Should I buy a cheap Discounter SUP Board?

Here in Germany, this week the release of the second wave of discounter SUP boards started. Giants like Aldi & Lidl offered once more inflatable SUPs for a bargain that intrigues most likely many people to buy.

If you are one of those people you might have asked yourself which SUP board is right for me? Should I buy it or not? Well, I think you are right on track, as I always encourage my readers to ask themselves what you want before you spent.

Think about your why! Do you want to have it as a toy for your kids? Or do you want to take it out only in Summer when we have like 32°C outside? Or would you potentially use it the whole year? Would you like to do tours longer than 5 km and how often would you love to do those?

Also, I encourage you to take your height and weight into consideration. Especially when you consider buying a Discounter SUP board.

Those questions help you to answer if you are serious about stand up paddleboarding and what your standards for a SUP board should look like. Because good, long-lasting quality comes with a price. Material that is stable, even when you put a 100 or 120 Kilo on top of it, needs to be of high quality. However, good material is nothing if the production does not fulfill certain standards. Please count the value of quality in when calculating your budget.

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When not to buy a discounter SUP?

1. When you like stand up paddling and want to do it more often and would love to do longer tours.
2. If you don’t like bad investments.
3. When you love our planet and want to stop plastic pollution!

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Who should consider buying a SUP from Lidle, Aldi & Co?

Honestly, in my personal opinion, a Lidl or Aldi board is a piece of expensive plastic trash. Most of those cheap boards from last summer did not survive and start to rot now in people’s basements or went directly into the garbage.

However, for some out there those SUPs might be a good choice when:

1. This board is for your kids to paddle a little and play around on the lake. Please consider that the seams of a discounter board can easily burst. Hence, I recommend that your kids are wearing a lifejacket.
2. When your weight is below 60 kg and you are not much taller than 1.70 m. Otherwise, your board will hang like a banana and there will be very limited fun paddling your board.
3. If your tour expectation is not much more than 5 km. Otherwise, those boards will usually exhaust the death out of you and you should always put into consideration your board can break and you have to get home in any case.
4. When you want a very stable air mattress.
5. If SUP is not really your thing but sometimes you want to join a friend for like a sundowner.
6. When you like a challenge and do not have a problem that little girls like me can easily outrun you 😉

Before going on the Water with a Discounter SUP

• Watch a YouTube tutorial before you go out your first time. Check how to hold your paddle right and where to stand on your board here.
• Check all your material before you start. Ensure that there is no air coming out of your board.
• Wear some sort of PFD
• Stay near to the land, that you can rescue yourself at any time.

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Extra Tips

• The minimum amount of investment I would advise you to make when you want to buy a paddleboard is at least 500 €. I haven’t seen anything that even looked nearly decent below that price.
• Always check the seams and the valve before your first take your board out. The seams tell you quite a lot about the lasting fun you will have with your SUP board, so inspect those carefully when you consider buying. Usually, the better it looks the better it is!
• Take some shoes when you go on tour.

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