Freein Overall 11 Inflatable Paddleboard – Test and Review

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Updated May 8th, 2024

The Freein Overall 11 is a good all around paddleboard for around $500. It has stiff 2 layer PVC construction and comes with a better hand pump and paddle than most boards at this price. We got a chance to try out the Freein Overall and like its value and performance. The board is excellent for beginner paddlers or anyone who wants an easy to paddle relaxing board. It’s not a board overloaded with a lot of handles and accessory mounts. Keep reading to get our full review of the Freein Overall inflatable stand up paddle board.

Video Review

Features of the Freein Overall 11 paddle board

We got an Orange Freein Overall to try out. This board comes with a fiberglass paddle and a double barrel hand pump that aren’t common at the price the Overall sells for. The Freein Overall is an uncluttered board that doesn’t have a lot of mounts and handles.

It’s clear that Freein put the focus on the things that most paddlers will use. Everyone uses the paddle. Most paddleboarders use the hand pump when starting out. They gave you no frills good stiff board construction. They left off features that most people won’t actually use. This is in line with their company mission. They have done a good job at creating one of the best value $500 inflatable paddleboards out there.

Basic Specs

The Freein Overall is an 11′ x 33″ x 6″ inflatable paddleboard. The board weighs 23.8 lbs. It has a weight capacity of 265 lbs. I think it can comfortably handle more weight than that. The board shape widens out and carries its max width for a large amount of the board.

Price

The board retails for $299 on the Freein website making it an incredible value. You can use our discount code NEW30 to get $30 off of the board bringing the total to $269. The Freein Overall is only available directly from Freein. They do not sell it on Amazon.

Warranty

Freein offers a 2 year warranty on their board, pump, and accessories.

Paddleboard Personalization

Freein has a personalizer on their website that will let you customize the appearance of the Overall. You can upload photos to use for the front and back of the board. You can select the color for the deck pad. You can choose the color for the rails and bungees. I’ve never seen another paddleboard vendor offer this. It is not cheap. A personalized Freein Overall will set you back $999 instead of $500. The option to do it is available here.

Construction

The Freein Overall uses a conventional double layer PVC laminate construction. This produces stiff boards without too much weight penalty. The board’s construction looks clean. This board is on the plain side without a lot of handles and accessory mounts. You can tell that is the area they chose to save cost to get these boards down to their price point.

Board Stiffness

One of the ways to measure how well an inflatable board is made and how well it will perform is how stiff it is. To measure this we set the board up on 2 stands 8 feet apart. We loaded the board up with 120 lbs of weight and measured how much the board deflected under load.

The Freein Overall deflected 1.4 inches in our test. Most 2 layer boards we have tested deflected 1.4-1.6 inches. Freein has done a good job with board construction to produce a board with competitive stiffness.

The table below shows a comparison of some of the boards we have tested.

Deck Pad

The deckpad has a diamond pattern to it. It extends forward a little bit past the center handle. It doesn’t go to the front bungee storage area. It extends rearward to the back of the board. There is a small break in the pad in front of the rear bungee. The traction pattern is the same for both the front and rear parts of the pad.

We would like to see the deck pad extend farther forward for people who will use the board for SUP yoga. The pad is shorter in the forward direction than most other all around paddle boards.

Handles, D-Rings, action mount, and bungee cords

This board is not overloaded with handles, D-Rings, and mounts. It has 3 handles. One at the front, middle, and rear of the board. There is a bungee cord at the front and one at the rear for storing gear. It has 15 D-Rings. 2 at the nose of the board. A set for the front and rear bungees. A set in the middle for attaching a seat. A D-Ring at the rear for attaching the leash.

There is one action mount at the nose of the board. The action mount on this board uses M6 threads.

3 Removable fins

The board has 3 removable fins. The center removable fin uses a standard US Fin box with a finger bolt to hold the fin in place. The 2 smaller fins use similar finger bolts. You can customize the performance of the board by leaving off the smaller fins. You can change to a different center fin.

