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Solid tip! as soon as paddle boarding becomes a hobby a good paddle is one of the first upgrades you want to get.

Thanks for watching! Much appreciation

Ahh good catch! In this case I used the Touring Fin (the longest one) as these are the fins that are standard with most Gili models. So from a comparison point of view it made sense to use this one. I also think its the one people will most likely use in most instances, but its cool that they give you the choice in this package.

Solid tips! 💪🏼 I agree, you DON'T need to spend an arm and a leg to have a good time on the water. It all depends on what you are looking for out of the experience. In terms of the slide in fin bit. I would say this should be on the lower end of the priority list of the things I listed. I do recommend having a small mallet handy incase the fin sticks to the tracks as heat can expand the plastic if it's in the sun too long. Haha yeah I've gotten a little bit of kick back on the hand pump thing. Everyone has their preferences and if you like having that pump before paddling do it! As I mentioned I've herniated my disk in my lower back a few times so because I'm taller many hand pumps get into that awkward zone of me bending over and pumping. I've also never been a huge "warm up" guy per say. Even when I was a street hockey goalie in my younger years I just wanted to be thrown in there. I hated warm-ups 😂. My motto is as long as you keep your safety and well being in mind and are within the regulations you do you! 🙂

Yeah as a rule of thumb learning on a touring board won't be the most stable experience ever but it does challenge you and helps you adapt quicker :). It helps that this one is 32" wide too!

That's fair, everyone has different ways to go about it. For me personally I'm a bit taller and I have suffered back injuries in the past so I personally try to avoid them because the manual pumps that come with the packages are often a little to short for me which causes me to bend over more than I'd like. My motto is everyone has their personal preferences and that's great! Do what works for you! :)

I prefer it manually, quicker and good warm up.

Plus, isn't exercise part of the activity?

@@inflatablesupauthorityi have luck sitting down and pumping for the first half then standing up for the rest

I actually just tested the Blackfin XL 6.0 a few days ago. I would say it depends on what you are using the board for. This years BOTE HD Aero comes with more accessories compared to the Blackfin XL. I found both to be very stable although I would give a very slight edge to the BOTE HD Aero for pure stability. In terms of paddling, I found the Blackfin XL 6.0 tracked better and definitely handled wind/ tide better than the HD Aero. In my mind, HD Aero is better for those calm lake conditions where it's relatively calm out while the Blackfin Ultra CX is a board that better suits paddling further distances and being in coastal areas.

Sorry, Blackfin XL 6.0 not Ultra CX lol

Thank you for the comment! Yeah a lot of people underestimate the transition from hard board to inflatables. You just gotta have patience with it and it will come 🙂

I have a few electric pumps haha. The ones I own which I like the best are iRocker' Electric pump, Outdoor Master Shark II. I've also heard a lot of good things about Sea Gods electric pump and the Nixy Ventus.

Thanks for the comment! The reality of the situation is 80% of paddlers will appreciate the Waterwalker 132 over the Expedition 138 due to the reasons you mentioned. I havent tested the 138 yet so I can't speak too much on it but the reason why folks would get those Expedition board lines is for better glide/ speed who have had a good amount of experience with paddle boarding in the past. I do have a video on the Waterwalker 132 you can check out! When I tested both out on the same day the Waterwalker definetly felt like the more stable pick compared to the Expedition 150. You can definetly put a cooler on and still feel pretty stable when standing on the board.

Thank you for your comment! Let me know how it goes! :D

Awesome to hear! Let me know what your thoughts are when you try it!

Awesome! Let me know how it goes!

For this specific video I did not record the time. I find it's dependant on how much the pump is used in that session as well as how warm/ cold it is. I will be recording a video about this soon testing different pumps and their times so stay tuned!

Great question! First you have to ask yourself what style of PFD you want. Belt? Vest? Suspender type PFDs? Realistically you CAN get away with getting one of the cheaper vest PFD's as long as its US Coast Guard or Transport Canada (or what ever water governing body you are in). However if you find yourself paddling for longer periods they can be bulky and kind of annoying. I personally use the Onyx Move Vent for a few years and I've been happy with it as it doesn't get in my way and my go pro rests well ontop of it. The Move Vent is in and around the $60 to $100 range depending where you live.

Hey! Always happy to help ;) The Gii Meno 11'6" would be a good board for you if you want to find that initial stability. I don't think the boards width/ your height will disrupt your paddling stroke too much. My friend is about your height and paddled the board with a full adult passenger onboard no problem! He still tells me that this is his favorite board he's paddled to date! Gili also has the new Komodo 11which comes with a kayak hybrid set-up. It's like an inbetween of the 2 boards in this video but its not as stable as the Meno 11'6". Check out my bio as I just released a video review and onboard of it :)

Thanks dude! I try 😂feel free to subscribe we got a bunch more content/ boards coming in hot!

Thanks man! Always happy to help :)

To me they felt fairly similar from a stability standpoint. While the Meno touring board is a tad thinner it is also 6" longer which helps with stability. However I have had a few beginners ride the Adventure 12 and they liked the way the board felt.

If I were you I would look at another pump. If you use the board a lot I would get an electric pump (Outdoor Master Shark II, iRocker, Gili, Nixy all good picks). In terms of manual pumps the dual-chambered pump from Nixy usually does the job for me. In this case, I didn't use the manual pump for the Serenelife board, I used one of the electric pumps I had. I have back issues that flare up when I use manual pumps so I personally avoid them.

