I'm in the market for some new paddles (probably Sherpas), and I was wondering about carbon ones. I've used carbons for Slalom, Sea and Marathon, but that hasn't given me a true sense of how well they cope with being beaten against rocks.

Are Carbon paddles as resilient as glass ones, or will I just end up having to buy a replacement pair when the carbon ones break?

I'm aware of the advantages of each, except for their strength.

Cheers

I\'ve had a carbon paddle, and used it on whitewater. Some people (like the guy that sold it to me apparently) like the combo, others figure I made a bit of a rookie mistake. I liked it a lot, but it did wear out pretty fast, glass seems to last a bit longer (although it\'s certainly not unbreakable either).

Personally I will be sticking to glass from now on, because the bit of extra weight doesn\'t bother me at all and I have a sixth sense for detecting rocks and ramming into them as hard as I can. I the end it\'s a personal decision. If you have experience with neither on whitewater I\'d be inclined to advise you to get a glass paddle, if you know how glass handles the rocks or are willing to risk an old carbon paddle on some experimenting then you can probably guess where the balance lies for you pretty well. Carbon is more vulnerable, but not by a huge margin (in my experience).

Ok, thats useful, thanks.

I don't have experience with either save for slalom - I've made do with my really old (but bombproof) plastic symmetrical paddles so far. They work, and have gone down some pretty big stuff so far, but they're getting a bit useless now

Well then, I think I was agreeing with you to start with, I just needed confirmation. Glass Sherpas it is then

Only thing is: the colour doesn't match my boat or kit

I have used a Werner Sidekick Carbon Paddle for the last 5 years or so and it works great. Before that I had a Werner Double Diamond paddle which is also Carbon but has foam filled blades. Paddles very nicely but every time I hit a rock it sounded like I had broken something, I hadn't as it was way strong but I didn't like having to take that much care when I paddle (and I boat mainly on larger volume rivers). So when I got a new paddle i went with the cheaper performance range from Werner rather than their performance core paddles.

Hope this helps,

Yours,

Neil Newton Taylor

O, so really, my question now is: will I get £60 more use out of carbon paddles, or will they be a waste?
I see that carbon paddles are not too delicate in white water. which, I suppose, should have been more obvious considering the scratches on my slalom paddles!
I think, correct me if I'm wrong, it is now a case of the good old 'see which you prefer' method?
Thanks for your help guys

I paddled a Werner Powerhouse in full carbon for a while, maybe two years, I can't remember. Where I live it's mostly low volume, rocky rivers. Took it to Sumatra as well. I was very happy, it didn't wear down a lot in my opinion. The carbon will last long, it's difficult to estimate but I think it'll last a similar amount of time to the glass blades. They all get smaller over time, I've seen it as radical as 15 to 20mm worn off from the edges... Although you might save some weight, and you'll definitely gain stiffness, I'm not sure if it's worth the extra bucks. The stiffer shaft can also be harder on your joints (shoulders). That's something to consider too.

Well having paddled slalom for a while, I can see myself edging towards the carbons, purely because of the stiffness (In slalom, nothing bends. At all.).

I'm going to try carbon set against a glass set soon, just as soon as my local shop gets some straight carbon demo paddles...

Off topic slightly, has anyone tried bent sherpas? Did you (like me) think the shaft wasn't bent enough? I prefer straight shafts anyway, but I still had to twist my hands with the one I tried.

cousinsa wrote:
Something more forgiving isn't a bad idea. When you get older, you'll agree with me.

True, true... That was surely the idea of cranks though?

Anyway. I don't plan on getting old. Thats what old people do