I know there's lots of topics here on broken paddles, but can't quite see any on my exact problem.
Mine is a pretty expensive fanatic full carbon - nearly 2 years old and very well used.
I noticed an awful sound a couple of times in the surf this morning and now (with my eyes on) can see very fine crack and also a couple of spots where resin seems to be simply failing. It's all right in middle of the shaft where my hand holds on.
Is there anything I can do at this point (before it completely fails and snaps) or is it all too late and I just have to save up for another?
I thought a full carbon paddle would last longer than this, but as with my boards, I guess I probably get 2-3 times more use than most people.
if it has a visible crack then its probably too late and will not be far from catastrophic failure, you could wind the shaft with carbon (and epoxy) but will likely add weight and may not actually give you much more life. If you use this paddle a lot and push it pretty hard a couple of years isn't too bad. Lightweight carbon paddles do have a limited life due to carbon not liking to bend, you tend to lose fibres over the life of the paddle until there just isn't enough left to hold it together. Despite it being cheaper glass paddles or carbon paddles with +40% glass tend to last a lot longer than a full carbon paddle as the glass has a lot more flex in each fibre before failing so you don't tend to lose strength over time.
If it was my paddle I would cut it through where the crack is, sleeve it then glue it back together and put a wrap of woven fibreglass tape over the join, 100mm width. Prior to rejoining the shaft I would slip some glue impregnated heat shrink over it, 150mm length to stop any fibreglass itch, shrink it when the jobs done to hide the ugly. I would use my lathe to turn down the sleeve, probably out of western red cedar leaving a little space for the west system epoxy to bond along the length of the sleeve. Scuff up any surface you want epoxy to adhere to. Make the sleeve hollow if you can to save weight.
Thats my fix based on what I have in my shed. I would not be happy to give up on a paddle thats done many kms with me. Its going to change the balance, bend characteristics and everything else about the paddle. Maybe I could live with it, maybe not, dont know until you try.
Others must have had this issue, I am curious about their solution.
cheers,
Darryn
Don't use it anymore as it is!!!
If it breaks while you hare holding it, carbon shards can wreak havoc in you hand (think urchin spikes that are too brittle to be extracted)
I would just sand it and wrap in fiberglass (or carbon) + epoxy to use it while waiting for a new one. Or at the minimum wrap in in a lot of duct tape.
Note that I have repaired a broken paddle and still use it for cruising, so it can be used for quite a long time too. The repair makes for a nice reference point on the paddle for a consistent movement. The trick is to try to wrap the glass with some tension: I glued end of a cloth tape to the shaft (on 1/2"), waited to harden, and rolled around the shaft and wetted with resin under tension (weight attached to the other end with a rope + pulley + bucket), and let it harden under tension. This ways the repair will not tend to detach itself with all the repeated flexions of the shft.
Select to expand quoteEToriginal said..
I can see very fine crack and also a couple of spots where resin seems to be simply failing. It's all right in middle of the shaft where my hand holds on.
Is it the actual carbon cracking of the Fanatic painted logo (white). I have one as well and the paint is full of micro cracks indeed (paint must be stiffer/more brittle than the shaft itself). Post of photo so we can see.Select to expand quoteKenoo said..
if it has a visible crack then its probably too late and will not be far from catastrophic failure, you could wind the shaft with carbon (and epoxy) but will likely add weight and may not actually give you much more life. If you use this paddle a lot and push it pretty hard a couple of years isn't too bad. Lightweight carbon paddles do have a limited life due to carbon not liking to bend, you tend to lose fibres over the life of the paddle until there just isn't enough left to hold it together. Despite it being cheaper glass paddles or carbon paddles with +40% glass tend to last a lot longer than a full carbon paddle as the glass has a lot more flex in each fibre before failing so you don't tend to lose strength over time.Select to expand quoteKenoo said..
Lightweight carbon paddles do have a limited life due to carbon not liking bend, you tend to lose fibres over the life of the paddle
???? Carbon has an infinite life as opposed to metals. I would put down failure of paddles to the following but limited life under normal use:
- overloading
- abuse through repetitive knocking usually handling it in car/garage etc
- poor manufacturing process
- resin creep
im a boat builder and have worked with carbon and epoxy a lot
get yourself an offcut of paddle or fishing rod approx. 100mm to 150mm long cut it in half to give yourself a patch to cover the crack
you will then need to shape it a bit by putting sand paper on your paddle and sanding the offcut to the shape of the outside diameter of your paddle
then get some good quality 24 hour epoxy and glue it over the crack and tape or clamp it on
when dry give it a light sand to clean up
job done
this will work i guarantee it
Hugo
something i forgot say is sand the paddle to key up the area around the crack
give everything a good clean with acetone before glueing
good luck
Hugo
Thanks everyone, this site is so good and you guys so helpful.
I hope I'm able to repay the favours myself one day.
I've attached a photo, hard to capture detail, but there is at least 3 little cracks and a few spots where it looks chipped? 
I do have a small off-cut I kept (just under 100 mm long)
I also have plenty of WS epoxy left over from my wooden sup build.
I might try your suggestion Hugo.
And probably just use it for muck around/grand kids fun paddles as you said Colas.
I do push it hard in the surf and don't wish to end up with urchin spikes in my hand!
Pity, it was a nice paddle.
Anyone have experience with the less expensive ones advertised lately? (I don't want to/can't really spend another $400-$500 at the moment)
I've successfully sleeved my 'oval shaped' paddle shaft. Fortunately I was on my second shaft so simply cut a 200mm long mid-section of the old broken section, cut it lengthwise and epoxied/clamped it over where I had cut the broken ends off and re-joined the shaft.
