Retrospec weekender 10 inflatable stand up paddleboard review

Retrospec Weekender 10′ Inflatable Stand Up Paddle Board Review (2022)

It may not seem like it, but there’s more to paddling than meets the eye. You need to have first-hand experience to understand that exhilarating feeling you get from it. Make sure to fall off a few times for me! ^^

You can check its price here: Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP.

• A Quick Overview for the Hasty
• Who and What Is the Retrospec Weekender 10’ Inflatable SUP Board Designed for?
• How Does Retrospec Weekender 10′ Inflatable Paddleboard Perform?
• What Are the Specifications of Retrospec Weekender 10’ iSUP Board?
• What Is Retrospec Weekender 10’ Inflatable Paddle Board Made of?
• What Are the Features of the Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP Board?
• What Else Is Included in the Retrospec Weekender 10′ Inflatable SUP Package?
• So Is Retrospec Weekender 10’ Inflatable SUP Board Package for You?
• Where To Buy Retrospec Weekender 10’ iSUP Package?
• Conclusion

A Quick Overview for the Hasty

Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP measures: 10’ x 30″ x 6″ (length x width x thickness). The recommended max weight limit is 275 pounds, the board itself weighs 17 pounds, and the package comes with everything you need to get on the water.

Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP is a true all-around by design and looks amazing. It is suitable mainly for recreational paddling, but also most SUP activities except for racing and long-distance touring, I would say. It comes with an adjustable paddle, high pressure pump, backpack, coiled ankle leash, waterproof phone case, repair kit, and detachable fins.

Who and What Is the Retrospec Weekender 10’ Inflatable SUP Board Designed for?

Who: anyone weighing up to 275 pounds
What: all-around (recreational paddling, cruising, riding small waves, challenging yoga, some fishing, etc).

Who is this for? It’s better suited for average sized or lighter paddlers. Given its length (10′) and width (30″), a considerably taller person could use a longer (e.g 11′) and a considerably heavier paddler a wider board (e.g 32″) if you were looking for a stable board for cruising on calmer waters.

What is this for? As a true all-around, it’s good for a little bit of every SUP activity and not just for cruising on calmer waters. You can take it to ride smaller waves, tackle some rivers and the more rough waters in general (lakes, seas, rivers, and the likes). Primarily however it’s still meant for recreational use, not so much for competitive racing, riding killer waves, full-on whitewater river riding, or long-distance touring. Yoga and fishing can be relatively challenging as it’s not that stable of a board.

Glance through this SUP Buying Guide for a better overview of things (link opens in a new tab).

How Does Retrospec Weekender 10′ Inflatable Paddleboard Perform?

Retrospec Weekender 10’ iSUP is mainly:

• maneuverable
• fast/snappy

As a fairly typical all-around, Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP board is balanced somewhere between speed and maneuverability as it’s relatively narrow (30″) and not too long (10′). If the length/width ratio was off, say the board was considerably longer, then building up speed would be easier, but then maneuvering would be a little more tricky, and vice versa. But with the way it is for this board, you get a good balance.

As for stability, if you weren’t too tall or weighed too much, you’d likely find it fairly easy to keep your balance after a while even as a beginner under general circumstances. The rounded tail makes maneuvering feel smoother, and that makes you feel more in control and thus help you a little at keeping your balance. The rounded nose with the relatively flat belly rocker however might steer you off course if you tried to do a sprint session as it doesn’t cut through water. It all works better at cruising speed (normal recreational kind of speed).

Unless you’re immortal, you may want to give this a quick read: SUP Safety.

What Are the Specifications of Retrospec Weekender 10’ iSUP Board?

Type – All-round
Color – white + patterns and shades of orange or blue
Construction – Inflatable
Length – 10’
Width – 30″
Thickness – 6″
Weight – 17 pounds
Weight Capacity – 275 pounds
Material – enhanced single layer

Type:
Retrospec Weekender 10′ MSL iSUP is an all-around. This means that the board is a beginner friendly jack of all trades, a.k.a suitable for all areas of SUP to some extent, but not fully. Most suitable for some recreational paddling on calmer waters, but, again, doesn’t exclude other areas of SUP activities on even the more rough waters.

