Tales of Broken Paddles?

[Guest]

Algonquin Lakes trip report got me thinking about broken paddles. I’ve split, cracked or broken a number of too-slender wood paddle blades, usually while desperately back paddling in current and whacking an unseen rock, but always had enough blade left to use if somehow necessary. I have, almost always, had a spare.

I have only ever broken two paddles to uselessness.

I broke an ancient POS Feather Brand on a tandem trip in the Pine Barrens in the early ‘70’s. We did not have a spare, nor any form of repair materials, and my bowman’s paddle was an even more worn out Feather Brand than mine. Or, correction, the one I was using; I was the proud owner of both ancient and ill cared for paddles.

Pine Barrens rivers are notoriously tight and twisty, and solo paddling a loaded 17’ Grumman with one paddle between us did not make things easier. Knowing that the paddle I was reduced to using – I had taken the better of the two - was equally ready to snap on any stroke was just a tad disconcerting. I froze mid-stroke if anything in the canoe creaked or squeaked.

I did spring for two new paddles soon after. I was dirt poor in the ‘70’s, and wouldn’t have known where to turn for a decent quality paddle, so two new Featherbrands, carrying the ancient one as a (poorly thought out) spare.

Or, minor correction, had two paddles broken. The other was a nearly new Bending Branches Tailwind, a heavy, multi-laminate wood double. I have a phobia about paddles on the ground underfoot in camp (or worse, at a landing or portage trail), or even leaned up against a tree for the night, and keep my paddles safely secured in the boat.

Safely until a skinny munchkin friend, who doesn’t weigh a buck and a half soaking wet, fell bassawkards into my canoe one night in camp. I had left the double apart and left it leaned against a thwart.

The thwart survived, but it is still a mystery to me how he managed to jagged ragged snap an 11-laminate shaft.

BB is a good company; I told them what happened and they replaced it for free.

Let’s hear some busted paddle tales; how broken, if repaired how so/with what? Anyone carved a paddle in camp out of necessity?

Or paddled out with a forked tree limb and duct tape blade, which would likely be my rudimentary solution. The camp flyswatters we have made in that fashion have worked well. Might be fun to try as a camp experiment, and a reason to carry good quality duct tape.

With the right limb and branch arrangement I could even make a double blade that way ;-)

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I have a phobia about paddles on the ground underfoot in camp (or worse, at a landing or portage trail) . . . .

I've never broken a paddle while in paddling use, other than getting a small tip split in an Old Town spruce beavertail. However, I did destroy my most expensive paddle ever through carelessness -- a gorgeous carbon fiber double blade Vitudden with gold flecks in clear gel coat that cost me over $300 from Sweden 24 years ago.

I was on a seakayak trip to Maine and New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy area. We were staying at campground at Cobscook Bay, several kayakers with tents and cars all over the tight campground. I put my black carbon paddle flat on the ground "temporarily" while I did something else, which became something else else, etc., until I had forgotten the paddle. Then, I got in my vehicle and backed right over it, cracking one blade. I had other paddles with me, so it didn't affect the trip, but I was really ticked at my expensive carelessness.

Amazingly, Vitudden replaced the cracked half of the paddle at no charge out of good will, shipping another from Sweden. I may have omitted telling them the part about the vehicle . . . I forget . . . I'm too old to remember. I know I stopped using that racing-blade paddle shortly thereafter, as I found it to be too stiff and powerful, and bought narrower blade paddles. But never again have I laid a paddle on the ground.

 

[ppine]

I have never broken a paddle because I make them heavy to withstand whitewater. I have found plenty of paddles in eddies downstream.

 

[dougd]

Brand new bent shaft paddle from a new company down the road from me. Made it down the river about a mile when the blade split and half fell in the river! I collected the piece and took it back to the company only to have the owner tell to suck wind, it wasn't on him! Never done business there again! Another time my Feather Brand paddle broke on a small stream paddling tandem with a friend. We pulled over to beaver lodge and I pulled a long stick out and used it like a kayak paddle which worked surprising well.

