Broke my 2nd paddle in 12 months yesterday, will admit they were no name brands, still carbon fibre blade, tee grip & carbon composite shaft, around $350.00 each. 1st was a 1 piece & 2nd an adjustable, both broke exactly in the centre. 1st broke in a late take off close out, yesterdays broke paddling for a wave, made it interesting right at the critical moment.

Is this a common problem? can anyone recommend a strong paddle.

There's nothing worse than worrying that your paddle might fail.. Especially if you're a long way from shore or it's blowing strong off shore.. That's why I've stuck with my Kialoa's.. I've seen a few that have broken but (touch wood) I've had a good run with them.. Any paddle can break but it's very rare these days for big brand paddles to break.. There are plenty of paddles out there now that I would trust like Quick Blade, KeNalu, Werner, ZRE, and even Naish, Starboard and Fanatic.. jut to name a few.. Give yourself some piece of mind and buy yourself a brand name paddle.

Also be careful how you treat carbon fiber.. Avoid knocks, drops, scratches and chips..

DJ

^^^ Agree with DJ - I broken a paddle shaft last year, and was going to try to repair it, also looked at buying a cheap alternative...decided to replace the shaft (which still cost about $250), but peace of mind is key when on the water.

I just broke my Kailoa Methane today near the top of the blade when I fell off mid round house cutback. Anyone know if I can buy just the blade and refit to the shaft?

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KennyK said...
I just broke my Kailoa Methane today near the top of the blade when I fell off mid round house cutback. Anyone know if I can buy just the blade and refit to the shaft?

Bummer.. You can just buy a new Kialoa shaft and swapping out the shaft is not that hard to do yourself.

Contact Sam Williams on 0415 769218

DJ

Get a fibreglass shaft & put a decent carbon paddle blade on to it?

I'm looking into making a laminated wooden shaft & reusing the carbon fibre blade & tee, be a nice back up paddle.

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TWs said...
I'm looking into making a laminated wooden shaft & reusing the carbon fibre blade & tee, be a nice back up paddle.

Check out the cool wood shaft in this vid.

DJ

Full carbon paddles are not unbreakable in fact they can be quiet vulnerable. It only takes a small impact from a sharp edge on your shaft that puts a tiny hair line crack in it and over time the shaft will fail at that point. I'm a Quickblade fan and yes I have broken a few but Quickblade gives an unconditional 12 month warranty , no matter how you broke it.

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Piros said...
Full carbon paddles are not unbreakable in fact they can be quiet vulnerable. It only takes a small impact from a sharp edge on your shaft that puts a tiny hair line crack in it and over time the shaft will fail at that point. I'm a Quickblade fan and yes I have broken a few but Quickblade gives an unconditional 12 month warranty , no matter how you broke it.

QB are not the only top end paddle brand that offer a 12 month warranty.
There is another brand that in addition offers a lifetime 'forever paddle policy' that will replace any broken component, at a considerably discounted rate, for as long as the orinigal owner has the paddle. I'm not allowed to mention the brand name, so do some research

It's not the shaft that broke guys it's the blade.
Broke just below the shaft socket.

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Deano72 said...

Piros said...
Full carbon paddles are not unbreakable in fact they can be quiet vulnerable. It only takes a small impact from a sharp edge on your shaft that puts a tiny hair line crack in it and over time the shaft will fail at that point. I'm a Quickblade fan and yes I have broken a few but Quickblade gives an unconditional 12 month warranty , no matter how you broke it.

QB are not the only top end paddle brand that offer a 12 month warranty.
There is another brand that in addition offers a lifetime 'forever paddle policy' that will replace any broken component, at a considerably discounted rate, for as long as the orinigal owner has the paddle. I'm not allowed to mention the brand name, so do some research

Why not , life time warranty is fantastic who is it please share.

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Deano72 said...

Piros said...
Full carbon paddles are not unbreakable in fact they can be quiet vulnerable. It only takes a small impact from a sharp edge on your shaft that puts a tiny hair line crack in it and over time the shaft will fail at that point. I'm a Quickblade fan and yes I have broken a few but Quickblade gives an unconditional 12 month warranty , no matter how you broke it.

