Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been waiting and waiting for someone to review this before I got a chance to. I wanted to get someone else's impression, and there are both a positive and negative review on Amazon as I write this. But yesterday I got the chance to give this thing its maiden voyage. I have been looking at SUPs for easily over two years now; after renting my first at the beach 3 years ago. The "cons" of a rigid non-inflatable board (weight and cumbersome to move and store) kept me from buying. Not to mention the outrageous prices. When iSUPs came out, I was shopping again. But the prices were still too high for me to consider for a toy I would only get to use maybe 3 or 4 times a year. When I saw this board, and its low price, of course I was skeptical. But I took a chance thinking of Amazon's good return policy, and ordered. The board arrived about a week later. In the box was the board, a 3-piece paddle, a repair kit, directions, foot pump with gauge, and to my surprise, a bag to store it all in. Honestly, I did not know a paddle and bag were included. I had already ordered (separately) a different paddle. The paddle included in the set is a bit heavy and cheapy so I'm glad I already had a different paddle. So then I immediately had to inflate it on the floor of my living room. I found that easy to do once you get the inflate valve seated properly. It was quick to inflate although it does get tough toward the end. The pump is adequate but cheap; the plastic foot pad thing broke right away although that did not affect our ability to pump it up. The edge just kind of snapped off. I forgot to time how long it took us to inflate it..more on that later. So we fairly easily got the board up to 12 psi. At that point I realized you have to put the back (removable) fin on BEFORE you inflate. Maybe that was on the instructions that I did not see. The board was good and rigid and I was so excited to try it out but that would have to wait a couple more weeks, so I Ieft the board inflated for a few days to see if it would lose any firmness. It did not seem to lose any inflation. But boy, did it off-gas quite a bit. Probably should leave board outside a couple days if you are sensitive to that kind of thing. (in case you don't know what off-gas is: the item releases a chemical smell from the manufacturing process. And I'm no chemist so that's my layman's explanation. It's kind of like that new-car smell.) After a few days I was able to easily deflate all the air and roll up board to store in bag along with pump. What is very nice is that the bag is plenty big for both those things and with extra room for a towel, water bottle, whatever. Its really big, but honestly, not THAT well made. I think its good enough for what I need; I will not be toting the board in the bag for long distance nor will I be checking it on an airplane. Fast forward about 3 weeks: now its Sunday and I'm finally able to take the board out on real water. Off we go. On arrival, I remember to attach the rear center fin before inflating. Then I ask my husband to time how long it will take me to inflate. At almost 10psi, the inflate nozzle pops off and ALLLLLLL the air comes hissing out. SO..we try again, this time getting all the way to 12psi. I pull of the inflate coupling and ALLL the air hisses out AGAIN! arrrrggg!!! My husband decides to look at the instructions...which I'm happy I brought along. (actually, after opening the box, I copied the page and laminated it, and put it in the bag - my OCD came in handy that day) Turns out I had left the screw-valve in the OPEN (deflate)position. Sheesh, dummy! So once we screwed it down, inflated for the THIRD time, with great hesitation I removed the inflate nozzle and VIOLA all was well! All in all, that took a total of I think 20mins. Probably took about 5-8 minutes of unhurried pumping to get the board up to proper psi. But I think I would like a better pump. Off the the water! I tote the board down to the shore with no difficulty except the wind. (foreshadowing here). Attach my leash (NOT included) and I go paddling off on my knees. The day was somewhat windy and Gulf was choppy (in my mind I'm thinking "3-foot seas" like they sometimes say in the weather report but my husband said it was merely choppy. Then again, he was on the shore.) I find it too choppy to stand up so i head downwind to a little calm cove, where I finally stand. Where I become a sail. OK, long story shorter, I cannot get back to my launch site - and as I am trying to, I notice nobody else is paddle-boarding or kayaking today. Hmm. I end up back at a little beach around the cove and I hop out and tote my board back to where we inflated it. Upshot: this board is so light and pretty easy to carry. The final report is that this board performed as well as could be expected. I picked a day to try it out that was far too windy and choppy to get a really good feel for its maneuverability, but it seemed fine. Since I have rented boards for $250 for 5 days on vacation previously, if I can get this board to last thru my vacation week, then it will have paid for itself. (PS-the local board rental guy had closed down that day; too windy to rent boards and kayaks.) There's my review - i hope it helps someone. I'm looking forward to trying this board again soon; if I have any newsflashes I'll edit and update my review. UPDATE/EDIT: In the two years I have had this board, I have taken it out about 4 or 5 times. For some reason, I was unable to get it to 12psi with the included pump so I have upgraded to a different pump, although I had to rig up a bit of a contraption because the new Bravo pump Helkey (Halkey? )inflation valve did not seat in the HydroForce valve properly. I enjoy this board very much, but I really need to add a bungee cord attachment so I can bring a cooler or water bottle. (mine did not come with d-rings or bungee option when purchased 2 yeqars ago.) This board is only 4" thick and 27" wide which makes it more challenging to learn on but once you get past that learning curve, no problem. I have also used a BOTE 12' rigid board that was quite nice, but not one-thousand dollars worth of nice, not to mention that its a pain to carry, transport, and store. I have also tried a BOTE inflatable board and honestly, there is not a whole bunch difference between that and my HydroForce. Like I said, the HydroForce is harder to ride, but only slightly. Now that I have all this extra experience with a few different boards, I can honestly say if you want to try a board, this might be the board for you. I will add however, that this board, because of its short length and width, is slower to paddle. I may someday upgrade to a longer, wider and thicker board to accommodate my advancing age and ability. UPDATE July 2017: Just rode this board two days in a row in a Bayside area. Inflates, totes, rides just as well as the day I bought it. I have a lot of fun on this board! Remember to upgrade your pump! And here is a SUPER helpful hint to anyone having trouble inflating board to last 2 psi...use half-pumps, don't try to get a full pump stroke going, smaller increases of air get the board to proper psi. You're welcome. If you have read this far, that one piece of advice was worth it. And this comes from a 52 y/o woman. Enjoy the water!