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Paddleboarding vs. kayaking: which water adventure should you choose?

Paddleboarding vs kayaking

Are you torn between stand up paddleboarding and kayaking for your next water adventure? Both activities offer a fantastic way to explore lakes, rivers, and coastlines, but they come with their own unique vibes and experiences. In this post, we’ll talk about the pros, and cons of each option, helping you decide which watersport suits […]

What makes a good paddleboarding mentor?

What makes a good paddleboarding mentor

Today, 17th January 2025, is International Mentoring Day. So we thought, what better day to ask ‘what makes a good paddleboarding mentor?’ Paddleboarding skills – a mentor can help significantly. Having a paddleboarding mentor can be incredibly beneficial, especially if you’re new to the sport or looking to improve your skills. Here are some reasons […]

McConks SUP & outdoor adventure  – 8 awesome gifts for under your Xmas tree.

McConks SUP outdoor adventure 8 awesome gifts for under your Xmas tree

McConks SUP and outdoor adventure gear products are wide and varied. There’s lots to choose from in the online shop. Which is great, as just around the corner is that man in a red suit who loves to come tumbling down your chimney. Christmas lists and guides may induce groans from the gallery but there’s […]

Adventure SUP – 8 of the best McConks touring paddle boarding partners.

Adventure SUP 7 of the best McConks touring paddle boarding partners 1

Adventure SUP can mean so many different things to so many different people. You may indulge in adventure paddle boarding (also known as touring SUP) by simply making small sojourns around your local area. Equally, your paddle boarding adventures may have multi-day excursions with overnighters in the wild. If you’re after a spot of adventure […]

Planning a Thrilling Multi-Day Whitewater Paddleboarding Adventure

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Planning a Multi-Day Whitewater Paddleboarding Trip intro. Embarking on a multi-day whitewater paddleboarding trip is an exciting adventure that allows you to immerse yourself in nature while challenging your paddling skills. Proper planning is essential. Proper planning, experience, gear, and support are crucial for a successful and enjoyable trip. In this article, we will explore […]

SUP in France – 6 awesome Alpine lakes to paddle this winter.

McConks international bitesize paddle board guides Lac de Maine Angers Loire France. 1

SUP in France doesn’t mean just heading there in summer. And going to the Alps to ski is so mainstream. So why not go there to paddleboard instead? There are between 3,000 and 4,000 lakes in the Alps, and many of them don’t freeze over in winter, meaning that hardy paddleboarders can hit the water […]

Inflatable paddle boards – how do I choose the best 1 for me?

McConks board selector reviews

Inflatable paddle boards and choosing teh right one can be tricky. There are LOTS of iSUPS in the marketplace. When we first had the idea of a web app questionnaire to simplify the complex issue of picking the best inflatable paddle board, we thought it was going to be easy. Oh how wrong we were! […]

McConks SUP boards to make the most of winter paddling.

McConks SUP boards to make the most of winter paddling.

McConks SUP boards to make the most of winter paddling. It’s coming! You know it is… Winter isn’t too far away. Before long those brown leaves will have been shed, air and water temperatures will have dropped with frosts making themselves known. Although we can’t halt winter there’ll be plenty of warmer days – relative to […]

Summer’s done: time to hang your SUP up, right?

Summers done time to hang your SUP up right

Pics: Chris Jones. At time of writing the UK is experiencing some late summer heat. With air temperature high, wind levels low and waters still relatively warm it’s certainly still possible to paddle in summer gear. For some, this’ll be all the sweeter with schools back and the majority working again – quiet beaches and […]

SUP fundamentals: paddles and paddling.

SUP defining areas: paddles and paddling.

SUP paddles and paddling define what stand up paddle boarding is. Yet the amount of new recruits that miss this is significant. It’s not hard to understand why. Of all stand up paddling’s component parts it’s boards which are biggest and so stand out most. Even after carefully perusing all potential gear conversations invariably to […]

Paddleboarding, weather and SUP safety – almost everything you need to know.

Paddleboarding and the weather (especially in the UK) go hand in hand like cheese and pickle (OK, we know not everyone likes pickle, but that’s life!). If you don’t know what’s going on with the weather you’ll never enjoy your stand up paddle boarding to its full potential. And from a safety point of view […]

Swedish winter SUP reel with Chris Jones (video).

Swedish winter SUP reel with Chris Jones (video).

Swedish winter SUP looks amazing. How do we know this? Well, take a look at Chris Jones’ images (which you can see more of in the McConks SUP community Facebook group here) and we think you’ll agree. There’s something quite special about sunny blue skies, glassy water, SUP, snow and ice together. The whole thing […]

SUP hack #23904: repairing an adjustable paddle shaft clamp (inner).

SUP hack 23904 repairing an adjustable paddle shaft clamp inner. 7

SUP hacks are extensive. Everyone has their own little ways of doing things to get stand up paddle boarding kit back in workable order. For this SUP hack, we look at adjustable paddles. More specifically we look at how to fix an adjustable paddle clamp. Shop inflatable paddle boards online – McConks online shop. Adjustable […]

Overseas SUP travel – travelling abroad with your stand up paddle board.

Overseas SUP – traveling abroad with your inflatable stand up paddle board.

Overseas SUP travel hasn’t been at teh top of anyone’s agenda for a while. For obvious reasons we’ve held off on publishing articles and posts about overseas. But as we emerge from lockdown, and some foreign destinations have opened (and continue to open) up, is it now time to consider hopping onto the continent (or […]

SUP hack #7732: know your basic wind related terminology and jargon.

SUP hack 7732 know your basic wind related terminology and jargon.

