C-Forum

hey bernie and adam, do you guys still like your rough stuff paddles? just broke my 3rd galasport magnum in a year...i love those things but i hate 'em. i'm ready for something new. tough and light. do you think i should give 'em a try?

The Galasport definitely has better water feel, but I have yet to find a better "compromise" paddle (lightweight and yet still very durable). My rough stuff has held up great so far, is my third lightest paddle (the Zaveral is lighter, but the edges are already chipping, and my old Schlegal FGC carbon is lighter than both, but after 10 years of abuse I retired it a few years ago, and they dont' seem to make them anymore:( ). THe Rough Stuff is much more rugged than either of those two as well:)

Good luck on your paddle search!

I looked into getting a Rough Stuff paddle a couple of years ago, and had a tough time finding a dealer and getting price info.
(I need to do more pull-ups, and I have some pallets that need chopping)


What's the magic word? Who's leg do I need to hump to get a dry martini around here?

I just e-mailed Rough Stuff directly and ordered from them. Great service experience, and nice to converse directly with the folks who make them

I tried the same approach, and was twice ignored. I can only assume I had the wrong contact info?

i called and spoke with him directly. he said he had to dig around to see i he had a paddle for me and he would contact me in a day or two.... 1.5 days and waiting....

how much do they cost?

182 euros = $ 229 us

What paddle length do you use and what blade type
( straight / curved )? I have a couple laying around and usually buy his display paddles at Outdoor Retailer. Another paddle that I am impressed with is the Werner Bandit in carbon. I have been creekin' with it and it seems to be holding up pretty well.

Just wanted to post an experience with Rough Stuff although this was in regard to a kayak paddle my girlfriend purchased. I think Black Magic was the model of the paddle. She bought the paddle from Sierra Trading post and when it came in it had two left hand blades on it. This should have NEVER left their factory. She returned the paddle in exchange for another and after using it twice the paddle was taking on water filling up the shaft. She contacted Rough Stuff via email making several attemts and was ignored. She then returned the paddle to Seirra Trading post for a full refund. Seirra's customer service was excellent. As for Rough Stuff, it their quality control sucks and their customer support is even worse. I would not buy anything from them. It looks like they dumped a defective lot of paddles on the market (one where they don't have much presence in (USA) through an outdoor gear clearance house and then just turned their backs. Jim Norton

Well, I admit that it was pretty hard to get hold of him, but his paddles rock. I've been beating on a C1 carbon paddle for 6months on rocky creeks and she's going strong. It is really hard to get these guys through email though - and it did take a while to get tthe paddle (I ordered direct and had it shipped from Ireland to Switzerland). My recommendation is to call. If you don't hear back by email, call again. He's really cool to deal with on the phone and a nice guy, but I think it is a VERY small operation, so he said his email box did tend to get a bit overloaded.

I love the paddle - I like wood paddles more, but for a lightweight, durable stick, it's grand....and I got sick of snapping the metal tips out of wooden paddles (2 in one year. I'm waiting to see if my Echo Paddle with a dynel tip will last better. I hope so - that's are my favourite! My wife loves her Echo too.

Cheers,
Mattt

Bernie, i use a 57" paddle. they've all been curved lately..
i use a glass bandit when the fancy ones are broken, so i'm not really interested in another bandit. so, other than abandit, what'ya got?

I have a 55" bent and 55" straight shaft. In response to the Sierra Trading Post, they sell seconds and blems at a discounted price. Sometimes it works well and sometimes not.
Mark Downey at Rough Stuff is hard to reach but he is a good guy with a good product.

well, apparently rough stuff has no carbon c1 paddles right now and is having a hard time getting materials. so i gave up on them.. for now.
i am ordering a h2o team c1 straight shaft which is another hard to find paddle. i am finding the best way to contact these guys is by the good 'ole telephone..e-mails just seem to get treated like spam..they are very helpfull if you can get them on the phone though.
bernie, thanks but those are a little too short for me.