Peak 11 Expedition SUP
Summary
The Expedition is also a very comfortable board which is an important factor in a touring board since they’re designed to be used for multiple hours or even multiple days at a time. With the design of the board plus multiple available colors, no matter where you find yourself you can always be sure that you’ll have one of the sharpest looking SUPs in the water.
Overall
4Pros
- Light weight
- Tough construction
- Fast
- Very maneuverable
- Affordable
Cons
- Aluminum paddle
- Dual-layer construction vs triple or quadruple
- Lack of options for designs
Table of Contents
We were impressed with the small touches that were put into this board to make a pretty nice touring board. It’s one of the lighter boards of this size out there — you won’t find many 11’ boards under 20 pounds. But keep in mind that there’s also a 10’6” version of this SUP which is even lighter.
| Length | Width | Thickness | Weight Capacity | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11' | 32" | 6" | 19.5 lbs | 275 lbs |
Performance
The SUP rides nice and smooth and moves along pretty fast considering it’s a touring board. This due in large part to how light it is and that it utilizes a 3-fin setup which reduces drag and can even add speed on the waves. In addition, this thing turns on a time — a great quality when you aren’t always in open waters.
The stability of this board makes it great for other activities while you’re out on the water, such as fishing or fitness activities while still remaining dry. Even if you don’t plan to take this on the adventure of a lifetime, it can easily accommodate or a pet. If you have two adults on the deck, assuming that the combined weight is below 275 pounds, you shouldn’t have any issues with buoyancy, but you may find a dip in speed.
The included air pump isn’t super premium but it’s enough to get inflated without too much hassle. You can expect to go from bag to water in less than 15 minutes. Since this board only requires 12 PSI, we don’t recommend getting an electric pump unless you really don’t want to be bothered with the manual action or you’re in a big hurry.
One of our favorite features involves transport. We know that most people won’t use this SUP this way, but this was designed for long-term use, up to multiple days. Since the board is so light, if you do go on a longer trip and decide to deflate and carry it with you in the provided backpack, you should be able to get around with getting a sore back. Plus, with additional pockets in the backpack, you could also carry additional gear.
Features
We’ve never exactly been disappointed with PEAK’s other boards but it seems that they put a lot of love and care into the Expedition. For instance, the brushed EVA foam on the deck is more plush then we would imagine. This means that not only will your dogs not be barking after a long day on the water, you’ll also be able to sit on the board for a while or even take a friend.
Both the nose and the tail have grab handles in addition to the center for easy transport on land, in the water or when transitioning between the two. We were impressed with this since you don’t see a lot of boards in this range with a tail handle. The reason we love this is because it allows you to drag your board on the beach while keeping your fins elevated. Although this may seem like a small feature, it’s the mark of a designer who cared.
Design
Even though we mentioned that the lack of design options is a negative, the choice of design you do have is quite beautiful. You do have some choice when it comes to color at least.
Something that we would definitely want to see in a touring board would be storage space and the Expedition doesn’t fail to deliver in that department.
The front of the deck has a 6-point bungee area and the back has a 4-point bungee area. Keep in mind that with these bungee areas, each point has a D-ring that can be used to hold down additional equipment like dry bag or coolers.
Construction
Peak iSUPs, like most of other players in the industry, use a military-grade PVC material with a drop stitch construction. But this is where our biggest complaint comes in. There are 2 ways to build a quality board. The first is that you can use multiple layers of this PVC material to create a stiffer, more durable board. That’s why we see some higher-end manufactures using 3 or 4 layers. The other option is to use 1 or 2 layers create a reinforced core.
Sadly, Peak does neither of these 2 options. They simply have 2 layers of standard material. While for most people you should be fine, it’s more likely that you may run into puncture issues in the future.
Included Accessories
Out of the box, you get the basics for getting out on the water ASAP. This includes a backpack, high pressure dual-action air pump, ankle leash, center fin, and an aluminum paddle. Just for good measure, they also included a waterproof phone case because why not?
Our Verdict
We really appreciate the effort that PEAK put into this iSUP considering they were looking to make a budget board and are happy with what they came out with here. However, the issue is that, ironically, a brand that is known for packing value into their boards came out with one that was a little overpriced, in our opinion. While this is still and excellent SUP, there are others in this price range that offer a bit more, such as a high weight capacity and even a repair kit.
That being said, one of the best aspects of the Expedition and how portable it is. If you are the kind of person who will travel from place to place with this board on the back of your body and not just in the back of your car, then we can overlook the other minor issues.
