Not saying it is a "bad" paddle. More the point that these things wait till the surf is pumping, then fall apart?

I snapped a paddle in the same spot, repaired it with some carbon sleeving and epoxy, still going strong

Bummer!.....bad timing hey.
It's been said on here before......all paddles can snap.
Some brands more often than others

At Ke Nalu, we're proud of the fact that we only see approximately 0.7% of our blades fail.....that's one in around 142.
Shafts are even better at 0.3% (one in 333).
That's pretty amazing considering how light our paddles are.
In the composites world it's an enviable track record!

The bonus is that the Ke Nalu component system means that only the blade requires replacing.
If it's less than 12 months old and you didn't do something stupid with it, it will be replaced under warranty.
Older than 12 months and the blade can be replaced under the Ke Nalu forever paddle policy at a generous discount.

Get yourself a Ke Nalu and you'll be stoked with it.....should something go wrong with it, we'll look after you

I had the same issue with a KeNalu breaking in the same spot. A very helpful KeNalu retailer on the northside of Sydney (no names Sam) not only sold me a generous discount the new blade but also spent some time removing the hold one, which wasn't easy and replacing with the new blade.

I have broken a couple other paddles and thrown them out.

Love my KeNalu I now have 2 of them

Yes, it has been a great paddle and I can't complain about the service and deal I got at Wind Surf 'N' Snow, Collaroy. Given the punishment I put these things through, it is a wonder it has not failed earlier. The paddle is probably well out of warranty at over a year of hard labour?

The big disappointment was that I just tuned the perfect fins in my also devastated Laird. I was having so much fun then like, "look Mum, no head"?

I should also thank the young girl paddling out who I pulled a backhand vertical out from when the thing went. First for not carrying on like can typically happen. Second, for grabbing the balde and giving it back to me with a smile. Guess we both now understand why my off the bottom went a bit flat?

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robbo1111 said..
I snapped a paddle in the same spot, repaired it with some carbon sleeving and epoxy, still going strong

I was thinking of doing the same thing. Glad to hear it worked! No big drama as I have some Bote Cote water based fast cure epoxy (really good stuff!), fillers and mat handy.

Shane... if you use epoxy on your Ke Nalu, you are defeating a great system.
The epoxy might be faster, but I'd hate to see you go that route.

Just use a heat gun to remove the broken part and replace the blade using the "forever paddle policy"

and... always have 2 paddles in your car. They only break when the surf is good

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supthecreek said..
Shane... if you use epoxy on your Ke Nalu, you are defeating a great system.
The epoxy might be faster, but I'd hate to see you go that route.

Just use a heat gun to remove the broken part and replace the blade using the "forever paddle policy"

and... always have 2 paddles in your car. They only break when the surf is good

Bugger, I have already filled the void in the blade and re-inserted it to the bit of stiffener/reinforcement left hanging out of the shaft. This alone should be enough to hold. At the momment, the part of the blade that is inserted into the shaft is still "as is" held with hot melt glue. I might just skip putting a glass sleave over this again. Given the quality of the epoxy and filler I have used, it should hold.

I need to check out the "forever paddle policy". If I was in Sydney I probably would have opted to buy/haggle a new blade, but it is harder to get one easily here in Newcastle. Likewise, I am keen to get back in the water! Then the shaft is getting on, so the better suggestion is like you said, get a spare whole paddle.

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surfershaneA said..

I need to check out the "forever paddle policy". If I was in Sydney I probably would have opted to buy/haggle a new blade, but it is harder to get one easily here in Newcastle. Likewise, I am keen to get back in the water! Then the shaft is getting on, so the better suggestion is like you said, get a spare whole paddle.

All forever paddle policy replacements are done direct with the distributor......not with the retailers.
Contact Ke Nalu Australia direct via the website.
Can send em to any postal address anywhere in the country!

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Deano72 said..

surfershaneA said..

I need to check out the "forever paddle policy". If I was in Sydney I probably would have opted to buy/haggle a new blade, but it is harder to get one easily here in Newcastle. Likewise, I am keen to get back in the water! Then the shaft is getting on, so the better suggestion is like you said, get a spare whole paddle.

