Why We are taking SUP Pumps Out...

Occasionally, our boards are reviewed as being the absolute best, with the only negative point being that we don't include a paddle. We have now decided to also take pumps out of our boards from 2023. So no paddles or pumps going forward!

Why have we done this? 

We think about paddles and pumps a bit like helmets and bike pumps. Helmets are very individual and most people would never like a token "freebie" and bike pumps... You only need one, and does every bike you buy come with a pump? 

But we know this won't be popular with everyone. 

The inflatable paddleboard market is a funny place. There are certain things that have made it into the mainstream of expectations. Things like pumps and paddles should be included as part of the kit with inflatable boards. But why is that? 

And how did it become the standard across the industry? 

To understand this, you need to appreciate the history of inflatables. At the very start, inflatable SUP's were more toys than equipment and were sold as such. And for the majority of brands, to a large extent, this is sill the case. Five minutes on Amazon will show this. Fast forward to today, the performance of high-end boards is nearly the same as a fibreglass board, with some brands (like Honu) making very high-quality kit. Everything from the board to the bag, pump and paddle is a quality piece of craftsmanship. This is definitely the case for pumps. If we take a high-end pump from Bravo or GRI or even Red, you don't need more than one pump for every 2-3 boards you own. So for us as a brand, we know we have sold 100's of boards with unneeded pumps. 

For us, there are two scenarios that now play out with pumps. The first is that a family or couple have 2-4 boards and really only needs a single high-quality pump. The second is the paddler prefers an electric pump, again sitting the hand-pump they got "free" in the garage for years collecting dust. 

And, of course, these "free" pumps aren't actually free. They add cost to the total package. 

And so this leads us to our decision at Honu to remove them altogether by default. As new models of boards are released, a pump will no longer be in the kit. Rather, the paddler will be able to choose whether they want an e-pump, handpump or none at all. 

This keeps our prices down and the amount of wasteful production minimised. 

Honu e-Pump

We spend almost two years testing and researching different electric pumps in the market. We considered working with Bravo, and several other specialist pump manufactures. We settled on the manufacture who actually makes the pumps we had been recommending for two years. 

The Honu e-Pump is a 12V electric SUP pump. You just set your desired pressure which can be anything up to 22 PSI, and hit start. The two-stage pump then gets to work and will inflate your board in 5-8 minutes, depending on the board volume. 

The e-Pump comes ready for your Honu SUP and comes with a range of fittings that can be used for other products. It also comes in a handy carry case, making it easy to store, grab and use.
Check out the new Honu e-Pump

Honu SUPer hand pump

We are stoked with our new hand-pump. Yes, it is a Bravo SUPer pump, like many brands offer, but the devil is in the detail. We have customised it head to tail, from the body color to folding feet and our simple gauge. This feature may seem a bit... meh.... until you try using a pump with a standard gauge scale. :) 

Simplified, clear and, of course, mounted on the body so that it doesn't move when you are pumping. It's the details that count! 
Check out the Honu SUPer Pump