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The frame of all inflatable SUP boards is drop-stitch material. It comes in different qualities but the principle is the same. Drop-stitch material consists of two surfaces and a lot of threads. One surface is the top and the other is the bottom, and thousands of vertical threads run between them. It is the attachment of the wires you see as small, small pits on the top and bottom of the SUP board. The side around the SUP board seals the entire board construction. The side is mounted upside down, on top of the drop-stitch material. Then most of our SUP boards have a joint reinforcement over the meeting between the side and the drop-stitch surfaces, which contributes to the rigidity of the board.

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The drop-stitch material is the reason why the SUP board maintains an even and flat shape when it is pumped up to a high pressure. When you pump the board, stretch the wires and hold the top and bottom of the SUP board together. Different qualities of drop-stitch withstand different amounts of pressure. A drop-stitch material that can withstand a high pressure, up to 30 psi, is classified as better quality.

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A rigid SUP board lies flat in the water. It provides good conditions for a long waterline that makes the SUP board slide further on a paddle. The length of the threads in the drop-stitch material is a factor that plays a role in the stiffness of the SUP board. The loin of the threads determines the thickness of the board, which in turn determines how easily the board bends. A thicker SUP board bends less than a thinner SUP board at the same pressure. Easily explained. Because there are additional factors to take into account, in terms of stiffness, such as the quality and nature of the threads on the surfaces of the drop-stitch material. A well-designed SUP board made of a drop-stich material of good quality achieves the desired rigidity already at 15-17 psi.

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The surfaces of the drop-stitch material, which hold all the thousands of vertical threads, form the top and bottom of the SUP board. To get a more durable board and at the same time a stiffer board, more layers of material are added to the surfaces of the drop-stitch material. The basic principle of drop-stitch is referred to as single-layer. With another layer of material, it is called, not entirely surprisingly, double-layer. A SUP board with double layers is slightly heavier and is more stable in the water. It is less affected by wind and waves. On the downside, however, is that you get a little more to carry when the board is to be transported.

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Initially, a second layer was glued on top of the drop-stitch material surfaces. Nowadays, the second layer of material is mechanically laminated on the outer surfaces of the drop-stitch material. It will be drop-stitch with machine-laminated double-layer.

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Stringer is a strip of material in the middle of the board, which runs along, from the stern to the bow. It is a borrowed technology from traditional manufacture of surfboards. The intention is to minimize the board's flex, that the board bends longitudinally. The flex of an SUP board is affected by the weight of the paddler and by the force of each paddle stroke. When the board flexes, it is braked because it plows water and you do not get as much gear from each paddle stroke as on a stiffer board with less flex.