Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
This 10ft SUP is impressively well made for its budget-friendly price point. It feels robust, stable, grippy and a pleasure to paddle on. It's wide enough to offer beginner-friendly stability, but the narrower nose allows you to get some decent speed up. On the flip side JP knows that beginners need something durable that’s easy to use and easy on the wallet. So along with their performance boards, they have produced some gear for beginners that is actually some of the cheapest on the market. The little components on the board like the value and fin slot are also surprisingly good quality. I like that the Vapor only comes with one centre fin, because after some time the glued on side fins peel off and just become an annoyance. These extra side fins just make the board slightly more expensive and heavier but provide no real purpose for beginners. If you have always wanted to take up surfing but are worried you’ve left it too late, we are here to
It's stable, beginner-friendly and comes with everything you need to get on the water, and its neat cargo system means that it's easy to take all your stuff with you too. The only real downside (apart from the steep price) is that while it's a delight in the water, it's a lot less fun to manoeuvre on dry land; however, Red has done all it can to make this as painless as possible. If tandem paddling feels like your thing, this is definitely the way to do it. As seen in this list, many of the cheaper paddle boards come with warranties that are equal to or better than more expensive boards. This seriously reduces the risk of buying ‘cheap’, and should give you the confidence you are buying a well made board that will last a good amount of time. Tahe is a merger from two brands, Tahe Outdoors and BIC, who along with making pens and lighters, have been manufacturing windsurf, surf and paddle boards for years. So although Tahe is a new name, they have been around for a very long time. For me, a warranty means the manufacturer has confidence that what they are producing is high quality and will outlast the warranty period. They have confidence in their workmanship and the materials they use.
We tested the 11ft Tourer, which would be a perfect 1st time beginner board for most people. As we say in our full review, although it’s called ‘Tourer’, it’s not a touring board by design and its shape is suited for a beginner looking for an all rounder to get started on. Unlike the Bluefin or Sandbanks boards, the JP doesn’t have many reinforcement features, suggesting the board will probably flex a bit for the bigger, heavier riders out there. So it’s important for this board to pumped up fully, otherwise it might feel a bit like a bouncy castle. The shape of a budget paddle board will be pretty basic but will be totally perfect for beginners and those who want to occasionally get on the water. You can’t expect a high-performance board at this price range because the brand can’t spend much time/money in research and development.
Those who are very keen and plan to get on the water at least once a week may want to buy a more expensive board with better construction. Boards with a better construction will be able to withstand many more inflations and deflations.Wider boards are more stable but slower in the water; longer boards are less manoeuvrable but more buoyant. The overall shape ranges from bulbous to slim and shark-like. The slimmer and sharkier the board, the more suitable it is for racing and surf-style activities, but these are fairly advanced operations, so choose based on stability rather than flashiness, to begin with. To start out, you'll be looking for either an all-rounder or a touring-style SUP if you plan to travel longer distances, but either should be relatively stable and tractable to learn the basics on. Every board comes with a 2 year warranty, which is probably all that’s needed to figure out if there are any manufacturing faults. I’ve worked at watersport centres that still use 10 year old BIC paddle boards and they work perfectly. Even though the plastic might go off colour in intense sun over the years, the board still works the same and they never have any problems.
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