A Conversation About Inflation
Having recently transitioned from a hard board to an inflatable, I can say it takes getting used to. I really enjoyed how quickly I could transition from being in the car to being on the water. Sometimes I could do that in close to five minutes. This wasn’t a small thing. When you’re using your board for exercise after work, every minute counts. Daylight is an issue, and I still have to get home and be with my family, grade, do chores, etc. Plus there was little hassle. Just get the board out of the car, gear up, then head out.
Paddling with an inflatable changes things. The plus is that I no longer have that board on my roof. Now worries about the board shifting, or straps wicking moisture into the car, or the bag flapping, or even the board getting stolen off the roof! No getting the board out of the garage early in the morning, while making sure my work clothes don’t get soiled. Instead, the whole kit and caboodle fits nicely inside my little HR-V!
The big hitch is the inflation. I have to say, as much as I don’t like the shlepping of my hard board in and out of the bag and on and off of the roof, I like the inflating a whole lot less. First there’s the time it takes. My Okeanos Air 12’6″ takes about 10 minutes to inflate. Not a huge amount of time, but that’s ten minutes of serious pumping. Yeah, I know that’s part of the workout, and I treat it as such, but I still don’t like it much. I suppose I could get an electric pump, but my board’s instructions specifically says I can’t use one or it voids the warranty. Plus I can’t just pump it to 15 psi. The board feels much better and goes faster at 20 psi, and I’m way too fussy to not do the extra effort.
Let’s not forget that the inflation isn’t just time with the pump! It’s getting the board out of the bag, assembling the pump, putting on the fins, then putting the bag back into the car. The whole process takes 15–20 minutes. Let’s not forget on the other end is the deflating and putting away, which takes another ten minutes or so. I’m the kind of person who wants to integrate my SUP with my day, and this extra time isn’t insignificant. With my hard board, I didn’t even have to take off the fin!
Pumping itself takes getting used to. You don’t just put that hose is. The little button on the valve has to be in the upright position when you screw the hose into the board. If you forget to do that… Well, as soon as you unscrew that hose, you’ll see why. All that compressed air which you forced into the board with your own sweat and effort will escape in a grand woosh! (Not that that’s happened to me, like, four times in a row.)
I usually need to rest during a pumping session. I think most people do. It’ a workout, especially to my lower back. I know this is good for me and all that, but something inside me just doesn’t like it. (On the other hand, that same something doesn’t like going to Planet Fitness either.) One of the things I like about paddling is that I enjoy it so much, the actual workout is hidden. Even if I pushed myself pretty hard, I don’t really feel that way. But not with pumping. I feel that, deep. So much so, that it kind of keeps me from wanting to paddle.
I also don’t enjoy the spectacle of pumping a board. Paddleboards are still kind of unusual on the Hudson. Not rare, but this is kayak territory. Somebody pumping a paddleboard attracts attention, and sometimes that makes me itchy. It’s nice to be invisible, especially getting on the water.
Much as I like this board, I’m finding myself wanting a hard board again for the convenience. There’s something about just sliding the board off your roof and being in the water in five minutes, a freedom without so much prologue. It’s harder now to incorporate it into my lifestyle, and that’s kind of an issue.