Construction:
Retrospec Weekender 10′ SUP is inflatable. It’s filled with air is what that means. But worry not, it’s not a balloon that pops easily. It’s usually these inflatables instead of hard boards that are used in white water river riding, and that should give a hint as to how strong inflatables actually are. There are demonstrations of people driving over their air filled boards with their trucks just to show that it is indeed reliably strong and won’t just pop. The inflation valve is located at the rear of the board and the recommended max PSI is 15.

Length:
Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP board is 10 feet long. It’s somewhat too short to serve as an option for everybody, but perfect for average sized individuals. Usually the longer the board, the more speed it can build, but that comes at the cost of maneuverability. This board is plenty maneuverable while still having enough speed so as to not feel stuck in one place when paddling.

Width:
30 inches wide. Wider boards feel more stable. Although 30 inches isn’t super narrow, it’s not exactly wide either. Wider boards tend to be more stable. However, given the length/width ratio, 30 inch width together with 10 feet length is just the right balance between speed/stability/maneuverability. Once you’ve practiced a bit, it will feel stable, but at the beginning it might take some getting used to.

Thickness:
The ideal thickness at this width/length ratio would be 5 inches, perhaps even 4, but Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP is 6 inches thick. Most inflatable boards are 6 inches thick. Thicker boards tend to feel more sturdy though.

Weight:
This iSUP is lightweight, weighing just 17 pounds. It’s not heavy enough to not be susceptible to winds, but given that it’s not a large board, it’s that much less susceptible to winds.

Weight Capacity:
The max recommended weight limit is 275 pounds. The more you weight the harder it becomes to balance yourself on it though.

Material:
Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP board has your typical drop-stitch core material surrounded by a fabric holding the drop-stitch material together with PVC layers around the fabric. There’s likely a double-layer PVC at the rails. And finally a non-slip EVA foam deck pad on the very top to stand on.

What Is Retrospec Weekender 10’ Inflatable Paddle Board Made of?

Retrospec Weekender 10’ iSUP board is made of:

• enhanced single-layer PVC

The core material consists of drop-stitch material which is held together by fabric material and surrounded by a layer of PVC material. There are likely additional PVC glue coating layers here and there, and finally the non-slip Evo foam material on top.

It’s highly likely that there are 2 PVC layers at the rails as the rails are usually the weakest point of an inflatable paddle board.

Since it’s Retrospec, I’d expect the quality of after service and the overall quality control starting from manufacturing to be higher when compared to some off-brand’s one. As such, this build is plenty good for what and by who it’s meant to be used for especially given the price.

Here a quick read on the construction of inflatable paddle boards (link opens in a new tab).

What Are the Features of the Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP Board?

Retrospec Weekender 10′ Inflatable stand up paddle board has just a handful of basic features:

1. Bungee storage area
2. Carry handle
3. Deck pad
4. D-ring (1)
5. Inflation valve
6. Fins (3)

1 – 6-point bungee storage system

2 – center carry handle
Middle carry handle is for carrying the board when it’s inflated. Note that it’s not advisable to drag the board on sand or the like as it can over time cause wear and tear. 17 pounds of weight shouldn’t be an issue for really any1 to carry the board for shorter trips.

3 – EVA foam deck pad
There’s a non-slip EVA foam deck pad covering majority of the deck for you to stand on. It’s relatively soft, too.

4 – D-ring (1)
1 single D-ring at the read of the board just before the inflation valve. This is usually used for attaching an ankle leash. Sometimes also used for towing, anchoring, and the like.

5 – high pressure inflation valve
This is where you can fill the board with air. The recommended max PSI is 15. Getting it there can be quite a workout with a manual pump. It’s a standardized H3 valve and is located at the rear of the board, just behind the D-ring. If it leaks air on first try, try not to panic and see if a valve wrench came with the package. You can tighten the valve with the wrench as sometimes the valve can come a little loose over a long period of time as the board was being transported and whatnot.