Wind can be the bane of many a stand up paddle boarders life. Especially if it’s blowing hard onshore, causing all manner of flotsam, waves and chop to form. Likewise, sideshore and offshore winds can also cause problems – especially offshore types. but hang on, what’s all this mean? Onshore, sideshore, offshore what? Seemingly simple […]

Inflatable SUP paddle board for beginners

SUP noobs

Are you a SUP noob? If so, these are the absolute basics you need to know Standup paddle boarding (SUP) is a fun relaxing and rewarding way to play on water. Relatively gear free, you can get out on the water, playing in river, or lakes or coastal waters. Stand up paddle boards (SUP) offer […]

Sunrise SUPin’ – autumn/winter style…

Sunrise SUPin autumn winter style... 1

Dragging the kids out of bed at dawn’s crack, to get on the SUP train for sunrise is made all the more worth it when you get a new day start like the one Team Fam McConks recently experienced. There’re no two ways about it: the weather’s closing in, days are getting shorter and the […]

Keep ya head up! – stand up paddle boarding’s ‘magic trick’.

Keep ya head up stand up paddle boardings magic trick.

Gazing down into the depths from atop your stand up paddle board and observing the bottom is common practise among all paddlers. It doesn’t matter whether you’re piloting inland waterways or coastal, the instinct to look down is natural. Yet stand up paddle boarding’s biggest ‘trick’ is being able to keep your head up. There’re […]

SUP hacks. Fixing your SUP pump pressure gauge

Fixing your SUP pump gauge

SUP hacks are designed to help all paddlers with potential ways of overcoming things during their stand up paddle boarding. Sometimes it’s about specific equipment hacks. While at other times is more generalist related to the sport you love. In this one we look at how to sort out a SUP pump pressure gauge. Shop […]

Making sense of it – SUP jargon and terminology

SUP terminology and phrases

SUP jargon and terminology can be unfamiliar. If you’re new to stand up paddle boarding then you may be wondering what all this new language and SUP related jargon is. Even if you’re a seasoned paddler some terminology may have gone straight over your head. With this in mind we’ve listed some of the more […]

SUP’s just SUP these days…isn’t it?

SUP just SUP scaled

Stand up paddle surfing, SUP racing, touring SUP, white water stand up paddle boarding, recreational paddling and so on…You’ve heard all the terms, no doubt read all the pigeon-holed descriptions and are probably aware of a few more disciplines within the discipline, so to speak. And that’s how it’s been since stand up’s renaissance in […]

SUP fundamentals – stand up paddle board stance types

SUP stance options scaled scaled

SUP fundamentals articles from McConks have always tried to guide stand up paddlers in the right direction. Where you stand on your SUP board can have a profound effect in terms of performance and feel – not least it can be the difference between staying dry and getting wet. Stance, as much as anything, is […]

Should I buy an inflatable or a rigid paddleboard?

McConks Go Further 14" inflatable SUP

The truth about inflatable paddleboard performance If you want to race at a high level, and enter sprint and endurance events, or be on the podium for surf SUP comps, you’re almost certainly going to need a quiver of hard boards. But for everyone else, an iSUP is ideal.  Let us tell you more. Despite […]

SUP River fins

Focus on iSUP fins

[siteorigin_widget class=”SiteOrigin_Widget_Hero_Widget”][/siteorigin_widget] SUP river fins – demystifying the whole thing. SUP river fins are a niche within a niche. We put together a blog article last year to demystify paddleboard fins.  We tried to turn all of the jargon into a short, simple article that anyone can understand, even if you don’t have a degree […]

Adjustable or fixed SUP paddles?

McConks 100% carbon SUP paddle

Fixed or adjustable SUP paddles. What SUP paddle do you need? Are you wondering about whether you need a fixed or an adjustable paddleboard paddle?   Do you struggle to understand the performance differences between 1 , 2 and 3 piece SUP paddles?  Don’t worry. You’re definitely not alone.  But fret not, this article will hopefully […]

SUP fins 101- all about them | McConks SUP.

Focus on iSUP fins

SUP fins are essential on surfboards and paddleboards, but lot’s of people don’t know why.  Everyone has a vague understanding that they help SUP go in a straight line and give control when surfing, but scratch much deeper, and most don’t understand how fins work.  So, we thought we’d put this blog together to help. The importance […]

SUP hack: separating a stuck stick (paddle).

SUP paddles are very similar to windsurf masts. And windsurfers have been battling with this problem for years. How to separate two pieces of carbon fibre/fibreglass that have seized up after a bit of neglect? Windsurf masts, as with two and three piece SUP paddles do have a habit of fusing sometimes. The two and […]

Yoga and SUP

SUP yoga for the soul

As someone who’s always enjoyed adventurous activities, I’ve had my fair share of broken bones, pulls and strains. The most significant of these being a broken shoulder about 8 years ago (dumped on a sand bar at Praar Sands after failing to commit/pop in a double overhead situation), and a broken neck when I was 18. […]

SUP hack: Stronger, faster, longer – upping your SUP game

George Jackson

It might not be in your game plan to be stronger, go faster or paddle for longer. Which is fine. After all, standup paddleboarding is meant to be a fun pastime, not a boot camp. But we keep being asked for advice from SUPers who’ve been in the game for a while, and who want […]

SUP hack: Time on the water – quantity over quality?

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The old saying: ‘need more time on the water’ is usually used when referring to required improvements in personal SUP performance. And there’s no question racking up the hours will pay dividends.  But is quantity more important than quality?  Is five days straight stand up paddle surfing in average conditions better than one session in groomed […]