Stand Up Paddleboards: Recommendations/Experiences/Etc.

ChrisG

ChrisG

Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
Since the snow is once again pounding down in NJ, I thought it a good time to elicit thoughts on things SUP.

I live 2 miles from the ocean, about the same distance from the Shrewsbury River, about 20 minutes from Sandy Hook, and I've been thinking in recent years of adding a SUP to the activity mix. Doing some poking around online, I see lots of options, lots of price points, and a surprising lack of useful consumer information. It seems like there's far more in the way of legit reviews and product commentary available in the cycling world. So I figured I might see what y'all have to say about it. No one ever talks about these things in these forums, so I have no idea if anyone here is into it.

A few pieces of off-the-cuff criteria:

*No, don't tell me to just buy a surfboard. That ship sailed a long time ago. If I'm born again into this world, I promise to start surfing/skateboarding/riding bmx as soon as I'm potty trained, since I largely missed out on those things this time around.
*I assume if I buy this thing, I'm gonna use it. So a bottom-of-the-barrel entry-level board probably isn't gonna cut it.
*That being said, the upper limit of my budget is probably around $1000.
*I have a car that can easily carry an epoxy/fiberglass board on top, but I see a lot of talk of inflatable boards closing the performance gap in the last few years, so I'm looking at those as well.
*I assume I'll be starting out on flat water with this thing, but the possibility of transitioning to the bay or the ocean has to be considered.

Thanks!
 
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This happened recently

Paddle Board

We are looking to purchase a couple of SUPs for lake use. I was surprised to read such positive reviews on inflatables, they seem to dominate the "top" lists. I was also a little shocked at prices. Any advice/recommendations for beginner friendly boards? Pros and cons of inflatable vs rigid?
www.mtbnj.com www.mtbnj.com
 
My daughter wants one also. Besides shore/bay, where's legal to take them around here? Split Rock for example allows kayaks but not SUP. And a lot of the local lakes are members only. Hopatcong on a weekend isn't someplace I want to play either.
Sorry Chris if I'm dogging on your thread!
 
There is a kayak/sup rental guy in Oceanport, Oceanport Paddle Club, we got hooked up with him as he is a friend of a friend of a friend. Anywho, me and my daughter went about a half dozen times last summer, me in a kayak, her on the SUP. While I'm all for buying new toys, maybe once the weather warms up you can do a rental (there or anywhere) and see if its your thing.
 
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Never tried it but my local cycling guy Bob wants to take me out on Lemon Bay to give it a shot. Waiting for favorable wind conditions
 
You may want to check out REI. They have some stuff in your price range. Issue is accessories can add up a little so you may need to stretch the budget, maybe. I think they rent them too so you can try them out.

Also check out bic sport (tahe now). They make some great boards for the money. I have my son on one of their mini longboards and not only is it indestructible, it’s really fun to surf and has great float. I imagine their SUP boards float really well.


tahesport.com

TAHE (Former BIC Sport): your new watersport brand for SUP, Surf, Kayak and Windsurf #EndlessPlayTime

TAHE is a brand born from the union of BIC Sport and Tahe Outdoors, two legendary companies famous for decades of commitment to water sports. BIC Sport’s board sport culture, manufacturing expertise and focus on family fun is now combined with Tahe Outdoors dedication to exploration and...
tahesport.com tahesport.com
 
ChrisG said:
I figured I might see what y'all have to say about it.
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I would recommend renting a board to see if you like it out before investing in new equipment.

The reason I say this is because I have tried suping and while I like being on the water I prefered kayaking.

I've been in the Shrewsbury ,Navasink, Manasquan and Barnegat bay in my kayak and have found it a great way to explore coastal waterways. Imo the limitations of a sup is that they don't cover as much ground as effeciently. Also, for what they are, they seem overpriced.

My apologies to Sup'ers, don't want to yuck yo yum...just my opinion. 😁

Goz, I have a kayak you could use if you want to go out with me and Mitch. Gold complains just as much on the water as he does on land.
 
agree with @pooriggy...kayak/canoe much more versatile than a SUP...that said, if you are sold on the SUP idea, be sure to get something that is suitable for your size...the first time i tried one, i was up to my ankles in water, and hated it...it was too damn tiny. when i got on one properly sized it was a blast, but it's hard!..

