Plenty has been written and spoken of on this iSUP so this review is going to concentrate more on what it is like to travel with one of these inflatable paddleboards.

First though let’s get the basics of the iSUP out of the way.  The 10’6 Ride is (arguably and according to the marketing/reviews etc) probably one of the best known iSUPs on the planet and for good reason.  Red Paddle Co is a very solid brand that sells premium products at a premium price.  They have a great marketing machine that does the job really well.  I ordered mine online and unsighted, something I don’t really like doing as I think ideally you should test ride any SUP you purchase.  For many of us though this is quite difficult as there are not that many brick and mortar retailers nearby for many SUP brands.  That being said, it wasn’t a difficult decision and I have no regrets at all.

First impressions

It’s easy to see why Red Paddle Co has a good reputation, the product is clearly good quality. Out of the box all components (board, bag, pump etc) looked great.  I can’t say anything about their paddles as I couldn’t get the model that I wanted as there appeared to be big discrepancies between what models are displayed on their website and what is actually available in retailers.  I ended up buying a Fanatic three-piece paddle that would fit in the bag. 

Inflating the board to about 22lb was not that difficult however when the pressure is up in the 20s you do need to lean on that pump!

Picking the inflated board up I was really (pleasantly) surprised with the weight of it – it is quite light for a big board.

One thing I need to mention despite the hype is that the fins are far, far from indestructible.  I had laid my iSUP down on what I thought was a fairly smooth concrete floor to inflate it and in just a few minutes the tips of the fins were scratched and worn away where the contact with the surface was.  I thought that the board was very stationary the whole time I pumped it up but obviously tiny movements on a hard floor is like taking a file to the fins.  I think the very thing that makes them ‘indestructible’ from a bending perspective is the problem here as to be flexible the material feels quite soft so very susceptible to abrasions and scratching.  Lesson learned – put the bag or a towel under the fins or they are not going to last that long!

The bag – real use

One of the key criteria for the iSup for me was the bag.  I had a look (online) at a number of alternatives and the Red Paddle Co option appeared (online at least) to be the best one for travelling.  I had a bunch of other considerations relating to the board for example but I was after a complete package, the board being just one component.

One of the most basic requirements you need of any bag these days for air travel, or for that matter, any kind of public transport where your bag is separated from you, is that it must be lockable, no exceptions!  Any travel bag worth it’s name that has a zipper will have loops for locks on the zipper.  The Red Paddle Co bag fails here.  You can at a pinch get a very small travel lock through the pull-tags where they join the zip mechanism.  Not ideal but very necessary.

Trailing the bag around airports, hotels etc reveals another weakness in the bag.  It suffers badly from ‘(low) speed wobble’ and wobbling off its wheels onto its sides.  Every taxi driver, concierge, baggage handler without exception had a terrible time pulling it along (as did I).  I travelled with an old (15+ years) Tatonka wheeled duffle bag at the same time and had no problems whatsoever in the exact same conditions.  It might move well on a show-room floor but in the real world of turns (there is no such thing as a straight line in a crowded airport), bumps, ramps and steps it is completely awkward.  When I had a close look at the wheel layout compared to my old duffle the old bag had larger wheels and they were positioned much close to the edges of the bag, both of which must contribute to its extra stability. 

The other difference here is also that most duffles, backpacks etc have a hard handle connected to a basic partial frame providing a bit of structure which allows for some sort of control whereas the Red bag is all soft material giving no control at all.

So, you might say, what about using it as a backpack with the straps?  When you collect your bag at the airport you probably only have a few hundred metres or so to carry it and it doesn’t really seem worth the effort of unpacking the straps and getting it on your back.  At the airport you really just want to get out and onto whatever transport is whisking you away so its very easy to just settle for the ‘wheeled option’. 

As it turns out the straps to me seem to be a bit of a compromise too.  I don’t seem to be able to get the bag into a ‘proper’ backpacking position – it just sits uncomfortably low for me.

While there are a number of compromises with the bag in regards to usability, that does not seem to be the case at all with the material and construction.  It looks very durable and strong. The way the straps can be folded away so they don’t get entangled/broken in conveyor belts etc is great – I have lost count of the number of clasps etc ripped off other backpacks during transit.  This first trip with the board put the bag through some serious testing and it came through quite unscathed.

Travel weight

While the board itself is quite light the combined weight of the bag, pump and repair kit exceeds 17kg.  Add your main bag, shoes, clothing etc for even a short trip and you are way into excess baggage territory.  Over a number of flights this added several hundred dollars to my fares (even with booking the extra weight well ahead of time).

