After just finishing hauling my Stand up Paddle board across a seemingly endless stony beach from the water’s edge to my car, I got to wondering: how much do stand up paddle boards normally weigh?
Stand up paddle boards can weigh as little as 13 pounds (6kg) for a super small carbon surfing SUP to more than 40 pounds (18kg) for a large and stable beginner or cruising board. Lighter is not always better however and for some uses a heavier, more durable, board is more suitable.
While a board should be light enough to be easily carried by one person, not all SUP’s weigh the same. There are many reasons as to why one board is lighter than another, keep reading to find out why.
Material Choice
A big part of determining how heavy a stand up paddle board is likely to be comes down to what kind of Material is used to construct it.
Fiberglass boards
Many Stand Up Paddle boards are made of either polyester or epoxy based fiberglass which covers a foam core (known as a “blank”). When a board is made like this, its weight will depend both on how many layers of fiberglass cover the foam blank as well as the density of the blank itself.
Generally speaking, the more layers and the denser the blank, the heavier the board will be. Weight in this case will also determine how strong and durable the board is. As well as blank density and fiberglass thickness, a board glassed with epoxy (and thus using a styrofoam core) will often be slightly lighter than one which uses polyester resin. Fiberglass board weight can vary hugely depending on the intended board use.
Inflatable boards
Unlike fiberglass boards, which have a solid core made of foam, inflatable boards are empty inside with their structure coming from air pressure contained within a PVC shell. There are now many varieties of inflatable board construction which use laminates and stringer like technology but the general theory remains the same.
Inflatable board weight primarily varies depending on whether the boards outer shell is single or double walled. This is effectively whether one or two layers of PVC are used in the construction of the board. A single layer iSUP can be very light (as low as 15 pounds or 7kg) but will suffer from lack of rigidity. Generally speaking, most premium iSUP’s are double walled and can weigh the same or more as traditional fiberglass boards.
Carbon fiber/exotic material boards
Many of the world’s most expensive and high performance surfing and racing SUP’s are made partially or entirely of Carbon Fiber. Carbon fiber is a material made up of very small matted fibers which are layer in such a way as to provide extremely high stiffness, tensile strength and rigidity.
What this means for a SUP is that a board can be extremely light for its size but retain the strength of a heavier board. Carbon is often combined in high performance boards with light weight EPS cores and bamboo layering to give a mixture of performance benefits.
The bottom line is that Carbon boards are by far the lightest boards available. Some carbon boards can even weigh less than 15 pounds (7kgs) and still remain extremely strong.
Board length and Weight
A huge determining factor on the weight of a Stand Up Paddle Board is the length of the board in question. A very big and long board built with the world’s lightest materials is still going to be extremely heavy while the reverse is equally likely. Generally speaking, the longer the board, the heavier it will be. However, this is not always true.
Width and Weight
Many modern all round SUP boards are built short and wide which gives them extra stability and volume for their length. For example many boards under 9ft in length are built over 30 inches wide which can make them very wide for their length. This will give a volume of over 155 liters but also give a board such as this a weight in excess of 25 pounds (12kg) which is heavy for a board under 9ft. Weight is really a function of volume (length x width x thickness) rather than purely a result of length.
Surfing versus Cruising Board Weights
While the weight of your SUP or iSUP is incredibly obvious when you are carrying it to and from the water or trying to put on the roof of your car or truck, its importance in the water depends a lot on how you use it.
Different kinds of Stand Up Paddle Boarding place different demands on a board, sometimes having a light weight board is not as important as you think or can even be a bad thing.
Surfing
When you catch your first wave on a SUP, and maybe suffer your first wipe out, you will immediately notice that when it comes to SUP surfing – weight is really important. Generally in surfing a Stand UP Paddle board, the lighter a board is, the better it will perform on any given day. This is because surfing a board on the face of a wave requires swinging the weight of the board around (doing turns) as well as recovering the board after you fall off.
These kind of situations are much more fun (and safer) when you are not attached to a 40 pound (18kg) monster SUP. As you progress in surfing Stand Up Paddleboards you will tend to go for lighter and smaller SUP’s continually. However, you also need a board that is stiff, strong and rigid when on the wave so a trade off has to be made when considering sup weight.
Cruising
When Cruising, or general flat water paddle boarding, the impact of the Weight of a SUP on your experience is nowhere near as profound as when surfing. While a really heavy board is not something you want here either, a bit of weight in a SUP board when touring or cruising is no great harm. In fact, in many conditions, particularly when there is a chop on the water or some kind of head wind.
A board with a little extra weight can even be advantageous as the weight helps retain momentum and cut through chop. Generally speaking, cruising focused SUP’s tend to be heavier and more durable than Surfing focused ones. When covering distance is the aim, a heavy SUP is not nearly as much of an issue.
Conclusion
How much does a Stand Up Paddle board weigh? is a question with an answer that depends a lot on the board in question. If I was to give an average weight for an average all round/beginner SUP, I would say that it is likely to be in the region of 22 to 24 pounds (10 to 11kg).
At this weight, a Stand Up Paddle Board should be easily transportable by one person over a short distance and should not be too heavy to hinder your experience in the water or be anyway dangerous. If you are lighter and smaller than average you should look for a lighter and small Stand Up Paddle board (with all other things being equal).
If you are looking to surf your SUP, you should look for as light a board as possible while if you just want to paddle on flat water or do some touring weight is not as big an issue as other factors.
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