Folding Stand Up Paddle Board: Thoughts?

[goboard]

Hey everyone,

Some friends and I are trying to make a folding stand up paddle board and I was wondering what you all thought about the idea. I know there are a few that already exist, but all the reviews I've seen haven't been that positive. Any thoughts on the idea?

Do you already own one and it rocks/sucks? Would you consider getting one if you knew they were sturdy? Any other issues you can think about that would turn you off from the idea?

I know this looks bad as my first post, but I already got it cleared with the admins to discuss the topic. For the record, I'm not promoting a brand, I'm just looking to discuss the topic in general.

[Rail_Banger]

Don't own one, couldn't ever see myself wanting or needing it. I am guessing it would be for the person who has storage issues or wants to travel with it?
I am sure you have seen the one that comes in Red Red or Red. Not folding but take apart.
If I did have the need for a folding board, weight would be a big concern as well as strength and performance
I am curious as to what problem you are trying to fix in the current options?

[Ichabod Spoonbill]

Do you know about this?

http://corransup.com/hydra/

[Bean]

Search "Pope Bisect or Trisect".

[spookini]

There is clearly a huge market need for this.

Come to think of it, somebody ought to invent an inflatable SUP w/ surfable rails.   

[PonoBill]

Someone built and origami board a few years ago. I signed up to pre-order until they disclosed the weight, and I cancelled.

[spookini]

I heard Origami folded.   

[TallDude]

One board you could surf. Add a mid section to become a 12'6 or 14'. Combine both sections and have an unlimited.

But Wait! Act now and you'll receive this high performance sectional paddle with a simulated carbon-fiber handle for FREE!!!!

[MtnSUPSKI]

Help me figure this out. I understand a hardboard is better then iSUP, that makes totally sense to be because of performance, but an iSUP can be a blast, and it rolls to almost nothing. Why are people interested in a take apart/folding board for transportation? The topic appears on forums from time to time and companies like the one mentioned a few posts ago create one, but do they sell?

[TallDude]

The problem lies in strength where the two parts join. In order to make the joint strong and stiff enough to resist buckling, it would more than likely get heavy. Some have used the extended sort-of-Lego connection with two or three dowels mating, and a latch to hold them together. I'm sure it's possible to get it lighter and stronger, but at what cost? 

[southwesterly]

  People spend a lot of money NOT to have their 1800 hundred dollar SUP fold in half.
   

[andygere]

I owned an Imagine 2 piece (Bisect-style) surf SUP for a while.  When properly assembled, it was pretty rigid, though you could feel some flex during hard paddling or when punching though. I was initially interested in it for travel, but most airlines limited it as the overall dimensions were still too long, and excess baggage charges would apply.  I did like that I could keep it under the the locked tonneau cover of my small pickup truck.  In the end, I really didn't like the way it surfed, and it was fussy and time consuming to assemble it correctly so I sold it and bought a used Uli.  The Uli has been more fun for the buck than I ever expected, is super quick and easy to inflate and it's darn near indestructible.  A folding board would have to really work well to have appeal, and it would need to be set up for simple airline travel for me to be interested.

[feet]

To the original poster: Are you thinking a folding SUP similar to a folding kayak?

For those that don't know, Klepper folding kayaks have been around since 1905 and in 1956 Hannes Lindemann crossed the Atlantic on one. They are very durable, often lasting decades, and though not necessarily high performance, they are seaworthy enough for a trans-Atlantic crossing.  It is a wooden frame that joins in the middle and pushes outward on a hypalon and cotton duck skin. 



Also, First Light Kayaks from New Zealand makes a really light weight folding kayak out of very light materials. The hull is a rip-proof urethane and the top some type of ripstop nylon.  Less than 20 lbs for a regular sized kayak.



Either way, if you remove the deck from the kayak and flatten it out, you have a workable rough-draft template for a SUP.  You'd definitely need to increase the width and have some sort of standing platform to disperse the weight of someone standing, among other things. 

I think you could definitely design something like this for flatwater, but probably not for surf. Other posters have already given examples of surf style board that come in multiple pieces.

From the kayak world, folding kayaks like the two described above had slightly better flatwater performance, but I preferred inflatable for all other applications when considering folding vs. inflatable. 

So for SUP, I think its entirely possible.  I knew paddlers that would paddle a folding kayak from their Philadelphia apartment up the Delaware River about 20-25 miles to visit friends, then take the train to another destination, with their kayak in a backpack. 

Good luck with your idea!

 

[goboard]

Don't own one, couldn't ever see myself wanting or needing it. I am guessing it would be for the person who has storage issues or wants to travel with it?
I am sure you have seen the one that comes in Red Red or Red. Not folding but take apart.
If I did have the need for a folding board, weight would be a big concern as well as strength and performance
I am curious as to what problem you are trying to fix in the current options?

That's exactly it, I'm in a small apartment in the city and it's a struggle to store it/haul it to the beach. I think there's a lot of people in the same boat, I just wanted to test the waters to see if anyone else had the same problem.

[goboard]

Do you know about this?

http://corransup.com/hydra/

Yep, I saw his approach to it. My original thought was that I would lose the all the hardware at some point (hopefully not on the way to the water), so I was thinking it would be cool to have something that was one piece with no extra stuff to lose/forget. It looks like it handles well enough though.