2 years on and I'm still using it as my main surf paddle.
Don't forget when you do the repair splice the cut at 45deg to spread the load on booth the shaft and on the end of the pice of shaft you will be using for the repair to spead the load. I would also cut any damaged carbon out as this will remove the chance for cracks to creap and spread.
Geez ET, you're hard on the gear mate. Once again, too many waves methinks.
I like Hugo's method as an easy fix, you don't want carbon in your skin so do it pronto.
I've got a spare adjustable if you want to borrow it in the meantime. 
Select to expand quoteHugoSimpson said..
a good clean with acetone
NEVER, EVER, use acetone on composites!
Either you just apply it, and it evaporates before being efficient (and making damages), or you apply enough and it will dissolve not the resin itself but the included additives (for anti UV etc) leaving micro cracks that will shorten the glassing life and can make it porous. Plus its fumes are heavily toxic.
I recommend one pass of solvent F (or white spirit etc) to remove the fat-based substances, than one pass with alcohol for the rest.
While I agree that fix it sooner than later in my experience and advice on various items longitudinal hair line stress cracks may not cause a high risk of breakage. It's the horizontal cracks that are high risk.
Longitudinal cracks would most likely fail over the length of the shaft in an idea situation.
Select to expand quoteRob11 said..
???? Carbon has an infinite life as opposed to metals.
Eventually it's going to turn into a diamond, but you might have to wait a while.
Select to expand quoteRob11 said..EToriginal said..
I can see very fine crack and also a couple of spots where resin seems to be simply failing. It's all right in middle of the shaft where my hand holds on.
Is it the actual carbon cracking of the Fanatic painted logo (white). I have one as well and the paint is full of micro cracks indeed (paint must be stiffer/more brittle than the shaft itself). Post of photo so we can see.Kenoo said..
if it has a visible crack then its probably too late and will not be far from catastrophic failure, you could wind the shaft with carbon (and epoxy) but will likely add weight and may not actually give you much more life. If you use this paddle a lot and push it pretty hard a couple of years isn't too bad. Lightweight carbon paddles do have a limited life due to carbon not liking to bend, you tend to lose fibres over the life of the paddle until there just isn't enough left to hold it together. Despite it being cheaper glass paddles or carbon paddles with +40% glass tend to last a lot longer than a full carbon paddle as the glass has a lot more flex in each fibre before failing so you don't tend to lose strength over time.Kenoo said..
Lightweight carbon paddles do have a limited life due to carbon not liking bend, you tend to lose fibres over the life of the paddle
???? Carbon has an infinite life as opposed to metals. I would put down failure of paddles to the following but limited life under normal use:
- overloading
- abuse through repetitive knocking usually handling it in car/garage etc
- poor manufacturing process
- resin creep
The Carbon in itself does not break down however to make the carbon workable it is made using tiny fibres, this also allows a certain amount of flex. Despite this however carbon still doesn't like to bend. In the end a lot of it comes down to how much flex is in the composite. An item made using a carbon composite that is made super stiff with almost no flex will as you say last almost indefinitely as there is little to no fibre breakage over time. The problem is paddles and paddle shafts especially are made to flex to a degree and thus over time the little fibres fail at the point of most flex, the little micro breaks build up and eventually the paddle fails (generally the shaft as it has the most flex). Small nicks and poor manufacturing obviously don't help but inevitably a carbon paddle will fail. The length of time it takes to fail often depends on the points you have made along with how much flex in the paddle shaft (more flexible more of the fibres will tend to break). This comes from over 30 years manufacturing experience using all types of high performance composites in Canoes, Kayaks, Paddles and SUP along with much of that time as an elite athlete using the equipment (Canoe & Kayak).
Long time reader, first time poster.
I noticed a crack in my paddle 2 surfs ago & then forgot about it for the next surf. Now I have 2 paddles (one with a blade & the other with a handle)!
The good news is I broke it on my last wave as I was paddling to catch it. And it gets better, I then backed over it. 
With the advice on this post I will now repair it & use it for a flat water cruiser.
BTW this is the fourth paddle I have broken while surfing although 2 of those were on shallow sandbanks (paddle hitting bottom while falling off). The other 2 were from just general surfing although I use the paddle a lot to brace as where I surf we often have confused swells with short wave periods (a bit like me actually).
Select to expand quoteARVY said..
Long time reader, first time poster.
I noticed a crack in my paddle 2 surfs ago & then forgot about it for the next surf. Now I have 2 paddles (one with a blade & the other with a handle)! The good news is I broke it on my last wave as I was paddling to catch it. And it gets better, I then backed over it.
With the advice on this post I will now repair it & use it for a flat water cruiser.
BTW this is the fourth paddle I have broken while surfing although 2 of those were on shallow sandbanks (paddle hitting bottom while falling off). The other 2 were from just general surfing although I use the paddle a lot to brace as where I surf we often have confused swells with short wave periods (a bit like me actually).
Welcome to the breeze paddle snap
Sorry to keep on about it, but I really miss my fanatic paddle.
I've discovered it really does make a difference using other paddles! - almost like using a different board.
Thanks to Brenno (who I now owe quite a few beers) I have a piece of carbon shaft that will fit perfectly inside my fanatic shaft.
QUESTION - is it advisable to now cut my paddle shaft (at the point of cracks) insert an off cut of Brenno's old skinnier shaft and glue it all together?
I have some WS epoxy for this.
Would this work? - At least until I can afford to buy another quality paddle?
