Air mattress

Drop stitch construction is what allows an inflatable SUP to maintain its shape when it is inflated to high pressure. Without drop-stitch, the board would bulge out in the middle like an over-inflated air mattress.

Drop stitch technology has been used in the aeronautical industry to make inflatable airplane wings.SUP manufacturers were able to capitalize on the drop stitch technology that was used to distribute tension across the entire surface of the wing.

Using tens of thousands of tough polyester threads, drop stitch technology lets us build inflatables with flat surfaces that can be inflated to rock-hard rigidity. You get hard-shell performance along with the easy transportation and storage of an inflatable.

The process starts by joining two pieces of polyester woven support fabric with thousands of fine polyester thread lengths. This base material is made in strips from five to ten feet in width. Up to 400 needle heads may be used in the setup. Each needle sews a continuous, evenly spaced thread, back and forth between the two pieces of woven fabric, locking them together into an incredibly strong unit. These drop-stitch sewing machines are marvels of complexity. When a change is made in the spacing distance between the two pieces of woven fabric, it can take over 20 days to remove and replace the required needles.

The Drop stitch technology of Inflatable Stand Up Paddle Boards Drop stitch construction is what allows an inflatable SUP to maintain its shape when it is inflated to high pressure. Without drop-stitch, the board would bulge out in the middle like an over-inflated air mattress.