Thanks for watching! I can't speak too much on the Pioneer 2.0 as I havent tested it yet (working on it haha). But everyone who has tried the Gili Meno 11'6" has loved it. Speaking from the Gili meno 11'6" though I have had a lot of people test this board throughout my travels lately and they all have had high praise. It also has been one of the most stable SUPs i've tested so if stability is super important to you it's an awesome pick. Especially if you are taller/ have a larger frame :)

thanks yes my needs are more a preference for stability. 5'7 210lbs but would want to bring along my 4 year old and spouse on occasion. I saw your review for 12'6 is up and will be checking that out. thinking 11'6 meno should be enough

@@shnukms Based one what you described I think the Meno 11'6" would be the best bet. Especially if you wanted to use it as a tandem with your 4 year old and spouse. When I travelled to Kaslo a few weeks ago this was our go to tandem board and it did the job pretty well. I think we had it up to 320 lbs between 2 people once and my friend was able to stand up paddle the entire time with the other passenger seated.

Thanks for the review. I’m looking at this board for next year. I’m. 6’ 3” - 230lb - Stability is key for me. Would you recommend this….everything points to a yes. Mostly coastal paddling, but I’d like the option to add one of my kids to the deck for days out. I think this will take 2 kayak seats, so thinking of adding one to the front and I can SUP from behind.

Damn my Canadian accent! 😂

Yup, my friend who owns the All Around 11 classic bought it August 2020. It's still going strong today!

The 1.0 Ultras have a slightly smaller width by about an inch to inch and a half compared to the 2.0's which are accurate to what the width specs say. The 1.0's are also the 2022 boards while the 2.0's are the 2023 boards. Hope that helps! :)

Thanks! I hope you have fun out there!

It gets better with experience! I promise you! This coming from a rather balance challenged individual myself! haha

Glad to hear you had such a great experience on the Atoll 11! It definetly is one of the easier paddle boards to stand on and its speed is pretty decent too!

I'm sorry to hear about that. I've had a few Nixy's over the years and the only complaint I have is that the glue from the deck pad on my Newport is starting to peel a bit in certain spots. Have you contacted Nixy about these problems? I ususally found their customer service is pretty good for their SUPs. I have found that Nixy can house iRocker accessores as well as I've used my friends iRocker Cup holder before. What accessories were you trying to mount on there and from where?

Nice! Its a great SUP depending on what you use it for but I would say overall it did surprise me and had pretty good stability for a SUP of its price range. I'll definetly be hitting up Buntzen and Sasamat lake this summer! See you out there! :)

Thank You Steven! :) I find the handles for the Ultra series ususally only get in the way of me kneeling. I like to kneel towards the center of the board so often ill find the handle on my shins. The easiest way to solve this is to just kneel a bit further back though. ;) But standing they do not get in the way whatsoever!

Thank you! Nice! Yeah its really great how stable they are hey?

Thank you for your kind words ! It always makes my day when people like my videos :) Also great tip!! I'll have to do some further on-water testing with that setup! Could be especially useful for low tide coastal waters as well!

Great question! So I like to start off with the Outer chamber and then the inner chamber, the first few times I started both off at 13 PSI for both (12 is fine too) after a few paddling adventures I increased it to 15 PSI for both. To answer your 2nd question yes the set-up video has already been shot, its currently in the editing queue! Some of the main points I found helpful was to follow the original folding pattern that Nixy did when you first got the board, I would even get a marker and mark the fold lines on the side before setting the board up. I also found that using an electric pump to deflate both of the bladders will make the folding process easier as it will get more air out as opposed to brute human force.

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Hmmm, so when you say it has power but it's not running. Does that mean that no air comes out of the pump altogether or is it at the 2nd stage (the time when the pump makes more noise)?

Thank you for the kind words! Always happy to help! :)

The pump does indeed turn off once its done. The dispay mostly shows the PSI (Or BAR) of the air going in. It would be cool if they did percentages as well though!

There are a few ways to do sweep strokes; unless you are thinking of pivot turns? :)

Thank you so much for your compliment! Always makes my day :) To answer your question, I have not tested the Bote Breeze Aero yet. However the way I would look at it is The Breeze Aero is Bote's entry board. While the Atoll 11 is one of Atolls main lines, meaning the company probably spends more time and resources into that line than Bote does on an entry level SUP. Don't forget Bote also has hard boards and higher quality inflatable boards to worry about so their time has to be spent wisely. I'm not knocking Bote at all as Ive seen a lot of customers that are pleased with the Breeze but this is at least my train of thought. I actually had my friend test my Atoll 11 board yesterday and he was blown away with how stable it was. He's tested a few boards and he liked this one the best so far. We came across some waves from boats and he was able to stand the entire time. Sorry for the long answer haha but these are my thoughts on the matter. :)

@@inflatablesupauthority Thanks for the long and thoughtful response! I really appreciate all the detail

@@cytocin No problem! Enjoy your time out on the water this summer! :)

Yes you can! My friend does it all the time on his iRocker All Around 11 board. The seat is placed more towards the back of the middle handle while your feet usually stand parallel to it. Even if you find the seat is in the way you can adjust the straps and place it further back onto the board. Hope this helps! :)

@@inflatablesupauthority thank you that help, and I just got an irocker all round 11 aswell

Nice! I'm happy my review helped you! I've had my Nixy for just over a year now and shes still going strong! I hope everything works out and you can get some good old fashioned paddling miles in :)

You sir just made my day! Thank so much for watching! :')

@@inflatablesupauthority When I buy my paddle board, I’m going to make sure I use your affiliate link. Thanks again!

Nixy makes fantastic boards and has great customer care in my experience. Have fun out there! :)