​Broken paddle stories

[Guest]

The Solo Tripping Paddles thread got me thinking about paddles I have broken or damaged, and how.

I have only had one catastrophic failure on the river. I snapped an old wood single on a Pine Barrens river, prying off the stern gunwales in a Grumman with a useless bowman. Since he was useless I just finished up with his paddle, but that was an early and valuable lesson in the wisdom of carrying a spare.

I have split the blade on a couple of too-thin wood paddles, in almost every case encountering a rock in a swift shallows, most often while back paddling.

The worst broken paddle tale was a dry land accident in camp. I absolutely abhor paddles left on the ground. I secure my paddles away from underfoot even on short shore breaks, or at least keep them safe stored within my boat.

I’d a thunk that in-boat storage was safe, until a skinny and unbalanced (in every sense) friend of mine tripped and fell backwards into my canoe one dark night. The paddle was a well laminated wood stick, laid / in the boat with the grip resting on the seat. He doesn’t weight a buck and a quarter soaking wet and yet managed to snap the shaft like a bank safe had fallen on it.

I am sure there are better broken paddle stories than my minor mishaps. Let’s hear ‘em.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I can't use the language I and my partner used.
Second day of a Missinaibi River trip, I was showing him how to pry and for some reason did off the gunwale ( I try to avoid gunwale pries), The Zav that he had just bought me before the trip snapped mid shaft.

200 miles to the next town and several long portages. It sucks to carry two halves of a useless paddle

It was even more maddening to read the paddle.. . with the 800 number.

Zav fixed it ( it was a second) under warranty. After we got home.

 

[Iskweo]

We broke a carbon fibre Raven on a port by dropping a pack on it or some other such tomfoolery. Broke it in half. No worries....out comes the handy belt knife and my intrepid partner carves up a plug to go inside the shaft then drags out the Canoe Repair Kit and glasses it all back together. We continue to use it to this day.

I have to admit also burning a hole through the blade once while using it as a windscreen for the stove. Got yelled at for that one. Its still in action though.
dang good paddle.We found it floating in a pool on a lonely Manitoba river miles from nowhere.
Migwetch grandfathers, our faourite paddle.

Christy

 

[Canotrouge]

I never broke a paddle to the point I couldn't use them, ww or tripping. I cracked one or two, but I think one of them some one might have step on it.... My wife cracked the shaft of her sitka spruce one, but again, we think some one might have stepped on it( outdoor ed school program she teach).

but we aways have at least a spare per canoe!!

 

[Doc.]

I have never broken a paddle myself. However, two buddies and I were whitewater rafting (many years ago) on the Arkansas River in Colorado and our port-side man got washed overboard. Of course the #1 rule was "Whatever it takes, save the paddle." We thought we had lost Don; couldn't find him and called in the emergency team. They couldn't find him either. Many hours later with the search halted by darkness, we headed to the truck with pierced souls, only to find Don waiting for us with the two pieces of his broken paddle.

 

[memaquay]

I'm not sure I can remember all the paddles I have broken, but there have been many. When I first got to Northern Ontario, my only canoe was a 19 foot square stern freighter. The first season I didn't have a motor, so we were paddling. I only had cheap Canadian Tire paddles, probably aspen or something, and I snapped the shafts on two of them trying to paddle against the wind.

On my second trip with the school club, I was paddling an 17.5 foot Grumman white water canoe. Think it weighed 93 pounds. We would tie the paddles to the centre thwart to portage the beasts. In order to get the paddles comfortable, we had to try the blades very close together, one's head would just squeeze through. Anyway, a particularly rough and muddy trail, falling dark, and a big wipeout that almost took my left ear off. One of the aluminium paddles ended up bent in a U shape...not broken, but not able to be used again.

Eventually I bought my first "nice" paddle, a Grey Owl Sugar Island. From the beginning, I was somewhat worried about a small knot on the lower part of the shaft. Sure enough, while I was taking a white water course, I hit a rock with a draw, and the shaft snapped.

I began building my own paddles, figuring that I could do better for a lot cheaper. I went through all the animal tails, mostly one piece paddles made out of local hardwoods. I never broke any of those, although over time the blades eventually began to split or fragment, probably from chopping low hanging bushes.