All forever paddle policy replacements are done direct with the distributor......not with the retailers.
Contact Ke Nalu Australia direct via the website.
Can send em to any postal address anywhere in the country!

Now that's back up service

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Deano72 said..
Bummer!.....bad timing hey.
It's been said on here before......all paddles can snap.
Some brands more often than others

At Ke Nalu, we're proud of the fact that we only see approximately 0.7% of our blades fail.....that's one in around 142.
Shafts are even better at 0.3% (one in 333).
That's pretty amazing considering how light our paddles are.
In the composites world it's an enviable track record!

The bonus is that the Ke Nalu component system means that only the blade requires replacing.
If it's less than 12 months old and you didn't do something stupid with it, it will be replaced under warranty.
Older than 12 months and the blade can be replaced under the Ke Nalu forever paddle policy at a generous discount.

Get yourself a Ke Nalu and you'll be stoked with it.....should something go wrong with it, we'll look after you

It looks like the next thing "Killing Me Softly" - or maybe not so soft - is the misleading Ke Nalu " Forever Paddle Policy", blame passing and argumentirtive emails I have had to endure from this distributor.

After deconstructing what caused the blade to break the root problem was water saturating the foam in the blade causing it to deteriorate and not support the internal stiffener rod. This water was entering where the epoxy seal was incomplete. You can see some of the browned rotten foam in the bottom of the second photo. At the time I was researching the paddle, this factory fault was noted by a customer on Stand Up Zone. He was recommended by members promoting the brand to return it for a replacement.

Unfortunately, though I noticed my blade had the same fault before the retailer put the paddle together, it was the only one they had in stock, I had travelled from Newcastle to Sydney specifically to buy it, and I was desperate to get surfing. Had I have known at the time this would lead to the blade failing, I would have postponed the purchase.

Problem now for me is I am stuck with a broken blade that is hardly a few months out of warranty from a distributor who wants to blame anyone and anything but the underlying fault without to date offering any discount on a replacement whatsoever. My advice is if you notice your Ke Nalu blade is not sealed properly and has foam showing, get it back while it is still under warranty.

It also annoys me that I have posted so many positive threads and comments about the Ke Nalu paddle. Yet, despite the fact I also paid good money for the thing, when the thing fails I am forced to suffer the worst customer disservice possible.

I am sure now the distributor will post in defense of the product accusing me of anything he can conjure up. In response, I am more than happy to post detailed photos and description of the fault and consequences including other dramas I have had with the Ke Nalu component system.

Boy oh boy!!
Shane…..please, please thoroughly read this post.
This should all be very easy for you to get your head around.

Not quite sure how to respond to this considering all of my correspondence with you has been in an effort to help you out.
I can’t for the life of me think how you have found our ‘Forever Paddle Policy’ misleading.
It’s in black and white on our website, easy to find…..here’s an extract from the website:
“If your paddle is damaged by accident, improper use, or is out of warranty you can use the “Forever Paddle” form below to request special discount pricing on repair parts. You must supply both a photo of the damage and proof of purchase to qualify for the discount. If you purchased the paddle from our website, your name and approximate purchase date is sufficient. If you bought from a dealer then the dealer name and approximate date may be adequate proof….”

As for blame passing and argumentative…….come on mate. Asking questions and attempting to have a discussion about how and why your blade failed is not being argumentative. If we have a product fail we need to try and find out what went wrong so that if there is a problem we can make improvements to ensure it doesn’t continue to happen. I’m still discovering important info we need from your previous post here.
We appreciate your ‘deconstruction of the cause of the break’ but as we don’t know you from a bar of soap, I’m sure you can appreciate OUR need to assess the cause of the failure.

I also can’t for the life of me think why you knowingly accepted a defective blade from the store you purchased it from……particularly given your knowledge of the issue and then expected you would never have any issues with it. Had you requested a warranty replacement, you would have been sent a new blade.

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surfershaneA said..
Problem now for me is I am stuck with a broken blade that is hardly a few months out of warranty from a distributor who wants to blame anyone and anything but the underlying fault without to date offering any discount on a replacement whatsoever. My advice is if you notice your Ke Nalu blade is not sealed properly and has foam showing, get it back while it is still under warranty.