The finger bolts in the fins are not attached to the fins and can fall out. They are tricky to find if you drop one in the grass. Pay attention when installing and removing the fins to not lose one. You can use the included dry bag to store the fins inside the roller bag so you won’t lose the bolts in the bottom of the bag.

Windsurfing Mast foot Insert

There is a windsurfing mast foot installed in the board to use with a windsurfing rig. There is not a center fin on the board so it won’t work for windsurfing or wing boarding except to go downwind only.

Airsup makes a kit for adding a middle fin box to inflatable paddleboards for $30. You could add that to this board plus a fin and have a windsurf or wing ready board. See our article on Windsup to learn more about windsurfing and stand up paddleboarding with one board.

Air7 US Center Box Fin System for inflatable SUP

SUP Accessories

The Freein Overall comes with a roller backpack, fiberglass paddle, double barrel pump, ankle leash, repair kit, and a dry bag. The accessories are all equal or better than what you would expect to find at this price point. I don’t know of another under $500 inflatable stand up paddle board that comes with a double barrel hand pump and fiberglass paddle.

Fiberglass Paddle

The paddle has a black fiberglass shaft and color matching plastic blade. The length adjuster uses a sliding pin system similar to windsufing booms. These have proven to work really well for a long time on windsurfing equipment. The paddle has a good feel to it. It’s stiff enough. The blade shape is okay for a 3 piece paddle. It’s a large step up from any aluminum paddle.

Double Barrel Triple Action Hand Pump

The hand pump is a double barrel triple action design. The dial to change modes is easy to read and the modes are in order. As you inflate you turn the knob to each mode. The pump can inflate and deflate by screwing the hose into different ports. I was able to hand inflate the board in 5 minutes and 45 seconds with this pump. It works pretty good for inflating this board.

My only complaint about this pump is the pressure gauge. I prefer gauges that show green for the properly inflated air pressure. For this board that is 15-18psi according to what is written on the air valve. The gauge shows a green band from 0 to 18psi. This can be confusing for beginner paddlers because they don’t know that you need to inflate it to at least 15 psi.

Roller Backpack

The storage backpack has wheels. It has 2 hold down straps inside the bag. It doesn’t have any extra pockets on the bag. It does have 2 handles on the side which make it easier to carry up and down stairs.

The shoulder straps are nicely padded. There is no padding for your back.

The bag is a little on the small size for the board and pump that gets stored in it. It will fit but it takes some effort.

Ankle leash

A 10 foot coiled anke leash is included. It has a neoprene cuff. It is easy to put on and attach to the paddleboard.

Repair kit

A standard repair kit is included with patching material and a valve wrench.

Dry Bag

A 20 liter dry bag is included. This is useful for storing the fins so you can keep track of the hand bolts used to attach them to the board.

Setup and Inflation

Setup of the Freein Overall is easy and takes less than 10 minutes including pumping.

Find a nice smooth spot free of rocks, sticks and other things that could scratch or puncture the board. Roll out the board.

Inflate the board

Attach the air hose to the inflation port on the pump. This is the port on the body of the pump, not the handle. Attach the hose to the board by twisting it into the air valve.

The pressure gauge on the pump will not move until there is a few psi of pressure in the board. The board will look and feel fully inflated before the gauge moves. It’s not. You need to inflate it to 15 psi to have a stiff board that behaves like a rigid paddleboard.

Set the pump to mode 1 which is inflating both chambers on the up and down stroke. Pump as long as you can until its too difficult to pull up on the pump anymore.

Set the pump to mode 2. This is inflating both chambers only on the down stroke. Keep pumping now until it gets too difficult. You should see the air pressure gauge start to move during this stage. I can pump up to about 10 psi in this mode before it gets too difficult.

Set the pump to mode 3. This is inflating one chamber on the downstroke only. Keep pumping until you get to 15 psi. It took me 5 minutes and 45 seconds to get there with the included hand pump. This is one of my faster inflation times by hand pump of any board I’ve used.

Install the fins

Install the fins. Slide them into the fin boxes on the board and tighten up the hand bolts.

Install the ankle leash

Install the ankle leash on the rear most D-Ring. You can put the other end around your ankle or leg.