My most memorable paddle failure was a sugar island style that I made. The shaft was white ash, but it must have had a defect in the wood. I was leading a bunch of kids down Steel Lake, it was about 8 AM and the little buggers decided they wanted to race. I was quite a bit younger and fitter than I am now, so I took off, paddling like a madman. As I was digging in for a big stroke, the shaft spilt cleanly in two right where I was holding it with my left hand. The ash edge was razor sharp and sliced the area between my thumb and index finger almost to the bone. I had to finish the trip with my hand wrapped up like a boxing glove.

Ive had a few blade failures since then as well, usually because I ignored fixing minor splits at laminations. The best one happened with one of my favorite paddles, as i was running a healthy set of rapids close to town. One half of the blade broke off in the middle of run, I was able to finish the set of rapids, but it was an interesting time.

My current favorite paddle is another Grey Owl straight shaft Sugar Island. I've been using the Black Bart paddle that Alan sent me too, but the Chum seems to respond better to the straight shaft. I bought my wife one of those Bending Branches Sunburst paddles, she really likes it. I'd be afraid that I would collapse the shaft while prying.

There are pieces of my paddles scattered over many ports up here, I usually leave them as markers for the beginning of the port.

 

[Alan Gage]

I'm not sure I can remember all the paddles I have broken, but there have been many. When I first got to Northern Ontario, my only canoe was a 19 foot square stern freighter. The first season I didn't have a motor, so we were paddling. I only had cheap Canadian Tire paddles, probably aspen or something, and I snapped the shafts on two of them trying to paddle against the wind.

On my second trip with the school club, I was paddling an 17.5 foot Grumman white water canoe. Think it weighed 93 pounds. We would tie the paddles to the centre thwart to portage the beasts. In order to get the paddles comfortable, we had to try the blades very close together, one's head would just squeeze through. Anyway, a particularly rough and muddy trail, falling dark, and a big wipeout that almost took my left ear off. One of the aluminium paddles ended up bent in a U shape...not broken, but not able to be used again.

Eventually I bought my first "nice" paddle, a Grey Owl Sugar Island. From the beginning, I was somewhat worried about a small knot on the lower part of the shaft. Sure enough, while I was taking a white water course, I hit a rock with a draw, and the shaft snapped.

I began building my own paddles, figuring that I could do better for a lot cheaper. I went through all the animal tails, mostly one piece paddles made out of local hardwoods. I never broke any of those, although over time the blades eventually began to split or fragment, probably from chopping low hanging bushes.

My most memorable paddle failure was a sugar island style that I made. The shaft was white ash, but it must have had a defect in the wood. I was leading a bunch of kids down Steel Lake, it was about 8 AM and the little buggers decided they wanted to race. I was quite a bit younger and fitter than I am now, so I took off, paddling like a madman. As I was digging in for a big stroke, the shaft spilt cleanly in two right where I was holding it with my left hand. The ash edge was razor sharp and sliced the area between my thumb and index finger almost to the bone. I had to finish the trip with my hand wrapped up like a boxing glove.

Ive had a few blade failures since then as well, usually because I ignored fixing minor splits at laminations. The best one happened with one of my favorite paddles, as i was running a healthy set of rapids close to town. One half of the blade broke off in the middle of run, I was able to finish the set of rapids, but it was an interesting time.

My current favorite paddle is another Grey Owl straight shaft Sugar Island. I've been using the Black Bart paddle that Alan sent me too, but the Chum seems to respond better to the straight shaft. I bought my wife one of those Bending Branches Sunburst paddles, she really likes it. I'd be afraid that I would collapse the shaft while prying.

There are pieces of my paddles scattered over many ports up here, I usually leave them as markers for the beginning of the port.

Wow. That makes me want to run right out and buy a wooden paddle.

Alan

 

[oldschool]

I've split a laminated paddle blade because I used it to chop through ice on a late season day trip. It was easily repaired.

 

[memaquay]

You might be right Alan, despite a fair amount of abuse, I haven't been able to break that Black Bart paddle yet. On the other hand, I'm only about half the man I used to be, although I'm twice the size, maybe that has something to do with my paddle's not breaking anymore.

 

[Canotrouge]

Wood is good, I used a lot of carbon in my racing days, and sea kayaking guying days, and man I like wood so much better. And I'm not a big fan of bent shaft anymore either. Nice light wooden paddle that have a bit of flex at the right place, is so much easier on my body. but like they say, there is no wrong or right, it is all a matter of preferences!!