Airports, security, customs

Despite their popularity, it seems that iSUPs don’t travel that much through airports.  I had a delayed flight which meant a ‘hot transfer’ between flights where the iSUP bag didn’t make the connection.  This resulted in it going through a separate customs check which raised concerns at the airport. When it did arrive the next day Customs wouldn’t release the bag as it must have looked suspicious.  I guess the twin canister pump with the gauge on top and the three-piece paddle would raise concerns on any x-ray scanner if you aren’t familiar with iSUPs.  You need to be prepared to be stopped and asked questions at every possible checkpoint. I found that having pictures of the bag and its contents (courtesy of the Red Paddle Co website) really helped avoid a lot of confusion.

The bag is a bit on the large size and I would say that about 50% of the time I was redirected to the oversize baggage counter.  This seemed largely down to individual choice of the staff who were checking me in. The same airline, but different staff, would either accept the bag or ask for it to go through oversize baggage.  Likewise, the same airport, but different staff would also either accept it or state that it must go through oversize baggage.  This didn’t seem to be related to any specific policy but just different employees interpretations.  I mention this because it all adds to the time you will spend in the airport on either side of customs so it pays to allow extra time between flights. All of the above situations add quite a bit of extra time to your journey through airports.

Keeping the bag safe

Once you have finally arrived at your destination and are ready to surf/paddle you have to lug the bag to your chosen spot, inflate the board and away you go…. well, not quite.  If you are not in a hotel directly onto the beach or have access to a car you should really secure the bag somehow so that it doesn’t get stolen.  In my experience there are very few places where you can just leave valuables lying around unprotected or unwatched.  The best way I found to do this is by using a long cable lock for a bicycle and, using that, secure the bag to a post or something else immovable.  Sounds good in principle but in reality such a spot may be a long way from where you are launching/paddling.  Red Paddle Co also has this as an accessory but be prepared to pay a large premium over what is just as useful and can be purchased quite cheaply at a bike shop.

The Ram mount

A big part of any holidays is getting some great pics/vids for memories.  The 10’6 Ride has a Ram mount that can be used to mount action cameras etc directly onto the board. This was another consideration for me and I thought the inbuilt Ram mount would be great.  However….finding a Ram 1” ball mount, double socket arm and Gopro adapter available within months turned out to be a fruitless search.  Red has an agreement though where you can get a Railblaza miniport adapter for the Ram mount for free, then you have to purchase the action camera mount to suit.  This works fine but the Ram mount is an M8 thread, hence the need for the Railblaza adapter.  To attach this to the board you need to be travelling with a Philips head screw driver as well.  I guess you could just leave the adapter permanently mounted to the Ram mount but I was concerned about any damage that might cause the board, especially given the rigours of air travel where everything gets crushed and thrashed about.  The correct Philips head is a large size one, not the standard size so you need to be careful tightening the screw.  Make sure the screw and washer are securely stored as well. If you can find one, the ball mount option with socket arm and Gopro adapter would be better as that would not necessitate travelling with a screwdriver as when travelling, you want to keep things as simple and light as possible.

It would be great if they simplified the whole mount by instead of using a Ram mount with an M8 thread just use a standard camera tripod thread so it would be dead easy just to attach a gopro mount directly.

Summary

Overall the 10’6 Ride package is great and I am happy with it. It is probably geared more toward daily use or throwing the board in the back of a car and going away for a few days as air travel adds a whole new dimension to travelling for it.  The 9’6 Compact might be a better option as it is lighter again and fits into a much smaller bag so has to be way more convenient.  However the 9’6 Compact has a serious, serious premium on the price.  As good as the board looks, the price is in the stratosphere compared to what are already expensive options with the other Red Paddle Co boards.  I am not disputing that they are probably worth it but for me the iSup is a backup board for those occasions when I can’t take a hardboard.  I will probably never just throw the board in the back of the car for car trips as I have a few hard board Sups that I would always choose in preference to the iSup.  As for air travel I think there are a number of considerations:

• Is this a sup-specific holiday or is standup paddling just one of a number of activities you will be doing?  If the latter you really need to consider whether it is worth the extra expense and hassle of carting it all over the place.
• Are there any rental options available?  If so, take them, even if the boards aren’t that great you will still have a ball and without all the hassle of transporting your isup all over the place.
• Look carefully at the different baggage policies if you are travelling with different airlines (that’s a whole other challenge that I didn’t go into here).
• What type of standup paddling are you doing? Is a compromise all-round iSup going to give you the experience you are after or is the rental option a better alternative? 
• If you are going on a surf-specific holiday at a great surf destination consider taking your regular surf-sup and enjoy all the additional challenges with that (probably worth it though).

I will certainly be travelling (by air) again with my iSup despite the challenges as I think for some destinations it is well worth the effort.  A few tweaks to the bag in particular though would make a huge improvement.  I am writing this review in the hope of making it informative so that you know what you may be getting yourself into should you choose to fly with an iSup.  Most of what I have said probably applies to many other brands too.  I have never used any so can’t really say but the challenges I found for the most part seem pretty generic.

Cheers.