6 – detachable fins (3)
Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP has 3 detachable fins. 1 bigger center fin for tracking and 2 smaller sidefins for better maneuverability, all detachable. For use cases, for example, the bigger one can be removed in shallow waters, but mainly for more compact storage. Note however that pressing on the board too much when rolling it up can potentially damage the board’s PVC connection at the rails. In other words, don’t go overboard with the “compact” part of storage.

What Else Is Included in the Retrospec Weekender 10′ Inflatable SUP Package?

The Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP package includes everything you’d need to get on the water. That is: paddle, manual pump, backpack carry bag, coiled leash, waterproof phone case, but also a repair kit, the board itself, and the fins.

Paddle
On the surface, it may seem like it’s any other adjustable (between 3′ to 9′ of length) 3-piece aluminum paddle, but this one is of tad bit better quality than most. However, aluminum paddles tend to start to sink after a while when you leave them floating on the water for too long. There are better quality materials for SUP paddles out there, but an aluminium paddle is good enough for general use and is way cheaper. Check out what I’m referring to from this post about SUP paddles for more insights for potential upgrade in the future.

Pump
Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP package comes with a fairly simple manual high pressure pump. It’s got a pressure gauge on top. As a reminder, the recommended max PSI is 15. It’s a bit of a workout and you’re probably looking at around 270 pumps to get close to it. The final pumps will be tough ones.

Backpack
It’s a simple yet relatively decent backpack carry bag that can hold the entire package and then some.

Coiled leash
Every iSUP package should come with one for safety reasons, and so does Retrospec Weekender 10′. One end attached to your ankle/leg and the other to the D-ring at the rear of the board. You might not think so, but it’s useful for when there are winds or little currents that would make the board drift away from you faster than you can swim were you to fall in the water, especially so because you should try and hold on to the paddle as you go which would hinder your ability to swim. Enough explaining though, you probably got the gist long ago, I just figured because accidents somehow still keep happening regardless.

Phone case
A fairly simple additional accessory item – a waterproof phone case. You should test it in the sink or something before you go blindly rely on it in action.

Removable fins (3)
Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP has 3 removable fins. The middle one is bigger, and the 2 sidefins smaller. The fins help with maneuvering and tracking of the board. Make sure you get them in there the right way or else they might just disappear after the 1st session. I’ve seen people not accept their own mistake and go haywire over this.

Repair kit
The repair kit includes a valve wrench and some PVC patches for patching up “accidents”. The valve wrench is a useful thing as sometimes the valve might come loose over time during transport or simply just after some rough handling when it’s not yet being used. So, before thinking you got a borked board after you’ve inflated it for the first time and you feel air coming out from the valve area, know that all it might take to fix it is to tighten the valve.

So Is Retrospec Weekender 10’ Inflatable SUP Board Package for You?

Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP is a great choice if you’re average weight and looking for a true-all around that can be used for more rough waters and not just for cruising on flat waters. It’s somewhat equally balanced between speed, balance and maneuverability rather than being more one than the other 2.

It might not be for you if you wanted to race, ride killer waves or go for long-distance tours with it though.

Where To Buy Retrospec Weekender 10’ iSUP Package?

Best way to buy stand up paddle boards would be from physical shops. That way you could gain much needed info, advice and tips from the enthusiastic sellers there (assuming they were experts on the field…).

If purchasing from a physical store was not an option, there are still online stores to check out.

Check the price or buy here: Retrospec Weekender 10′ Inflatable SUP Package.

Conclusion

Retrospec Weekender 10’ iSUP board is a good quality very affordable and stylish true all-around from a reputable brand. The recommended max weight limit is 275lbs which means even the tad bit heavier paddlers can use it. It is suitable mainly for recreational paddling, but also most SUP activities except for racing and long-distance touring, I would say.

Included Accessories
Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP board package comes with an adjustable paddle, high pressure pump, backpack, coiled ankle leash, waterproof phone case, repair kit, and detachable fins.

Where to Buy
It’s simple, buy here: Retrospec Weekender 10′ iSUP Package.

(Links open in a new tab)

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