How Strong is Your SUP? Drop Stitch Break Test!

What happens if you accidentally overinflate your inflatable paddle board? Will the drop stitching break? How much force does it take to break the drop stitching? What about "ballooned" iSUPs?
Inside every inflatable SUP is a core of drop stitch fabric. Two layers of knitted or woven fabric are connected with thousands of yarns that keep your board flat when inflated. The polyester material of the core is incredibly strong.
One square inch of your iSUP is likely to contain anywhere from 8-16 yarns, each capable of withstanding thousands of PSI before breaking, but at such small diameters it doesn't take thousands of pounds.
Rather, we've found that in an absolute worst-case scenario (our test!), it's going to take at least 35 PSI to damage the drop stitching, but in normal use, will take even more pressure than that to begin damaging your board's drop stitching. Your seams, however, may not make it that far depending on how they are made, the condition they are in, and the ambient temperature - so always follow your board's inflation guidelines!
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[@stevensmith1911]

Cool test. Thanks for doing it!

[@InflatableBoarder]

Glad you liked it!

[@junnr5941]

You didn't mention which brand of board your test piece came from.

[@InflatableBoarder]

This particular piece is from a Gili board. However, this inner drop stitch material (knitted fabrics with standard-stitch drop stitching) is used in many, many different brands.