creates a stronger shell. Note, however,
that there are many degrees of quality and materials
used in sandwich construction. Typically sandwich
construction involves creating the outer shell in
a mold, and then the foam is blown in.
If a board is clear coat finish (where you can
see thru a translucent outer layer to the foam),
you can first hand see the quality of construction.
you won't have to worry about paint chipping as
there is no paint layer. The exterior will be as
strong as the quality of the glassing job, the number
and weight of the cloth layers used, the type of
cloth used (fiberglass, carbon fiber, carbon cross
link, other), the quality of the resin used, and
the craftsmanship in the sanding job.
If a board is painted, you really don't even know
what the construction underneath is. Also the quality
and propensity of the paint job to chip can vary.
Better paint jobs tend to have a protective clear
coat epoxy finish over the paint to minimize chipping.
The board construction underneath can be the very
highest quality sandwich construction, or it can
e high quality lay-up construction, or it can be
the lowest quality lay-up construction. If it's
sandwich construction, odds are it's a fair quality
board. If it's lay-up construction, it varies.
One of the best judges of quality is actually price
and brand. Of course this is only when considering
boards that are sold thru similar distribution channel.
A direct to consumer brand can sell a comparable
quality board, regardless of construction type,
for between $400 to $1000 cheaper than brands that
sell thru the traditional 3-tier distribution channel.
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 get pressure dings
from standing on the board and bumping the board
into random objects. 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. If you create
a really strong outer shell, you can get away with
using lighter foam in the core and thus lighter
overall board. This is what you'll find with higher
quality construction. Brands that try to produce
lower quality boards with this same low-weight strategy
(but without the quality exterior) can produce boards
that ding easy, get pressure dings easy, and even
potentially snap in the waves. If instead they opt
for higher density (and heavier) foam to cover the
strength shortfalls of their shell, it results in
a much heavier board - it won't snap or pressure
ding as easy, but the shell is still easy to penetrate
which means you boards is in the repair shop often.
This is what you'll frequently find in low price
point boards.
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 foam core densities are quoted). 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 a polyurethane resin.
While it’s possible to make a stand up paddle
board using PU foam, 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 (typically 12-20 kg per cubic meter,
versus 37 for PU foam), 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.
A great resource on board construction
The
Board Lady
High-quality versus low-quality on iSUP construction
1) First off, you want to avoid 4" thick iSUPs at all costs. Yes, they are a lot cheaper to buy, but there is a reason these were around for 5 years and no one was riding them. Only when 6" thick boards came onto the market did inflatable SUPs become a viable product. Stick with 6" boards, or even 8" thick when you go to a racing/touring shape.
2) The next thing you want to avoid is gray colored iSUPs. There is a base gray layer that the drop stitch material always comes in and so the cheaper gray boards on the market are just that with edges on it. There are no more reinforcement layers. To endure use over time, you need multiple layers reinforcing one another, especially around the rails and over the seams.
3) The next thing [AND THIS IS A BIG ISSUE IN 2016 GOING FORWARD] you want to avoid goes by many names (fusion, machine laminated, something techy, etc.) so it's often hard to spot. Basically after producing inflatable for years out of multiple layers of PVC and carefully hand laminating a second specific color layer onto the base gray layer (which has the drop stitch fibers embedded into it), in about 2015 some Chinese factories figured out that they could basically machine laminate the graphics directly onto the base layer, and save the materials costs of a 2nd layer. This is typical as the Chinese always look for ways to make things cheaper (because that's what the buyer's pressure them to do) to increase their factory margins, and often overlook quality in the process. This also made the iSUPs lighter because it's less material. So production became substantially cheaper and lighter. This was all pitched as an advance in iSUP construction and quality, but it wasn't, not by a mile. Tthe downside is that these iSUPs are much less durable. Sure, they are cheaper, but they are less quailty. So you definitely want to ask about hand lamination of 2 or more layers of PVC and doubling things up around the edges.
4) The last thing you want to look for is a crisscross pattern of indents on the surface of the board which you can see when the boards are inflated. Each indent is a cross-stitch filament that connects the top of the board to the bottom. By crisscrossing them, triangulation comes into play. This is the strongest structure. You will see some cheaper inflatables with parallel aligned structure. Stay away from these.
Other than those basics, definitely check out reviews and inflatable prove their quality over time with use, not merely by someone looking at them or by quoting specs. Shop around.
Hope you enjoyed this article!
Stephan Aarstol
Founder & CEO
Tower Paddle Boards
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