 

[Odyssey]

You might be right Alan, despite a fair amount of abuse, I haven't been able to break that Black Bart paddle yet. On the other hand, I'm only about half the man I used to be, although I'm twice the size, maybe that has something to do with my paddle's not breaking anymore.

I'm pretty sure you have to take it out of the sock. (kidding)

I've yet to break a paddle. Maybe I've been lucky. For the first many years we were renting a canoe with paddles, and I insisted the paddles be the aluminum kind with plastic blades. They weren't "fun" to paddle with, but they weren't terrible either. And they were practically indestructible. I was almost tempted to buy 1 or 2 when I bought a canoe. Almost but not quite tempted enough. A wooden paddle felt better, compared to the cold dead feel of metal and plastic. Maybe I'm just irrational.
I'll keep my eyes open on the portage trails, just in case as errant broken carbon paddle presents itself to me.

 

[pblanc]

I only recall breaking one paddle on the river but it was memorable. The Ocoee River in eastern Tennessee is a well known whitewater run that rates a III+ by today's standards but back in the day was typically rated Class III-IV. My first run on it I was in an open boat, pretty much on my own and did not know the river at all. I blundered into Broken Nose, a triple drop and one of the trickier rapids on the river. As I ran the first drop I found myself bearing down on a kayaker sitting in a rather small river right eddy and in an attempt to avoid killing him, managed to unintentionally eddy out without touching him. Unfortunately, I did not know that there were two more ledge drops with sticky hydraulics waiting just down stream.

I peeled out in a rather tentative fashion and was paddle dragging my way downstream trying to read the water. As I went over the second drop (first ledge) I had enough momentum to punch through but got turned sideways just in time to go over the third drop (second ledge). Of course, I was stuck in the bottom hole side-surfing for all I was worth and providing great entertainment value for the boaters who had just run the drop and eddied out. I was actually holding my own for a brief time, leaning rather heavily on a low brace and trying to figure out how I was going to escape the hydraulic before I got pancaked by a raft. At that moment the fiberglass shaft of my Perception Harmony paddle broke cleanly in two a foot below the grip.

Needless to say, I swam, but was able to hold onto both pieces of the paddle as I self-rescued with the boat. I sent that paddle back to Perception with a note and they replaced it for free. I still have it.

Although that was the only paddle I broke I lost two other nice paddles on the river when the blades got stuck in rock sieves and the paddles were yanked out of my hands. One was a canoe paddle that got sucked under by a river troll just above Big Sycamore rapid on Tennessee's Little River. The other was a kayak paddle that jammed in rocks on the Ocoee as I was setting up to try to roll. I never saw either one again. Since the Ocoee is a dam release river I thought I would wait until TVA turned the river off and go back and look for my kayak paddle. I never did find it but I did manage to slip and fall while scrambling over wet rocks and dislocate a finger.

I have seen a fair number of carbon fiber or carbon fiber reinforced whitewater paddles break suddenly. Either the blade would break off partially or entirely, or the shaft would fracture. Unfortunately, carbon does not flex kindly and when it fails it tends to do so catastrophically.

 

[Alan Gage]

You might be right Alan, despite a fair amount of abuse, I haven't been able to break that Black Bart paddle yet. On the other hand, I'm only about half the man I used to be, although I'm twice the size, maybe that has something to do with my paddle's not breaking anymore.

I don't have any doubt that wood paddles are tougher overall than carbon, especially when it comes to moving a boat through whitewater. But I think carbon is tougher than most people give it credit for. The thin blade and light weight are deceiving. Many of the top racers use a lighter carbon paddle than me. I also know how fast I can propel a canoe and how fast they can propel one (it's not even funny). Sometimes when I'm really pulling hard up a swift or rapid I half expect the blade to snap off the shaft. But then I remember that any force I'm putting on the blade is small potatoes compared to what they do in the course of a race.

So far, for my style of paddling with only occasional light whitewater, carbon has held up very well despite lots of rock hits and even wedging between rocks when I thought I was only going to come back with half a blade. The tendency of the blade tip to chip/wear in rocky water seems to be the biggest problem. If you sand the edge back to remove the worn areas you're better off, otherwise they get worse. If it wears back too far it's easy enough to add a little cloth and epoxy to the edge.

