The hot water paddling season is coming, many paddlers are getting ready to have a long trip on the water. For beginners, some of them might wondering which watercraft they should choose, the inflatable kayak or inflatable canoe. Don't make your choice so fast. We are telling you that you don't have to limit your choices to boats, the inflatable stand up paddle boards as a fast growing water sport is also a great choice for you. The differences between inflatable kayaks and inflatable SUPs are not just the appearance, let's talk about this and help you understand which paddling vessel is most suitable for you.

1. Stability

One obvious thing is that when you are kayaking, you are sitting, and when you are paddle boarding, you are standing. I don't need to tell you that the center of gravity for a standing position is farther away from the water than a sitting position. Therefore, you are more likely to lose your balance and fall into water when stand up paddling. However, if you are paddling in rough waters, even if you are sitting in an inflatable kayak, there is still a chance that your kayak may flip over. Overall, all else being equal, the stability if an inflatable kayak is better than an inflatable stand up paddle board.

2. Portability and Storage

When you are choosing hard-shell kayaks and SUP boards, it's much easier to tell the kayaks are larger than paddle boards and made from heavier materials which makes them more challenging to carry. Now we are talking about inflatable kayaks and inflatable SUPs. Both of them can be inflated and deflated which makes them easier to carry. When deflating, they can be folded and put in a storage bag and stored into any car trunk, even some inflatable kayaks are a little bit heavier than inflatable paddle boards due to the material, we still consider their portability and storage is equal.

3. Durability

Both kayaks and SUP boards have hard-shell and soft-shell two different kinds. But most of inflatable materials are not as strong and durable as hard-shell materials. But for inflatable kayaks and inflatable paddle boards, they are strong and durable enough for daily use like any other inflatable boats. In our factory, we are using extreme strong PVC tarpaulin material to manufacture inflatable kayaks, with multiple air chambers structure. Our inflatable SUP boards are made of strong DWF(double-wall fabric) material, single air chamber but multiple layers of reinforcement. Both of them seem to be very durable. But from the materials used and manufacturing technology and our use experience, the inflatable kayaks would be a better choice.

4. Application

With the development of technology, now you can set many gears on both inflatable kayaks and paddle boards like seats, deck bag, finishing gear, etc. People can use an inflatable kayak for leisure touring, racing, fishing, camping and so on, others use an inflatable stand up paddle board for water exploring, touring, fishing, surfing, doing yoga, camping and so on. You can read them from our iSUP guidelines. Seems SUP boarding is much more fun than kayaking because you can't execute any yoga poses in a kayak. And stand up paddle boarding as a fun and effective workout is becoming more and more popular over the world.

Although there some some differences between inflatable kayaks and iSUPs, but the differences are not so big for leisure use. You can choose any inflatable vessel you like for your daily use. We are providing both high quality inflatable kayaks and inflatable paddle boards wholesale at affordable prices, contact sunjoy to get a good discount today!