AquaBound paddle durability

[djutzi]

i've got a couple - different lenghts for solo / tandem, and they've both held up through multiple seasons of paddling.

they seem like good value to me, all things considered.

[jatakasawa]

Gnarlz knows this story but I'll share it with the group anyhow. I started last Summer with a Feather Brand flatwater wooden stick and was doing ok with it. Then, in August, I bought the Aquabound Edge and was amazed at how much more efficient my then (and arguably now) sloppy strokes became. I was attaining in my ME into holes that the wooden flatwater stick could never do. I remember the exact time and place I noticed the difference!

So by comparison, I loved my new paddle.

But now, after learning more about WW, I know I need to us my AB as a backup and get a stiffer paddle. A lot of initial power is lost in the flex of the AB. The flex robs my power. But it's still a decent paddle in my book.

[mattm]

got 6 edges, different lengths, 2 paddlers in the family, c1 and oc1 and 2. Total agreement with prior post, a bit of flex robs efficiency BUT...my Werner which has a bigger stiffer blade causes elbow problems when i paddle too much. Yet to break a paddle, 2 carbons new this year, 4 glass bought over the past maybe 6 years or so. Go with the carbon, it's stiffer than the glass (white blades).

[scott curtis]

mines a season old, lookin' good.. paid over 1 for it

[Wendy]

I have had the carbon model for 3-4 years and used it on all low water runs which have been alot recently. I use it for stability on trails too, rock braces and it has done great. I am going to order a breakdown version for the L'Edge.

[Louie]

Laugh if you want but that Tee grio is as wter proof as any wooden dowel tee grip I got, and it did n'tchange the flavor of anything we fried in the lard after I dipped the grip........wife did pour the lard onto the dogs food after she found out what I had used it for.

[agrestal]

This thread is the first I've heard that having a flexible blade robs your power. Is the difference that significant?

I've only paddled with a stiff blade once - it was my 1st time on Wilson creek and I didn't have my paddle so I had to use my friend's. It was pretty hard on my joints, I thought because it was stiffer than mine, but could also be that it was a 60" and I use a 57"...?

[sbroam]

I don't think flexible is necessarily inefficient, perhaps just as efficient. All (almost - I'm sure some is lost to heat of deformation) all of the energy lost into the flex will be returned when the stick rebounds. If your paddle is still in the water when that happens - and I'm sure it is in all but the highest stroke rates - you don't really lose any energy. I can feel this happening with a long, really flexy paddle, i.e. a long Carlisle.

[marclamenace]

Go with the carbon, it's stiffer than the glass (white blades).

White blades are definitely plastic (feels PE to me?) not fiberglass...

And yeah the carbon ones have a nice flex, not as much as the white ones. They looked to me like a good and cheap option for getting a cheap carbon blade, but I just dopn't like their small T-grip that provides poor control so I feel...

[Jim]

Loss of "power" depends on the properties of the paddle. If an object flexes in response to stress it is storing the energy (i.e., less power); if it recoils effectively that energy will be returned. My interpretation of my AB paddles is that much of the flex is lost energy. That is why (1) it is easier on shoulders, elbows and wrists and (2) I race a little faster with my Mitchell.

[Shep]

I don't think flexible is necessarily inefficient, perhaps just as efficient. All (almost - I'm sure some is lost to heat of deformation) all of the energy lost into the flex will be returned when the stick rebounds. If your paddle is still in the water when that happens - and I'm sure it is in all but the highest stroke rates - you don't really lose any energy. I can feel this happening with a long, really flexy paddle, i.e. a long Carlisle.

Really, what flexing does is decrease the impulse of the paddle at the start of the stroke. As sbroam says, this should only make a difference in the feel not the performance of the paddle, until you start getting into fluid flow around the blade, which is way above my pay grade, but I would guess does have an effect. i.e. if you pull a paddle slowly enough through the water, you get no forward motion, but if you pull it fast enough (like, really, really, really fast), the viscosity of the water causes it to act like a solid, and no water flows around the blade. So the flexing causes the paddle to travel through the water more slowly than you pull on it, decreasing the power of your stroke by some amount. The fact that one can feel a difference may or may not indicate that this is significant. Whether this is measurable, I would not venture to guess. The upshot of paddle flexibility is decreasing the jarring of striking rocks or other things, and decreasing the instantaneous force through your ligaments when you paddle hard, thereby decreasing the risk of injury. (I have injured myself climbing by pulling on a hold too hard too fast, but never paddling, and never doing, uh, other things. )

Shep

[Craig Smerda]

A cheap paddle is about as useful as a cheap condom.

I've been beating on my Clinch River paddle (wood shaft carbon covered shaft and blade heavy lay-up) for over a decade now... in that time I had to have the tip re-done once but that was it. I'm not easy on my gear nor are the slate and granite rivers I like to paddle. Quality isn't cheap... in relation to paddles you typically get exactly what you paid for.

Clinch-River, Mitchell or Echo... that's the way to go imo. Your paddle is the driveshaft for your boat... why anyone would skimp on one is beyond me?

[FullGnarlzOC]

like sbroam said - flex should get the power back toward the end of the stroke. basically like hockey stick... get more power from flex. although too much flex = losing power. so there is a happy medium.

[ian123]

Two thoughts...
In nature there is no such thing as a perfect collision, spring, etc... Whenever energy is stored in something that flexes (like a paddle), you ll never get it all the energy back... it's high school physics... probably a Newtonian law... but i can't remember.

Secondly, I always thought that most of the power came from the first part of the stroke. Given how short the forward stroke is to begin with, I doubt the paddle's recoil would contribute much.

I can definitely feel an increase in speed/power switching from my AB edge to my bandit.

[FullGnarlzOC]

eh... in hockey, u get more power out of the flex, than if you didnt have one.

but we rnt talkin about hockey... either way, the flex SHOULD add snap at the end of the stroke.

.....this is somthing i should probably shut up about, as others would know better.

btw - i feel AB gives plenty of power, when power is put into it. It feels a little noodlish when cranking strokes in hard current... so I could do with a lil less flex, but I wouldnt want totally stiff either.