Inflating and deflating your Starboard 11'2" Blend Zen inflatable SUP

Today Dan walks us through how to inflate and deflate your Starboard inflatable stand up paddle board. In this video, Dan features the 11’2″ Blend Zen. A great all round board at 11’2″ x 32″ and just $999.

Follow the video above if you need pointers on how to inflate your paddle board. We also have the transcript below so you can follow along and go step by step at your own pace.

Pumping up and inflatable stand up paddle board

First thing I like to do is make sure that the area where I am pumping up the board, doesn’t have any sharp objects, that you’re not going to be inflating your paddle board on something that could damage it. Now we’re going to unroll it with fins down. Now we’re going to take our pump. I’m going to attach the hose to the out position, so you want to make sure it reads OUT. So we’re going to start in the double action, high volume mode.

Then the first thing you want to do is locate the valve. This cover comes off. This yellow button here is the most important part to know. One thing I want to make sure is that I don’t inflate the board with the valve pin down. It’ll inflate just fine but the problem is, is when you take the hose off, all the air will rush out. To inflate, the yellow pin must be in the up position. Now we are going to attach the hose, by inserting the hose all the way in and turning the hose 90 degrees in a clockwise fashion. Now you’re ready to start pumping.

It’s very easy with this V8 pump. You want to use the full range of the cylinder in the pump. If I’m just pumping like this, it’s going to take a lot longer. Another thing to consider is to bend your knees. If you pump like this, you’re going to get tired pretty quickly.

Now that I’ve got most of the volume into the board, I want to change this valve position by simply switching this red lever to the single action mode. Now you’re only putting air in on the down stroke. So as soon as that needle gets to the green part of the gauge you’re in the proper inflation zone.

To disengage the hose, twist it, you should feel a little air come out, that’s normal. Now it’s very important to reinstall the dust cover over the valve and screw it in nice and tight.

And there you have it, you’re ready to get out and have some fun.

Deflating an inflatable stand up paddle board

Now we are going to take a look at how to deflate your Starboard inflatable paddle board. First we’re going to start by locating that valve where you inflated it, remove the dust cover just a half a turn, there you’re going to see your yellow button.

Push down for about 3 seconds to let most of the air out, then you’re going to turn that yellow button about 90 degrees right or left and it should stay down. Now I’ve turned it, the air is still coming out.

So, it’s always best to try to roll the board up as tightly as possible. Now that we have the board rolled up almost all the way I’m going to try to push all the rest of the air out of the board as I can. There’s another option that this pump has an IN and an OUT valve and then we’ll screw it into the other side which is indicated by the IN, which means it’s sucking air in. And then I’m going to plug it into the board, this will allow me to actually pull all the rest of the air out of the board, so it’s going to allow me to really roll it up nice and tight. I’m going to put the dust cover back on to make sure I’m protecting that.

And there you have it, we’ll see you on the water.