Put the paddle together

Put the paddle together. Slide the blade on until it snaps in place. Slide the handle in and set the length. Most people start with a paddle that is about a foot longer than they are tall.

You are ready to go.

Using an electric pump

You might find that using a hand pump to inflate an inflatable paddle board is really tiring. I do. I almost never use hand pumps except to time myself for reviews. The rest of the time I use an electric pump. You save your energy for paddling instead of wasting it all on pumping. Electric pumps are fast and easy to use. The fastest one I have tried can inflate this board in 8 minutes and 30 seconds. It will take you 3 minutes longer than pumping by hand. I don’t mind the extra time.

We use the Outdoor Master Shark 2. See my review of the Outdoor Master Shark 2 to learn more.

On water performance

The Freein Overall is a good performing all around board. We took the board out with a group of paddlers for a meetup we run. We had several beginners who have never tried standup paddleboarding before. We had a few very experienced paddlers.

The board is big and stable enough to be beginner friendly. A first time paddler will have no trouble standing up on it and paddling around. The 33 inch width is carried for a good chunk of the board’s length giving it extra stability. This is a good board for first time stand up paddleboarders.

In calm flat water with light or no breeze the board tracks very well and glides easily. The 3 fin setup works very well for making the board go straight without too much effort.

There was a decent amount of wind (15-20mph) and small chop blowing across the lake. When we got into less sheltered water conditions the board took some effort to paddle into the chop and wind. This is a large and wide board and not that heavy. It does get pushed around by the wind. Once it gets moving it will track well.

The board doesn’t feel like it’s spongy or bouncy when you are standing on it. It feels like it can push through waves rather than flex over and around them.

Heavy weight and paddlers

We tried the board with a large paddler that is right at the weight limit for the board. They had no trouble with it. The board can easily handle it’s 265 lb weight limit and a bit more. The board would work well for beginner larger paddlers.

Kayak conversion

We stuck a kayak seat on the Freein Overall and used a kayak paddle to turn it into a sit on top kayak. The setup works very well. It is easier to paddle around in kayak mode when there’s a lot of wind and chop to deal with. I enjoy kayaking on inflatable paddleboards. It’s worth trying if you want a different experience on the water than stand up paddle boarding.

See our article on converting your inflatable SUP into a kayak to learn more.

Deflation and packing

To put the SUP board away you follow the opposite steps from setting it up.

Let the board dry

I recommend letting the board completely dry out before rolling it up. This will keep the board from getting moldy and will make it last longer. If you are in a hurry, take the board back out at home and let it finish drying there.

Take the fins off

Take the fins off of the board. Be careful not to lose the bolts that hold the fins on.

Deflate the board

Deflate the board by pushing in the valve button and twisting it. The air will rush out.

You can lay down on the board to help squeeze more air out.

Hook up the air hose to the port on the pump handle for deflate. Pump the air out until you feel yourself pulling a vacuum in the board. If you use an electric pump that can deflate, use it instead.

This board is not that easy to get back into the bag. Make sure you get all the air out. It helps.

Roll the board up

Start rolling the board with a fold about a foot long. Roll with 1 foot folds to the back of the board. Leave the air valve open to squeeze any remaining air out while you are rolling it.

They include a strap for holding the board rolled. It is just barely long enough to work. If you haven’t rolled it tight enough to get the strap back on, you have no hope of getting it into the bag. Unroll and get it tighter. Once you have done it a few times you’ll figure it out and it won’t be as hard as the first time.

Put everything back in the bag

Put the paddle pieces into the bottom of the carry bag.

Slide the board into the carry bag. You have to slide the end in under the rigid part of the bag that holds the wheels. If you haven’t rolled it tight enough it won’t fit.

Lay the pump on top of the board and push it down. I put the base towards the bottom of the bag and the handle towards the top. Push it down and work the zipper closed.

The Verdict

The Freein Overall is a good value all around paddleboard. It is good for beginners or anyone who just wants an easy going board to cruise around on. It comes with a fiberglass paddle and double barrel pump that aren’t common at the $500 price point. I would recommend anyone looking for their first inflatable paddle board or a good value to check the Freein Overall out.

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