I think my biggest problem with wood is that I just don't trust it anymore. After running those tests last winter when I was testing the breaking strength of different wood species I was surprised at the lack of consistency within the same species of wood. Sometimes I could see defects in the wood that accounted for it but other times I couldn't see anything. That fear is probably mostly in my head though. Everyone seems to get along fine with wood, mostly.

Alan

 

[yellowcanoe]

Laminated wood helps avoid breakage. Poorly designed shafts sometimes snap ( too thin in dia for the blade area. One maker used to make them thin, and learned from customers that he needed to beef up the shaft a bit)

Long ago I was told that carbon paddles do not hold up under extreme compression. This was at a kayaking sympsium where some notables were teaching and they said that when carbon breaks, it is often by being compressed ( as in going in the back of the van first with gear on top of it). Don't know.. I have since been careful and no broken expensive carbon paddles.

 

[madmike]

Some broken paddle stories. We tried to pull a water skier at camp with a war canoe. 10 of the burliest paddlers, one tiny 7 year old, and the biggest skis we could find. She was ready, and yelled "Hit it!" All 10 of us dug in. 7 of 10 paddles broke on the first stroke. We did manage to pull her, but with a moving start off of the bow of a power boat.

One afternoon on a club day trip, my wife and I brought the tandem in to the take out area. She handed the paddle back and was preparing to wet foot it. I placed both paddles ahead of me and was looking beneath my seat for something. As she got out, a club member "helped " us by grabbing the bow and shoving it up on the bank. I fell forward, broke both sticks. Now if someone is near the boat, they get a paddle to the face.

 

[Guest]

I never broke a paddle to the point I couldn't use them, ww or tripping. I cracked one or two, but I think one of them some one might have step on it.... My wife cracked the shaft of her sitka spruce one, but again, we think some one might have stepped on it

I placed both paddles ahead of me and was looking beneath my seat for something. As she got out, a club member "helped " us by grabbing the bow and shoving it up on the bank. I fell forward, broke both sticks. Now if someone is near the boat, they get a paddle to the face.

I have a real phobia about paddles left on the ground. I take precautions to not do that, but there isn’t much I can do about other people. If they are part of my party or group I’ll move their paddle to a safer location, but I don’t feel right moving some stranger’s gear. I will admit a serious pet peeve about crowded launches where folks have left their paddles scattered around the periphery of their boats.

People “helping” are often more of a hindrance than help, especially novices or non-paddlers. I had a canoe on my shoulders walking down to a launch when the boat suddenly took a severe nose dive and I found myself stumbling down the hill wondering WTF just happened.

Some clueless Samaritan had decided to lend me a hand by coming up from behind and help by lifting the stern.

Like a lot of paddlers I will not let anyone help tie my boats on the roof rack. A couple of years ago I learned not to allow anyone to help untie the boats either. We were late and rushing to get on the water and a non-paddler friend who was driving my van back to the take out where we had left his car “helped” by tying off the belly lines on the racks.

He “helped” by loosely coiling the lines, dangling from the edge of the crossbar. At some point when he was driving the van down to the take out one belly line fell free and he ran over it with a rear tire, tearing off one roof rack and gouging the roof.

I’ve got to know and trust someone to the extreme before they help tie off my boats or help with my gear, and that is a mighty small cohort. Seven billion people on earth and only a handful that can touch my gear.

Long ago I was told that carbon paddles do not hold up under extreme compression. This was at a kayaking sympsium where some notables were teaching and they said that when carbon breaks, it is often by being compressed ( as in going in the back of the van first with gear on top of it). Don't know.. I have since been careful and no broken expensive carbon paddles.

Don’t know either, but I have likewise been told that even a nick or ding in a carbon shaft can be the point of future catastrophic failure. I built a completely enclosed paddle box in the bed or the tripping truck for just that reason, and even in that box the paddles are in all socks, with the carbon blades positioned on top where they are less likely to be jostled together and scraped on a 1000 mile roadtrip.

The area where I have the most concern about paddle handling and storage is on paid shuttles, especially those 15 passenger van and canoe trailer trips where I don’t want to carry the socks or padded paddle bag with me for a couple of weeks. The best solution I have found is to tie my (and any companions) paddles together into one bundled cylindrical mass with the carbon sticks as the somewhat protected core. That mass of paddles is also easier to retrieve from the trailer at either end of the shuttle, and I know that the bundle contains all of our paddles, with nothing overlooked or mistaken.