QB are not the only top end paddle brand that offer a 12 month warranty.
There is another brand that in addition offers a lifetime 'forever paddle policy' that will replace any broken component, at a considerably discounted rate, for as long as the orinigal owner has the paddle. I'm not allowed to mention the brand name, so do some research

lrd

Can't afford quads......can't afford carbon paddles either

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KennyK said...
It's not the shaft that broke guys it's the blade.
Broke just below the shaft socket.

Yep that is a definite failure.

Looks like the shaft might be ok and you just need a new blade.. I'm not sure how possable that is.

Btw.. When you wipeout and fall onto your paddle and break it IMO it's not really a failure.

I would call a failure is when it breaks just from paddling.

DJ

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Piros said...

Deano72 said...

Piros said...
Full carbon paddles are not unbreakable in fact they can be quiet vulnerable. It only takes a small impact from a sharp edge on your shaft that puts a tiny hair line crack in it and over time the shaft will fail at that point. I'm a Quickblade fan and yes I have broken a few but Quickblade gives an unconditional 12 month warranty , no matter how you broke it.

QB are not the only top end paddle brand that offer a 12 month warranty.
There is another brand that in addition offers a lifetime 'forever paddle policy' that will replace any broken component, at a considerably discounted rate, for as long as the orinigal owner has the paddle. I'm not allowed to mention the brand name, so do some research

Why not , life time warranty is fantastic who is it please share.

Ke Nalu

The only problem is i have emailed twice about a warranty with no response

Anyone got a phone number for the aus distributer? pm would be appreciated

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Piros said...

Deano72 said...

Piros said...
Full carbon paddles are not unbreakable in fact they can be quiet vulnerable. It only takes a small impact from a sharp edge on your shaft that puts a tiny hair line crack in it and over time the shaft will fail at that point. I'm a Quickblade fan and yes I have broken a few but Quickblade gives an unconditional 12 month warranty , no matter how you broke it.

QB are not the only top end paddle brand that offer a 12 month warranty.
There is another brand that in addition offers a lifetime 'forever paddle policy' that will replace any broken component, at a considerably discounted rate, for as long as the orinigal owner has the paddle. I'm not allowed to mention the brand name, so do some research

Why not , life time warranty is fantastic who is it please share.

Two words......engilsh translation of Hawaian 'The Wave'
Another hint.....first word starts with a 'K'.....second word starts with an 'N'
As for why not....Laurie will spank me

I had a Kialoa break in exactly that spot but it happened when a newbie was using is and jammed it into a rock underwater and pushed off. That's not a failure, it's using a paddle from a purpose it wasn't designed for. The other thing about carbon fibre paddles is they are extremely strong in one direction. Put too much pressure on them the wrong way and they will break.

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Piros said...
Full carbon paddles are not unbreakable in fact they can be quiet vulnerable. It only takes a small impact from a sharp edge on your shaft that puts a tiny hair line crack in it and over time the shaft will fail at that point. I'm a Quickblade fan and yes I have broken a few but Quickblade gives an unconditional 12 month warranty , no matter how you broke it.

Paddles break.(full stop) uI started sup in October last year. Snapped a Naish mikana mid shaft. The shop i bought it from (ocean addicts) replaced under warranty... It was 8 weeks old.

Just had a QB blade let go same place as the kioloa above. QB replaced The blade for me.

Both of mine snapped in sprint training. Full noise from A standing stop. They are fragile, I really hope my qb hangs in there now. If paddles are so lame they let go for no reason every few months, I either need to get a sponsor, or I'll go back to mx ( you can laugh....but it IS cheaper than sup).

hi,Carbon fiber is beautiful but also vulnerable it can not point load or against UV radiation (sun).
after a few years become the fiber brittle! or you are going to paint.
wooden padels do not suffer from the sun,orpoint load, only weight is heavier.
so, I make hollow Wooden paddle!
lighter (+ / - 700 grams).
stiffer (should contain 5 parts).
stronger (horizontal tested with 120 kg).it doesn'nt break
weight distribution is better (most carbon blade is heavy and light stick).
and it looks good.
the edge I use kevlar (impact resistant).
facebook:hilmanmeubelen(more pic.)