 

[jefffski]

Never broke one but I was on a trip where we needed one paddle, and we forgot to bring it. The trip was a climb of Mt. Judge Howay in BC. This trip begins with a paddle across stave lake (about 15 km) in canoes carrying bikes. At the end of the paddle, we rode 25 km along a logging road to a river crossing. On the bikes, we carried a kids inflatable boat and a pump. At the river crossing, we pumped up the plastic boat, stowed the bikes and lo and behold, found the we forgot a paddle. We used a branch! Each one of us (there were three), paddled across the river dragging a rope. The ones left behind pulled the boat back once the other paddler had crossed. The branch worked fine. To end the story, we climbed the mountain and reversed our steps to get home.

 

[memaquay]

Can't remember how many I have broken, but it has been a considerable number. The shafts always snap when digging in really hard. Any softwood paddle i have ever owned, the shaft has snapped. Some of the hardwood ones I made....snapped. The last one was the Grey Owl bent shaft. Dug in really hard while launching the big freighter....snapped. I always have spares, so no big deal, except for the one that snapped up on Steel lake, and almost cut my thumb off when it broke. That one got promptly burned in retribution. Probably six or seven have broken on me so far,

 

[PeteStaehling]

Two paddles that I recall breaking may not be the only ones, but that are what I remember (my memory is terrible at times). One was a Sawyer wood paddle. It was made with a blade made of edge joined pieces. The shaft had a big mortise to accept the whole blade. Then there was a layer of glass over the whole thing. A poor design in my opinion, The shaft/blade joint failed on a strong power stroke. I am attaching a picture of a different sawyer paddle with a smaller blade, but somewhat similar construction. The one in question had a huge blade.

The other paddle that I remember breaking was an "unbreakable" synthetic Iliad. I broke it when I was pinned upside down in the cockpit of a decked C1. Adrenaline kicked in and I guess I was crazy strong for a minute because I managed to break it in half by beating it sideways with the heel of my hand. The Iliad was a beast of a paddle as I recall.

 

[pblanc]

I have only broken one paddle on the water during an unintentional side-surf of the bottom hole of Broken Nose rapid on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. This was a Harmony whitewater paddle, rebranded and sold by Perception. These paddles had a reputation for being very tough and I still have five or six of them of different shaft lengths and blade sizes.

This was my first run of the Ocoee, completely unguided and unaccompanied for reasons I won't get into. I had no notion of any of the rapids or their locations, and really had no business being on the river that day, especially in an open boat. For those who don't know the Ocoee, Broken Nose is a triple drop now generally considered a Class III+ but often considered a Class IV back in that day. The first drop is over a ledge that funnels a powerful wave toward the river right bank. The current directed me right towards a smallish river right bank eddy that had a kayaker sitting in it. He had a look of horror on his face as he saw an obviously out of control guy in a canoe bearing down on him. I took evasive maneuvers with my paddle to try to avoid killing him, and wound up executing a perfect eddy-out without touching him or his boat. I was more or less blocking his exit from the eddy so I preceded to eddy-out but what I didn't know was that this was only the beginning of the rapid and there were two more ledge drops the second of which forms a fairly powerful and somewhat sticky hole.

I came up way too slowly on the second drop but managed to stay in my boat but got spun 90 degrees by the hydraulic as I went over it. That set me up perfectly to drop over the last ledge sideways with no momentum. I was stuck in a side-surf in the hole, trying to get out when the shaft of my paddle snapped clean in two about a foot beneath the T grip. I don't think I hit a rock with the paddle but I guess I was putting way too much pressure on it.

I did manage to hold onto the T Grip during the swim that followed and retrieved the rest of the paddle afterwards. I sent the pieces back to Harmony and they replaced the paddle at no charge.

