My plan was to use this pump a couple of times, write the review (pretty much as it is below) and then publish it on my site. Various things got in the way of me doing this and since I started writing the review below I’ve used the pump at numerous locations including Dumbrock Loch, Luss, Camusdarach and a still-to-be-written-about trip to Auchinstarry.
In Summary: It’s a great bit of kit, saves a LOT of effort and packs up small enough to stick it into my SUP bag.
Read on if you want…
There’s no denying that the TITAN II pump that comes with my Red Board isn’t an amazing piece of kit.
The instructions that came with the board referred to the Titan 1 and therefore didn’t really explain how to use the wee red valve, just under the (removable) handles.
Your board gets pumped up really quickly as both chambers are used but as the board pressure rises, so does the effort involved in pumping. Turning the red valve closes one of the chambers and makes it a bit easier to pump. Didn’t realise this when I went for a paddle on the canal at Blairdardie and managed to somehow catch my wedding tackle on a downward stroke. Painful. Very painful. I might write in detail about that another time when I’m over the shock.
Even with the valve turned down to 1, Ii still requires a bit of effort though and I got my other half to have a go at pumping up the board last week at Bowling and after about 13Psi it got to be a real struggle for her. Would be even trickier for the kids.
I don’t mind using the TITAN II, but an electric pump seemed like a good shout.
This tied in very nicely to a post I saw on the Sup Hub Scotland Facebook page where Rebel Leisure were offering their Lithium Battery Air Pumps (rrp £139, currently discounted to £99) for only £70 in exchange for a review. Was happy to jump onto that offer!
I’ve never reviewed anything like this before, so bear with me…
What attracted me to this pump over other similarly priced models I was looking at was that it’s rechargeable, meaning you can charge it up and not be reliant about plugging it into your car socket and I can leave the Titan II at home. This greatly reduces the bulk of my Red Board setup because typically, the Titan II gets rolled up in the board. It also comes with a car power cable so you can inflate your board at the car too.
So, what’s in the box:
With a camping trip to Arisaig on the very near horizon and space in the car being at a premium, the Rebel pump would be perfect to take with us. I didn’t want to try it for the first time up there so decided to have a trial inflation in my back garden.
First attempt, it didn’t seem to get above 6.9PSi. Turned out the ‘default’ valve connectors didn’t like my Red board inflation socket. Tried a couple of different combinations and got a decent connection. It doesn’t click into place solidly like a normal pump does…kind of feels it just sits in there. I think I must have wasted about half the battery before I realised that some air was escaping. It’s also worth checking the hose is still connected correctly as it seemed to shift slightly throughout inflation.
Once I had the right fitting on the hose, it seemed to blow up pretty quickly. Like most pumps it’s hellishly noisy though. Not looking forward to disturbing the peace at Camusdarach Campsite blowing the board up, but I guess I’ll only need to do it once.
The pump specification claims that one charge can “inflate up to 3 10ft 6″ boards”. Hard to tell because of the first inflation fail I had but I reckon it’s probably good for 2 boards.
So, after the first failed attempt and then an inflation to 16Psi, the battery was almost chanked. It comes with a mains charging cable which is good, although even when the charger is switched off at the wall and connected to a fully charged pump, the charging light stays on so I wouldn’t be keen to leave it all plugged in overnight charging up.
So, after working all of this out and getting used to how the pump operates it’s become a necessary and very useful part of my kit. It’s handy being able to get the board inflated while I muck about getting everything else ready and whilst a 6 minute inflation time is pretty good, I do find I’m hanging about a bit waiting on my board to inflate fully. I think that’s what you may call a “First World Problem”…
Pros
- At under £100 the price seems reasonable
- Compact enough to fit into your SUP bag
- 2 hr charge time AND plugs into your car lighter socket
- Doesn’t need to be plugged into power to work
Cons
Splitting hairs as there really aren’t any, but…
- Instructions could be a bit more detailed, especially around the different valve sizes
- Noisy (although I think most pumps are)
- Slightly worrying power drip from device to charging cable when not plugged in
