Werner Bandit Failures

Wiggins · Post by **Wiggins** » Sat Jun 25, 2011 11:10 pm

I remember reading a thread about a year ago about Bandit T-grips failing at the narrowest point of the T-grip. This happened to me on the Capilano river last week. I was wondering if anyone ever figured out what was going on here. Did Werner get a bad batch of T-grips, is it a poor design, etc.?

Mine sheared off right at the joint where the actual grip meets the piece that joins with the paddle shaft. Here are some pics: http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?s ... 1823033581. They should be set so that people without facebook accounts can view them.

This paddle is less than a year old, and has less than 20 river days on it, all of which are in class III+ water or easier. I have contacted Werner, and it looks like they are going to treat it as a warranty issue.

Kyle

Lappie · Post by **Lappie** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 3:40 am

ezwater · Post by **ezwater** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 4:16 am

Looks like someone from Werner got to him, just when he was going to spill the beans.

Wiggins · Post by **Wiggins** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 2:02 pm

I don't know why nothing showed up in my first post.

Werner responded to my e-mail and gave me a return authorization number in less than 24 hours. It appears that they are going to handle this as a warranty issue, so I have no complaints about them so far.

I remember this issue popped up on the forum this time last year. I was curious if anyone ever figured out what the problem with the paddles were and if the issue has been fixed.

Mine broke right at the narrow spot where the grip joins with the piece that fits into the shaft.

Kyle

ezwater · Post by **ezwater** » Sun Jun 26, 2011 6:35 pm

Did you see any internal bubbles where your grip broke off? Otherwise it's just a matter of them having under-engineered that narrow spot, not making it strong enough for the job. I never had a Norse break there.

fleckbass · Post by **fleckbass** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 6:40 pm

Had the same problem with a Nantahala recently. It had less than a season on it.

markzak · Post by **markzak** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 7:24 pm

Werner paddles customer service and repairs/warranty people have been great to work with in my experience. All products are different and having a company that is responsive to customer issues is extremely important.

tokebelokee · Post by **tokebelokee** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 9:26 pm

I have broken a Werner T-grip in the same way as described. Warranty was honored without hassle, and the paddle wasn't exactly brand new.

yarnellboat · Post by **yarnellboat** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 9:30 pm

Not that it's relevant to Kyle, but I did have the t-grip snap off of a Norse paddle - in the middle of the first rapid of my first C-1 run.

Hopefully Werner takes care of it. Seems like the kinda failure that should be avoidable (assuming you were paddling with the paddle and not jamming the t-grip into the river bed - sometimes it understandable that blades snap, but t-grips?).

Pat.

p.s. Sorry I missed the run Kyle, I was planning on it, but got sick.

Wiggins · Post by **Wiggins** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 10:55 pm

Just an update.

Werner fixed my paddle and I got it back today. It looks like they have redesigned their T-grip to be more robust where the breakages were happening.

They were great to deal with. Now if they only made a breakdown!

Kyle

Nessmuk · Post by **Nessmuk** » Wed Jul 13, 2011 12:35 am

Werner does make a breakdown- I have a 2-piece bandit.

NOC special ordered it for me.