WHAT......seriously?!?
I’ve lost count of how many times we have offered you a replacement blade under the Forever Paddle Policy at the heavily discounted price.
These offers were made based upon your initial explanation of the cause of the damage and prior to you making threats.
By the way mate, threatening someone who is attempting to help you out is not cool!!.....but here I am, still trying.
It would have been extremely helpful to get the full story you’ve detailed here up front as some of these additional details shift the goal posts as to the cause of the failure.
You’ve been provided details of the simple process to follow to get you’re blade replaced….more than once.
I’m not sure if we can make it any easier short of hand delivering one to you.

I 110% agree that if anyone else has a blade still under warranty with a manufacturing defect, they get in touch and have it replaced.
If there is anything here you don’t understand, please get in touch…..without further threats please.
I look forward to turning your frown upside down and getting your paddle sorted for you.

All I know is that this is the butt of the blade I removed from the paddle. You can clearly see 80% or so is a nice flat sealed surface. The other 20% is a rough unsealed brown foam. Whatever way you want to look at it, water has travelled down the unsealed foam and saturated the inside of the blade. The foam around the stiffener rod has then deteriorated causing it to no longer hold most of the stress when paddling. As such, the outer joint where the blade slips into the paddle has been forced to take most of the stress and failed.

Technically speaking, The butt of the blade not being sealed properly and letting water in is a substantial cause of the failure? Any way you want to look at it, "Apicture tells a thousand words"?




We will now probably hear that Ke Nalu paddles do not leak? If you look at the long thread about them on Stand Up Zone you will see many posts from people having difficulties getting them to seal using the hot melt glue system. I know of one user at least who found it impossible to keep water out. Many others ask where they can source an " industrial strength " hot melt glue in a hope this might work. While my paddle was assembled professionally where I purchased it, even after many other attempts including an outer seal of 4x double wall glueing heat shrink tube, it still leaked. I just learned to accept it needed draining after practically every surf.

I feel for you mate you must be in the 0.3%, the rest of us 115% seem pretty happy with KeNalu paddles, why don't you just get take up the lifetime option if that's available and move on rather than hanging out your dirty laundry?, so to speak, everyone loves having a whinge but really....

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ockanui said..
I feel for you mate you must be in the 0.3%, the rest of us 115% seem pretty happy with KeNalu paddles, why don't you just get take up the lifetime option if that's available and move on rather than hanging out your dirty laundry?, so to speak, everyone loves having a whinge but really....

Yes, despite the hitch with the leaking, I have no complaints about how the paddle performs. I am just disappointing that when I tried to discuss the problem in relation the Paddle Forever option with the distributor, all I got was in an arguement about how their paddles are fail-proof. Extra disappointing considering the great comments I have made about the paddle in the past. Whatever happened to customer loyalty and service? At the least, instead of being so arrogant, he could have done the right thing, stopped bickering and offered some sort of discount.

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surfershaneA said..

ockanui said..
I feel for you mate you must be in the 0.3%, the rest of us 115% seem pretty happy with KeNalu paddles, why don't you just get take up the lifetime option if that's available and move on rather than hanging out your dirty laundry?, so to speak, everyone loves having a whinge but really....

Yes, despite the hitch with the leaking, I have no complaints about how the paddle performs. I am just disappointing that when I tried to discuss the problem in relation the Paddle Forever option with the distributor, all I got was in an arguement about how their paddles are fail-proof. Extra disappointing considering the great comments I have made about the paddle in the past. Whatever happened to customer loyalty and service? At the least, instead of being so arrogant, he could have done the right thing, stopped bickering and offered some sort of discount.

Sorry, but I also will be one to say how great my paddles have been. I snapped 2 paddles before getting one from Ke Nalu, and haven't had one single issue since.

I dont think I would go down the road you have taken. Before even contacting Ke Nalu, you have posted online the damage and admittied to putting the paddle through a lot, and only once Ke Nalu themselves saw this post, and confirm there is a Paddle Forever option, you then start with the bad feedback. Not the best way to get a company to help you, I don't think any company would like deal with any issues like this in a public forum.

