V-Max Dura-Air 12'6"

Fast, fun and solid board. Attractive design and I always get compliments! It is longer than I am used to, but it is a very stable board in flat water and chop with noticable reduced drag. It does require more pressure than other inflatables that I have tried. I'm guessing because it is a 12'6" as opposed to a 1o'6". Since it is longer, it seems to have a bit more flex to it when you try bouncing lightly. The bungee action is smaller than I am used to but plenty sufficient and has a small single line bungee on the rear of the board which works great for my waterproof box that I put my key fob and food in. This way I don't scrape up my carbon paddle switching left to right cuz it's definitely in the way where the front bungee cord is. It seems to pierce through the water nicely without the flopping sound that planing style hulls have. It rolls up easily after deflating and is light. I use a chamois to dry it as I fold it up. I also purchased the Bravo BP12 electric pump. It pumps up to 12-12.5 PSI in 5 minutes which is faster than other pumps I have used. It's supposed to go up to 14.5 PSI according to the dial on top. Maybe thats why the model is BP-12 and not the BP-14.5. LOL Also, it uses alligator clips to clip onto your battery terminals under the hood. Little inconvenient, but I believe that it's designed in this fashion not to melt down the wire since the wiring is a heavier gauge than a cigarette lighter cord. I then use the hand pump to get it up to 17 PSI which is pretty darn easy and little effort compared to the Aqua Marine hand pump. I was using my friends' SPK-2 which I really liked. It's a solid board for the money especially and has provided lots of fun with high quantities of use. It works great at 11 PSI, but you'll never get it to that using the hand pump. It's a workout in itself. Materials seem to be high quality with no complaints. The travel bag is big, has back pack straps with cushions and also has wheels like a suitcase. Pretty nifty all the way around. I think it's a few inches taller than my large suit case for travel. It fits everything and still has plenty of space for lots more. I bet you could get 2 inflatables and pump and paddles in it. I don't use the travel bag since it's easier to put a strap on the board after folding(which came with the board) and throw it in the trunk. I upgraded to the 100% carbon paddle as opposed to the free 3 piece alloy paddle. Not a big fan of 3 piece paddles because of the play/loosness. I do have to say that the cruiser carbon paddles are super super light(21oz). Carbon paddles seem to get beat up quickly if you use them in a normal fashion without babying them. Maybe a paddle bag would help. It seems that the abuse comes from transporting mostly. I paid an additional $100.00 for the upgrade which may explain my carelessness? LOL I will probably care more when I pay full pop for a carbon paddle. I am really happy with the Cruiser V-MAX Air and even more happy to store it since it doesn't require alot of space. Effort wise, maybe equivelant to a standard longboard. I was trying to weigh out the differnces and decided the traditional fiberglass boards would take up more space than I am willing to give for it and would require more babying to protect it compared to an inflatable. I feel alot more confident throwing the inflatable in the trunk of my car compared to hauling a longboard on top of my rack and tying it down. I'm giving a rating of 5 stars because this board is super fun, and fast and I am very happy with it Pros I like that it can be inflated to 17 PSI! It needs to be at a 12'6" length. It's really fast for an iSUP and I always get compliments on it. The 1st day, I must have had close to 20 compliments and let a few peeps try it out. Cons The travel bag is HUGE!!! I guess it's like that so you don't have to try to cram everything into it. There is plenty of room for everything and then some. My main complaint would be tracking. It doesn't track like the V-MAx Touring Kevlar/Carbon/Bamboo version. I don't think any inflatable can track as well as a hard board, but this is the next best thing. I will purchase a touring/race fin and see if it improves. I would like to see a better fin system that has a quick release dealio as opposed to the standard US fin box design that most boards have. It take too long to deal with the fin system and making sure you don't loose the tooless thumb screw and square nut action. Someone please think outside the fin box!!!! Another con would be some type of flexible channel down the middle bottom side to insert a plastic multi piece V like channel to improve tracking and speed on iSUP's. I believe it would give iSUP's a more hard board like experience. Maybe I will have to do it myself! It seems the cons in my opinion are industry related, not brand related. Usage I use the board for exercise and casual paddling. I would like to get into racing, but I think I would prefer a standard board when time comes. I would also like to try a few rivers and would need to get a river fin for it.