Inflatable Paddle Board recalls – But NOT Red Paddle Co

Our facility is climate controlled because humidity plays havoc with materials and adhesives. There have been many times over the years where we have made investigative visits to other manufacturers and been horrified by the complete lack of control around temperature and humidity and general conditions. It’s the number one thing to get right. If you can’t control the environmental conditions, then you can’t build a consistent product, regardless of if there is a Typhoon or periods of extreme temperatures (both hot and cold). We would often see a lack of cleanliness in and around the production area. Dust and loose material mixes easily with adhesives and creates further issues. We’ve always aimed for a level of cleanliness that is more like a laboratory. No outside footwear is allowed and only tables that you’d be happy to eat your dinner off are allowed to be used for board building. These are the very basic controls. We closely control the temperature and humidity not only in the areas where we make the boards but also in the material storage and final finished product areas. Doing this means we can be clinical in the build process and design out fail points.    

All inflatable boards use some element of adhesive. Don’t believe those that say they have fully welded boards or that by some magic they don’t use adhesives – it’s just not true. A good mix of welding and adhesives will give you the best result. We found that there was no off-the-shelf adhesive that could withstand the heat and pressure that an inflatable SUP board must endure. Therefore, we work with experts to create custom adhesives that steer away from nasty additives. By creating our own custom adhesives we ensure they are REACH Compliant and can withstand abuse. 

Handling adhesives is an important part of the board building process. It needs to be mixed correctly and it has a short “pot life” (the amount of time before it is no longer effective). Mixing adhesives takes time and precision. We’ve seen large batches of adhesives made up in some facilities to speed up the production of boards and extend the time between mixing sessions. The likelihood is that by the end of the shift the adhesive is no longer effective, and any product made in this period will fail. Over the years we have reduced the quantity of each batch to get tighter and tighter controls and therefore improve quality and consistency of the finished product.  

It’s not easy to make a good board but it is easy to rush through a high number to hit targets and make a quick sale. We don’t set any targets for finished boards, and we don’t pay piece rates (where staff are paid per number of finished products). With no clear process or the wrong process, you quickly lose control. Every stage of building a Red Paddle Co board is controlled. This is not a mass-produced inflatable paddle board product. It doesn’t matter if it is checking incoming material or parts, or the many detailed QC stations along the way, each step has a clear process and clear resolution action if issues are found. 

This does mean it takes longer to build a Red board and while, just like any product, we still get the occasional isolated issue, it does mean we can be confident we aren’t walking ourselves into widespread issues that require a recall. It also means we can sleep at night knowing we are doing everything in our power to make the best products that our customers are taking out onto the water. For us, it is about quality, safety and performance. When we started in 2008 it was about creating a solution to allow people to paddle without compromise. We wanted to inspire adventures on the best boards available. We weren’t jumping on a bandwagon, we were setting our own course and coming up with innovative solutions. Nothing has changed.  

Our in-season warranty rates are below 0.5%, which when you consider our boards are sold in over 50 countries and used by water sports schools and beach clubs, this is a number we are exceptionally proud of. This is the reason we can offer a 5-year warranty. We’ve been making boards for 15 years and have data and experience that allowed us to commit to this level of cover. It's concerning when you see companies offering extended warranties that are longer than the company has been trading for. We didn’t offer an extended warranty from day 1. We wanted to learn and improve everything we did until the data showed us that we could offer an extended term that wouldn’t sink the ship and we weren’t over promising and under delivering. Even after 5 years of use we see warranty rates of below 2 %, which is a phenomenal result for a hand-built product that is used in some of the harshest environments on earth. Despite these low rates we still have a dedicated customer experience team who are on hand to support and guide customers and offer quick support if needed.

I hope that has shone some light onto what makes Red, Red and why we do what we do. We are a passionate team of paddlers who continue to focus on the things that matter the most.  

If you are caught up in one of the inflatable paddle board recalls and would like to talk to us then please don’t hesitate to get in contact. We will respond quickly.