.as others have said, try a few of these out first to see if that's what you are looking for...
 
pooriggy said:
Goz, I have a kayak you could use if you want to go out with me and Mitch. Gold complains just as much on the water as he does on land.
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That's a good point. There are so many little waterways in our area. Owning neither but having used both, it seems like a SUP is more about working out. A kayak is a better explorer.
 
pygmypony said:
agree with @pooriggy...kayak/canoe much more versatile than a SUP...that said, if you are sold on the SUP idea, be sure to get something that is suitable for your size...the first time i tried one, i was up to my ankles in water, and hated it...it was too damn tiny. when i got on one properly sized it was a blast, but it's hard!..

.as others have said, try a few of these out first to see if that's what you are looking for...
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With SUP boards, size matters - a lot. Also the type. If you never plan on going in waves - get a flat water style. They also make SUP boards for racing, which are really efficient and fast, but suck for other stuff and are tough for beginning and also suck for waves.

A SUP board that can handle waves is not what you want if you want to go for mileage. The rocker on a wave board is great for keeping the nose from pearling but you’ll end up pushing a lot of water in front of you vs cutting through, so you’ll be doing a lot of work when you can pick a board that is meant to cut through water vs displace it.

It is really similar to kayaks. You wouldn’t take a short white water kayak to explore a lake. Not the best tool for the job. Same goes for SUP boards. You wouldn’t take a wave riding machine to explore a lake. It’s a downhill bike at Allaire. You can ride it, but it’s not going to be as a much fun.
 
ChrisG said:
Aha, thanks. I'd forgotten about that thread, and it didn't come up when I searched prior to posting my own.
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Because you can't search for useful 3-letter strings, like SUP (or BMX). Maybe @Patrick can fix this??

We still love our Thursosurf SUP's. I have no idea what the supply/lead-time is, but in the past they blew their prices out every Fall.
 
one piece crank said:
Because you can't search for useful 3-letter strings, like SUP (or BMX). Maybe @Patrick can fix this??

We still love our Thursosurf SUP's. I have no idea what the supply/lead-time is, but in the past they blew their prices out every Fall.
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use google site specific search - it does a better job anyway.
I can look at launching it automatically for short terms, or maybe replace the built-in all together.

site:mtbnj.com SUP - Google Search

www.google.com
 
The only time I tried SUP was with my wife in Hawaii and we spent the entire time playing American gladiators. She lost.

living on the lake now I would really like to have a couple. My neighbors were out at sunrise everyday before work over summer. I started pricing them around Christmas and holy shit they get expensive...
 
clarkenstein said:
With SUP boards, size matters - a lot. Also the type. If you never plan on going in waves - get a flat water style. They also make SUP boards for racing, which are really efficient and fast, but suck for other stuff and are tough for beginning and also suck for waves.

A SUP board that can handle waves is not what you want if you want to go for mileage. The rocker on a wave board is great for keeping the nose from pearling but you’ll end up pushing a lot of water in front of you vs cutting through, so you’ll be doing a lot of work when you can pick a board that is meant to cut through water vs displace it.

It is really similar to kayaks. You wouldn’t take a short white water kayak to explore a lake. Not the best tool for the job. Same goes for SUP boards. You wouldn’t take a wave riding machine to explore a lake. It’s a downhill bike at Allaire. You can ride it, but it’s not going to be as a much fun.
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^this

all around boards are more stable but don’t track as well. Touring boards are narrower and thus less stable but track nicely and you can cover more distance for less effort. For reference here are our boards... the right one is an 11’ all around. The left one is an 11’6” touring board. I actually prefer the all around and my wife prefers the touring. We bought them from Action Bikes in Milford PA. TC (ex Marty’s) owns and runs the place. Great guy, well stocked shop and really helped us understand the considerations one has to take into account. We also love kayaking and if we had to choose only one of the two sports, kayaking would be it as we find we can cover more area as a faster pace. But it’s nice to be able to do both. You see more on a SUP, including what’s underwater. 6737EA9E-C102-445E-8987-4DA304821112.jpeg
 
Chris, you're welcome to come borrow my paddleboards any time. I have a touring one and a full on carbon race board. Both you would easily be able to use and the Mrs. if she wants to join. I have a lead on buying what you need and have set up many friends/neighbors. Text or call me tomorrow.

-Jordon
 
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