Contrary to popular belief, ISUPs, Inflatable Stand Up Paddleboards are more durable than hard boards. Red Paddle brand drives cranes over theirs and drops off of buildings to demonstrate How indestructible they are. Red Paddle boards are expensive, ranging from $1000 to $1800. If you buy an ISUP from online for $300 you definitely won’t get that kind of durability, but it will still be more durable than a hard board. ISUP manufacturing and performance technology has come a long way in the last 3-5 years but those old boards are still floating around on discount clearance web sites....you get what you pay for. Hard boards are foam core wrapped in fiberglass/ epoxy or carbon fiber epoxy. They are hard and stiff but they have a thin shell that that can easily be cracked or chipped somewhat like a hard boiled egg shell but definitely tougher than an egg shell. Isups have valves to inflate that need to be tight or air could leak, always tighten a new ISUP Air valve and check it for leaks after first inflation. I’ve only had this happen once, I’ve owned a dozen different isups over the last 4 years and it happened on my first board which was a left over from 2011
