Hi Christine,

Thurso boards are exceptionally durable; they’ve hold up extremely well for us and we’re definitely not gentle on them. My only suggestion would be to maybe consider the Water Walker 126 if you’ll occasionally be bringing kids or passengers along – it’ll just give you a little extra volume but won’t take away any maneuverability.

A big thanks to you and your team for the amazing tests and reviews for this paddle board and many others. I saw on your iRocker Q&A where many people have asked you to recommend between the WaterWalker and iRocker …but usually you emailed them directly so the rest of us couldn’t read 😉 Anyhow, we have similar questions and hope that you can help us make our decision. We have a friend with the WaterWalker 126 so we have tried it many times this summer and love it. I like the 3 fins on the WaterWalker but appreciate the electric pump that comes with the iRocker. We also like the wheels on the Thurso bag for travelling ease.

My husband and I are beginners at paddle boarding but we often ski in the winter and kayak in the summer. We both are petite people (height less than 5”6 and weight less than 130lbs) so we are looking at smaller boards such as the WaterWalker 120, the iRocker all-around 10, and iRocker Cruiser Ultra 10.6. We are looking for a good balance among carrying weight, stability, and manoeuvrability, especially as we get older and lose our balance and strength. We hope to travel around North America as well as the world and kayak as much as possible. Our plan is mostly to solo kayak on lakes, rivers and hopefully explore seashores eventually, with the occasional kneeling and standing up on our own board. Periodically our children and friends may paddle in tandem on pretty smooth waters. We are older and hope to use these boards for at least 10 years with about 10-15X/year usage, well into our retirement when our balance will decrease. Should we stick with these smaller boards, as we will mostly use them for kayaking? Is kayaking easier and faster with the narrower WaterWalker 120?

All the boards (WaterWalker 120, Rocker all-around 10, and iRocker Cruiser Ultra 10.6) seem very well made but the WaterWalker has the additional carbon sidings. Which board should we get, especially in terms of durability?

Thank you so much in advance.