TreeLineBackpacker

The Wulf from Bote is a lightweight, affordable, and stable paddle board that’s design to provide a solid and reliable entry point for new paddle boarders. How does such an offering perform in the real world? Let’s take a look.

The Wulf comes in two sizes, a 10′ 4″ and 11′ 4″ model, each with an optional package bundle. Today I’m looking at the base package for the smaller 10′ 4″ model. The base package includes the board, a 3-Piece Adjustable aluminum paddle, a coiled leash, an aero fin, repair kit, hand pump, and a fabric backpack/travel bag. The board weighs 20 pounds (29 for the whole kit), carries up to 250 pounds, and retails for $499. The delux bundle includes an electric pump and varies in cost.

What I liked

Let’s start out with what’s most important with a beginner board. Is it actually beginner friendly? Well, actually, very much so. The Wulf has a wide 34″ standing deck, which provides good amount of stiffness and generous platform for the user. It feels stable on smooth and moderately choppy weather, with only a minor amount of wobbliness side to side when leaning. I did feel the deck flex considerably when larger waves and small chop came my way, but it wasn’t enough to create much instability and never caused me to fall. The shorter length of the board doesn’t affect the stability so much, but does provide a great boost to maneuverability in tight spaces. The board feels very responsive when turning, dragging the paddle, or just pushing forward. The lower overall weight also means it was relatively easy to get moving, and loading, carrying, and unloading the board was a breeze.

Setup is also very easy and user friendly. There is a nozzle that can be rotated into inflate position or opened up to remove air. The included pump simply locks in in place with a single quarter turn, and assuming the boards valve is in the correct position, doesn’t lose air if it gets disconnected. A few minutes of manual pumping and a quick connection of the fin, which slides in place and locks with a pin, and it’s ready to hit the water. The smaller internal volume means the board takes less time to inflate, but inflating will be a bit of a workout with the single stage pump included.

The overall quality of the kit included is much better than I expected for the price point. The board materials themselves are high quality, with a rugged deck, grippy surface texture, and a 2 year warranty that covers any manufacturer defects. The board is repairable and the included patch kit seems well rounded, though I haven’t had to use it yet. The fabric has held up well to getting dragged across rocks, downed trees, and even concrete, with only minor signs of use so far. The paddle was a pleasant surprise as well, with good stiffness and ergonomics, without the typical flimsy feeling clip and locks that I’m used to at this price point. The paddle comes in three sections and locks down with a satisfying click, and only has a tiny bit of rotational play in one section. The metal shaft is aluminum and surprisingly stiff. The paddle is a bit heavy, but that’s expected being a metal and fiberglass unit. The pump is sturdy enough for an included option, but does seems to have more sliding friction than I would prefer.

The included travel bag is actually quite nice. Packing the board up is surprisingly easy, as the bag provides plenty of space and the board rolls or folds up tightly without much fuss. There are internal straps for compression and stability, while the main compartment has plenty of space for fins, the pump, the paddle, and even some extra accessories. The build quality is pretty good, and it has padded shoulder and hip straps, each which are fully adjustable. It’s not the most comfortable pack, but most people don’t carry their boards very far, so this is O.K. in my eyes.

Storage and attachment points are plentiful, with the typical bungee straps up front, and d-rings space around the back of the board. There is also a clever Magnepod attachment in the center, which allows magnetic accessories to attach directly to it. It is all the typical attachment points one would need, with a couple of bonuses, without providing anything that’s unnecessary, which would have added weight and cost.

The included leash and carry handles are both very comfortable with soft, padded neoprene like linings and sturdy connection points that attach with tri-layer Velcro straps.

What I didn’t like

Tracking, the boards ability to stay in a straight line, is fairly mediocre in my experience. The board tends to sway somewhat heavily from left to right stroke, and can have an impact on it’s ability to stay in a straight line. From a stand still, the first two or three paddle strokes turn the board more than propel it, but once at speed it fares much better. The long, singular fin does an O.K. job on the water, but a couple of smaller accessory fins would have been a huge help here. The counter point here is the board turns and pivots quite well.

The board speed is similarly just O.K. The large fin creates a bit of drag, while the wider stance and slight flex in the deck puts more mass against the water in the center of the deck, which results in a board that isn’t as speedy as it otherwise could be. I think this is a fine trade-off for the stability, however, and is preferably on an entry level board over something that is fast but unstable.

Overall

The Wulf by Bote is an excellent entry level board. It’s easy to ride, easy to assemble, stable, and sturdy. At the given price it’s hard to fault it for quality or features, with an excellent included carry bag and leash. The build is quite good, despite having a little more flex than I prefer, and overall it’s extremely comfortable to ride with great grip and a padded surface. The included paddle is better than I expected, but the pump could use a little more work due to the single stage inflation and higher than average internal friction. It’s light weight, fast enough, and provides an excellent balance of cost, quality and performance. As a package, it’s easy to recommend the Wulf.

Highly Recommended.

Want to learn more about this product and their other offerings? You can check out their products Here. This is an affiliate link and can help us out. For a non affiliate link, check here.

For information on our rating system and our testing procedures, check out our About us/ Contact us page.

Big thanks to Bote for sending this over for review. We couldn’t do this without their help.

Our full disclosure can be found on our about us page. Thanks as always for reading! Don’t forget to follow our blog for future updates and reviews (link on the right also).

If you have any questions, comment below, send us an email, or find us on Twitter or Facebook (links on the right).

Share this: