Congratulations to Seatec!

[DrowneD]

Wow.thats really a very short duration time.did you really drop it or what?cause i'm kinda considering buying it.=/

lol.

not really dropped it alot of times though.

weight wise i can say it's worth buying.

it's really good.

broken cf paddlle



there are also cracks at the sides can't be seen in photos.

Maybe the paddle are not build for the stronger paddler.

First time see such case happen , that paddler must be super powerful.

lol.

it's owned by a female rower, broken by a big built guy in just three strokes.

but it initially have cracks around that area before the breakage though.

waaa. i thut carbon fiber arent suppose to break so easily? goodness... 

[kcmx]

dont save on carbon fibre.
its strong but once cracks off, you can kick your paddle goodbye
i've seen worse CF accidents, like only a road bike that snaps at the top tube

imho, the place when the paddle broke, shows that the manufacturer fail to do enough testing. probably hinder by cost or what. look at more establised names like trivium, zre/burnwater, you can see that very location does have some form on reinforcement.

getting idbf certification is not hard, just needa conform to the design standards. making a quality paddle is another story. kudos to them for trying.

just another question, did seatec place your broken paddle for free?
thats what burnwater did for their paddles which bloated .

not too sure about it.

because most of the paddles we have started to have various problems around the same time but this particular paddle didn't make it.

and now our coach took back all the cf paddles that are giving problems.

its called ipaddle? hehe infringing any rights? 
try it in water to know. if you buying for the white looks, and willing to pay for the looks ok. Otherwise a wooden one serves the same purpose, since the weight is almost the same as a wooden paddle.

came across the ad in one of those china alibaba-type supplier web advertisement site.. is it made in China? saw the claim that the black paddle is one of the lightest in the world. Could it be that too little material used caused the structure weakness? Guess it will take an extended period of product testing for those manufacturing probs to be ironed out if thats the case. Have seen carbon paddles of other brands break like this b4, but usually after more than 2 yrs of use (or abuse).

I have hands-on both paddles b4. My own verdict: nice on the looks, average on feel and performance in water.

looks nice only for around a month, after that it'll start chipping off in areas that are usually in contact with the floor. lol.

[Nautilus]

when cracks appear on carbon-composite paddles, it is not beyond hope yet. You have to get a decent repair to reseal the surface and not let water get into the composite fabric beneath. If you ignore the crack and chip and continue to immerse the paddle in water, worse, salt water, the composite material will
1. absorb the water and make the paddle much heavier
2. ruin the laminating between the fabric and the surfacing

but for a carbon composite paddle to fail catastrophically, and within such short time period points to
1. structure design, material choice or manufacturing process issue (no proper research and product testing)
2. wanton ignorance and apathy(bo chup) towards paddle maintenance and care by the user (i.e. you treat a carbon composte paddle like its a cheap SDBA one, it is going to break, even if it is a trivium or a burnwater)

Carbon composite paddles are not supposed to be left on the rough ground under the hot sun like your SDBA rental paddle.

Paddle bag is compulsory piece of accessory for a carbon composite paddle.

Newer paddlers are better off with wood until they get into the right rythmn and stroke fitness as the rest of the team they are training with because paddle clash will ruin carbon composite faster than anything else.

Also make sure you quiz your supplier about his ability to do quick low level paddle repair and maintenance without differing to the original manufacturer who most often resides far away from here. There is alot to buying a paddle other than just choosing the design and paying the money.

[pcgwee]

I concur with Nautilus that carbon-fibre or composite paddles do require more care than normal wooden paddles. Although carbon-fibre has great strength for its weight, it has a tendency to snap and in my opinion, the primary advantage in using carbon fibre is largely due to its weight. I still remember that during Regatta last November, Kyo who was then racing in SPC colours broke a carbon-fibre paddle (won't name the brand) before the start of the race. Someone also previously mentioned that recent batches of a prominent brand had some issues and had to be returned (I verified independently with the distributor). You don't have to be a "superpowerful" paddler to break a carbon-fibre paddle. And yes, like everything else nowadays, a number of manufacturers produce these paddles in China.
Again like buying anything else, I highly recommend demo-ing the products available and forming your own conclusions. Most distributors are happy to loan some demo paddles for tryout. I have also prominently, and with little bias, listed them out in the paddle talk thread. Manufacturing/distributing paddles/lifevests isn't "easy" and I appreciate these guys for providing a wide array of choices we now have. If these guys aren't around, there's only one single choice: rowing with SDBA paddles and wearing pink lifevests.
Getting a carbon-fibre paddle isn't going to instantly turn you into a better paddler. But if you get one, know what you are paying for and what you are getting in return. You should, because it's your money.