Still, despite the potential delicacies, I am a fan of carbon paddle weight and find it hard to go back to wood after swinging carbon.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I just broke my favorite paddle late last fall. First time breaking one for me.

We were doing a nearby stretch of the Snake. It's a big and powerful (by our standards here) river but only has a few class 2 rapids on this mostly flat stretch. So I figured there was no reason why I shouldn't take my lightweight Sawyer laminated cedar-and-something with thin carbon wrapped blade to go along with the Sojourn. Got through all the rough water - including a wave train big enough to swamp the Sojourn if it wasn't for the spray decks I had installed for the trip - with no damage to the paddle. Down in the calmer flat section, there are a lot of eddies and boils with no apparent cause. You can usually see the eddies coming up, but the boils tend to just appear right in front of you and then stop you like a sand bar. I had just hit one of these boils, and I quote Memaquay here...

As I was digging in for a big stroke, the shaft split cleanly in two right where I was holding it with my left hand.

Yep. Well - my break wasn't so clean, but it was a single break.

I sat there in disbelief for a few seconds with the remainder of the shaft in my hands. I had always figured it would be the blade that would break first. Then I grabbed up the two-piece double paddle I brought for a spare (with the idea that it might be handy in the afternoon up-canyon winds) and put it together. I managed to keep track of the other half of the broken paddle and chased it down and retrieved it.

When I got the paddle home, I wrote it off as a total loss for a while. Then, after it was dry, I managed to fit it back together pretty well - so I gathered up some of my clamp collection, the Workmate, and Gorilla Glue, and went to work. Managed to glue it up nicely, and it is presently awaiting a glass wrap (I discovered that I was out of material and had to order stuff) for re-enforcement.

 

[Canotrouge]

Laminated wood helps avoid breakage. Poorly designed shafts sometimes snap ( too thin in dia for the blade area. One maker used to make them thin, and learned from customers that he needed to beef up the shaft a bit)

Long ago I was told that carbon paddles do not hold up under extreme compression. This was at a kayaking sympsium where some notables were teaching and they said that when carbon breaks, it is often by being compressed ( as in going in the back of the van first with gear on top of it). Don't know.. I have since been careful and no broken expensive carbon paddles.

I guess it really depends on the construction type... I have a Werner Bandit carbon that have seen a lot of abuse, being jammed in between rocks, low braced against rock slabs, town in the back of p/u truck an dear on top( by inadvertance) driving for hundred of Km... And It still alive.... But I have to say that a Zaveral wouldn't survive half of that. So construction is key I think...

 

[Chip]

One day on the Lehigh, on a long continuous stretch of Class II-III, my fiberglass-shaft werner gave out. It was one of those jobs with the yellow FG shaft, and it had a lot of wear in the area where it rubbed the gunwales. It cracked first, right below the lower hand, then folded. I retrieved the pieces, still strung togther by a few strands, threw them in the bottom of the boat, grabbed my spare and resumed paddling.

There were two big guys paddling a tandem in my group, and they had come to a stop on a pillow rock. I should have known better, but as I passed them I reached over with the t-handle of my backup paddle and hooked it on the painter loop on the front of their canoe. I was thinking I could pull them off the rock, but boy was I wrong. Quickly, my choice became let go of the paddle or hang on while my boat was swept away from under me. I let go of the paddle. But, there was still a lot more rapid to negotiate. Yes, up a creek, no paddle. I grabbed up the broken paddle halves from the bottom of the boat, yanked the blade free of the rest of the shaft, and began paddling with the blade only. This actually worked for my immediate situation. Felt funny, but I was able to get by until Willie paddled up and loaned my his spare Norse.

My spare paddle, left on its own, floated about another half mile down the Lehigh. We found it, though my memory fails as to how. We stopped to help the guys in the tandem. On their pillow rock, a wave was occasionally lapping over the gunwales and their boat slowly filled with water. I think the boat was damaged. Anyway, it took a long time to extract them from their situation, and I thought my spare paddle was history. Willie's Norse paddle was an ax! Talk about carbon! You have to be more man than me to swing that Norse blade, so I was glad to get my spare (aluminum/plastic) back to finish out that trip.

 

[lowangle al]

Here is a humorous one that also happened on the Lehigh River. My wife split her paddle blade on a ww daytrip. When we stopped for a break my friend tied a flat rock snuggly to her blade as a joke. I still get a chuckle when I remember the look on her face when he handed it to her.