"Paddles break full stop".sorry I can't agree with that one Stephen.
I have three paddles that I use for different purposes. Southpoint (Kalama) 9" that I have had for 6 years and apart from a few scratches is as good as new. This is used for nearly everything. Fanatic carbon 80, 8" used for surfing is 12 months old and is as good as new. No name 8" used by anyone who wants to try SUP over 4 years old and a few scratches only.
I am sure that paddles break if they are subjected to forces or situations they were not designed for this applies to most things.
As stated earlier by Hilmanpaddle the makeup is fragile. To me his means looking after your paddles.
After use wash them down in fresh water and cover them. Do not leave them in sunlight for extended periods and definitely never use them as a lever or subject them to undue stress. This will weaken them and cause them to break at the point of flex.
In short look after them. It is bit like wrapping your leg rope around your fins it will cause it to break at the point where it wraps across your fins.
ET.

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hilly said...

Anyone got a phone number for the aus distributer? pm would be appreciated

Thanks fixed

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hilmanpaddle said...
hi,Carbon fiber is beautiful but also vulnerable it can not point load or against UV radiation (sun).
after a few years become the fiber brittle! or you are going to paint.
wooden padels do not suffer from the sun,orpoint load, only weight is heavier.
so, I make hollow Wooden paddle!
lighter (+ / - 700 grams).
stiffer (should contain 5 parts).
stronger (horizontal tested with 120 kg).it doesn'nt break
weight distribution is better (most carbon blade is heavy and light stick).
and it looks good.
the edge I use kevlar (impact resistant).
facebook:hilmanmeubelen(more pic.)

They look like really nice paddles Hilman.......and a a
charming vid about them also

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E T said...
"Paddles break full stop".sorry I can't agree with that one Stephen.
I have three paddles that I use for different purposes. Southpoint (Kalama) 9" that I have had for 6 years and apart from a few scratches is as good as new. This is used for nearly everything. Fanatic carbon 80, 8" used for surfing is 12 months old and is as good as new. No name 8" used by anyone who wants to try SUP over 4 years old and a few scratches only.
I am sure that paddles break if they are subjected to forces or situations they were not designed for this applies to most things.
As stated earlier by Hilmanpaddle the makeup is fragile. To me his means looking after your paddles.
After use wash them down in fresh water and cover them. Do not leave them in sunlight for extended periods and definitely never use them as a lever or subject them to undue stress. This will weaken them and cause them to break at the point of flex.
In short look after them. It is bit like wrapping your leg rope around your fins it will cause it to break at the point where it wraps across your fins.
ET.

horses for courses ET. I'd say you've had a good run.

Could be because I don't charge like younger guys. However, I do paddle hard and go for as many waves as I can.
Maybe it is just luck like you say.
ET.

I've still got a GSI paddle that came free with my first board in 2008. The kids use it now and it's still going strong. I've also got Quickblade and Kiakaha paddles that have lasted longer than 2 years. The only paddle I've ever snapped was a custom. But to be fair to the builder, it was early days in his paddle building business and probably still experimental. I never wash my paddles but they do go straight into a cover after use.

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E T said...
Could be because I don't charge like younger guys. However, I do paddle hard and go for as many waves as I can.
Maybe it is just luck like you say.
ET.

Lucky and good care for sure.

I have also snapped two surf ski race paddles too. One had an obvious nick out of it (it came with my first ski) and thought it would break at some stage, and then a friends when he insisted i tried his new fast fishing kayak.... i dug it in deep to catch a runner and came up with no blade .... oops...

For that reason i am very carefull with mine, but there are the obvious issues with mass manufacturing... i know what large manufacturer had an issue with shafts not being inserted into blades far enough causing snappage... it happens, i hope my bad run is over!

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DavidJohn said...
Looks like the shaft might be ok and you just need a new blade.. I'm not sure how possable that is.

Btw.. When you wipeout and fall onto your paddle and break it IMO it's not really a failure.

I would call a failure is when it breaks just from paddling.

DJ

Yeah, after thinking about it, I reckon the paddle snapped causing me to fall. I had the paddle planted for the roundhouse with a fair but of weight applied to it, just started coming round then the paddle let go and I fell. I had it, as usual, planted back to front. Do you think that would be the problem? Are paddles weaker back to front than right way around? It's just when planting the paddle for a turn it's natural to plant it back to front as that is the way it is in your hands. Otherwise you'd be turning it around all the time between paddling and turning. Any thoughts?