A couple of years ago I saw the carbon-fiber sheathed blade of a Mitchell Premier whitewater paddle owned by another boater snap completely in half. The paddler said he didn't think he had hit anything with it.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Yep snapped the shaft out of butternut paddle I was using for Canadian Style paddling..at an exhibition none the less. It became a comedy on on how you can make do with a shaft and blade with no grip.. The shaft was too slender for the stress. It is possible btw to paddle with a tree branch even wo duct tape. But for rivers where you need control now do add the duct tape.

The best was my brand new Zav . On the Missinaibi I was using it on the first day on a non rapid section and was trying to demo to hubby how do do a pry. Off the gunwale for maximum leverage. Snapped the paddle at the junction of shaft and blade. Gave pieces to hubby who stared at it and read the phone number of Zav off the paddle. He was pissed. It was his gift to me. He would have called them right then and there complete with swear words

But a phone was a week and 150 miles away.. Pre cell days (1996) and I doubt even today there is coverage there.

When we got home we called and mailed the pieces and Zav fixed the clean break.. And the paddle has since given me 24 years of service with no issues.
Moral: no gunwale pries with carbon fiber bent shaft paddles. They are not meant to do that.

 

[lowangle al]

Earlier this week I was out using my wife's favorite paddle, which is a couple inches shorter than mine, when I discovered the most powerful stroke I ever felt. Three strokes later, without warning the paddle snapped.

 

[PeteStaehling]

Earlier this week I was out using my wife's favorite paddle, which is a couple inches shorter than mine, when I discovered the most powerful stroke I ever felt. Three strokes later, without warning the paddle snapped.

Bad move. NEVER break a spouse's favorite paddle!

 

[lowangle al]

Bad move. NEVER break a spouse's favorite paddle!

Yea, I felt pretty bad as it's a vintage paddle and not readily replaceable. I glued it up with Elmers wood glue and I'm hoping it holds

 

[alsg]

Yea, I felt pretty bad as it's a vintage paddle and not readily replaceable. I glued it up with Elmers wood glue and I'm hoping it holds

Elmers? Is that even waterproof?

 

[scratchypants]

Yea, I felt pretty bad as it's a vintage paddle and not readily replaceable. I glued it up with Elmers wood glue and I'm hoping it holds

Back it up with some Scotch tape and it'll be fine.

 

[lowangle al]

Back it up with some Scotch tape and it'll be fine.

Scotch tape was my first choice but a recent thread about tape damaging paddles changed my mind.

As far as the glue not being waterproof I am hoping that the varnish will seal the shaft which will not be submerged anyway. I will report back if it fails.

 

[Odyssey]

Yeah but the real issue is...has she found out yet?

 

[Clint]

During the TWS my stern paddler broke 2 paddles! His then the spare. First time was going into a corner with a large sweeper. We was skirting the edge of the tree and I cleared but the stern pushed into the tree and it had a stob sticking out so he stuck the paddle shaft up to his chest to deflect the stob. Snapped that pretty carbon fiber right in the middle. Threw it in the bottom grabbed the spare and went on. The next day same scenario but he went to the other side and did a hard draw hit a rock and snapped that one in half. We had about 100 miles left to go. So we took the foot brace apart and slid it inside the 2 half and gorilla tapped the heck out of it.

 

[alsg]

Yeah but the real issue is...has she found out yet?

Exactly! I would have staged an accident, pretending to crash my car and setting it, the canoe and everything inside the car on fire to destroy the evidence. ;-)

 

[lowangle al]

Yea, I felt pretty bad as it's a vintage paddle and not readily replaceable. I glued it up with Elmers wood glue and I'm hoping it holds

The repair of my wife's paddle has failed. Live and learn, in my haste to get it up and running I ultimately destroyed it. My thought of being able to do the repair again if it failed will not work, with my skills anyway.

 

[Stillwater's]

Al, you might want to think twice before borrowing her V6's again ("Phoenix" in the ski world here)!