Maybe, take a deep breath, and contact them with the intent to come to a agreement, rather than jumping back online with a barage of complaints.

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surfershaneA said..

ockanui said..
I feel for you mate you must be in the 0.3%, the rest of us 115% seem pretty happy with KeNalu paddles, why don't you just get take up the lifetime option if that's available and move on rather than hanging out your dirty laundry?, so to speak, everyone loves having a whinge but really....

Yes, despite the hitch with the leaking, I have no complaints about how the paddle performs. I am just disappointing that when I tried to discuss the problem in relation the Paddle Forever option with the distributor, all I got was in an arguement about how their paddles are fail-proof. Extra disappointing considering the great comments I have made about the paddle in the past. Whatever happened to customer loyalty and service? At the least, instead of being so arrogant, he could have done the right thing, stopped bickering and offered some sort of discount.

Discount?
Its been said before, here I'm sure. Why is it that customers that whinge and whine most about price and screw you the hardest expect service like they've paid a golden premium?
In reality they actually cost.
And your not doing yourself any favours in here.

I paid a proper price through a respectable retailer. The least you could expect is for the distributor (Deano), instead of arguing about the impossibly of the break being a manufacturing or design fault, to at least honour the "Forever Paddle Policy" by offering some sort of discount. I guess Bob is on the same wavelengh.

I should also note, I am a Lawyer. To date, I have done my best to avoid using terms like "misleading or deceptive conduct". I am sure that is something appropriately pursued outside this forum.

On a bright note, I did what I usually do and fixed the paddle blade myself. When you sail around here there and everywhere, you get used to repairing and re -engineering just about anything. In this case, I sleaved the inside using the tube from a broken Wilson Live Fibre fishing rod I found washed up on Broughton Island. These rods are not made in China They are Aerospace Grade carbon fibre from the U.S.A.

As a modification, I sealed the foam in the blade properly to ensure it cannot again get saturated by water. See the photo.

So what if I might have added 15-20 grams? I am not interested in joining a specification competition with the major brands. What I need is a solid product that is fit for purpose.

It also annoys me that I have posted so many positive threads and comments about the Ke Nalu paddle. Yet, despite the fact I also paid good money for the thing, when the thing fails I am forced to suffer the worst customer disservice possible.

Shane I have have broken so many boards , paddles , leg ropes & fins but I would never put up photos on a public forum and trash a product , do your dirty laundry in private and you will get much better results. Paddles get stood on , jammed in car doors and constantly bashed against your rails. You are bitching about a 15 month old paddle and if it was leaking like you said surely you must have noticed water inside the shaft.

Deano reply:- I’ve lost count of how many times we have offered you a replacement blade under the Forever Paddle Policy at the heavily discounted price. So what more do you want ?

Not a cool post mate and the red thumbs reflect that.

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supthecreek said..
and... always have 2 paddles in your car. They only break when the surf is good

Yup, always have spares for paddle, fins, leashes...

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Piros said..
It also annoys me that I have posted so many positive threads and comments about the Ke Nalu paddle. Yet, despite the fact I also paid good money for the thing, when the thing fails I am forced to suffer the worst customer disservice possible.

Shane I have have broken so many boards , paddles , leg ropes & fins but I would never put up photos on a public forum and trash a product , do your dirty laundry in private and you will get much better results. Paddles get stood on , jammed in car doors and constantly bashed against your rails. You are bitching about a 15 month old paddle and if it was leaking like you said surely you must have noticed water inside the shaft.

Deano reply:- I’ve lost count of how many times we have offered you a replacement blade under the Forever Paddle Policy at the heavily discounted price. So what more do you want ?

Not a cool post mate and the red thumbs reflect that.

Agree! I have also broken boards, paddles, leggies, wetsuits, board covers, ****, the list goes on. But, I don't trash the company that supplied the product! If I paid for a product and left it in the corner and it failed just sitting there out of the sun, yes, try first to nogatiate with the supplier, but never bag out the supplier as you never know when you may just need to deal with them again. The for ever policy is a great one, use it! Unless you have already burnt your bridges!

The true paddle tester..... a 14 month old boy.