[Paddle Care | Fitting a grip]

How to care for your paddle and repair a damaged paddle

Paddle Care - with proper care your paddle will last you for years.  If you inspect your paddle after each use you can sand or file out any minor chips. By doing this you can get on top of any damage while it is easy to repair. If you damage your paddle it is best to stop using it if possible until repaired - especially if the damage is deep enough to expose the foam core - as a minimum cover the damage in string tape to minimise water contact with the foam. Final thing - always store your paddle in a protective bag to minimise UV and the chance of other damage.

1) Minor chip to blade edge:
This type of repair is very easy to carry out. There is an edge to the blade which is solid material and can be filed or sanded down to remove minor damage. You can see the extent of the solid section as the colour is darker. Best to use appropriate protection (mask, gloves and eye protection) to prevent inhaling carbon fibre dust or having splinters in your skin etc.

After sanding down, clean with a dry cloth (or a cleansing product). When dry, you can bring back the as-new look to your paddle by spraying over the area you worked on with a clear lacquer. With this, it is best to use multiple light coats to achieve a nice finish.

2) Damage to blade face

This is a bit more involved but still something you can do yourself and achieve an effective result that looks OK. We’ve prepared a photo guide to take you through this one:

Step 1 - Inspect the paddle - Here are a couple of shots showing the type of damage this guide is intended to help with:

This kind of damage is usually caused by your paddle colliding with the corner of another paddle.  This type of damage is not covered under warranty.

If you can see the white foam core of the paddle you need to be sure that this has dried out before attempting to repair the paddle.  TIP - if your paddle hits another and is damaged, stop using it immediately and repair it!

The first thing to do is remove any loose strands of carbon, you can do this with a pointed file or careful sanding.

Step 2 - Repair materials - Items needed to carry out the repair:

• Epoxy resin and hardener - we use Devcon 5 min epoxy but others are just fine also.
• Something to mix on - can be a piece of plastic or even a magazine cover as we’ve shown below.
• Something to mix with - a wooden stirrer is fine.
• Heat gun (or a hair dryer)
• Masking tape
• Clear lacquer (spray - from car paint section in a DIY store)

Optional items are: a thickener (micro balls) and/or carbon fibre powder or other black colourant. These really are just optional.  The thickener can help with larger holes and the colourant is just to give the epoxy a black colour when mixed.

Step 3 - Preparation - First thing is to mask off the area around the hole to try and avoid damaging it. Read what we said above about safety and using appropriate protection.

Step 4 - Mixing the epoxy - If you’re going to be using a colourant or a thickener get this ready now as some epoxy resins are fast drying and you don’t want to waste time after you’ve mixed the resin and hardener.

Put equal measures of the resin and hardener together, add any extras and mix using the wooden stirrer.  This should be done quite thoroughly.

Step 5 - Fill the hole! - Using the stirrer scoop up some of the mix and drop into the hole.  The mix should be semi-runny so this is quite easy to do. Keep adding the mix until the hole is full and there is a little extra epoxy above the surrounding blade surface.

At this point, to ensure the epoxy gets into the crevices in the hole, heat the underside of the paddle (with the side you are repairing uppermost!).  Be careful if using a heat gun a) don’t burn your paddle and b) your mix may be flamable!  The heat is just to make sure the mix is more liquid and runs into the holes so this doesn’t need long.

Use your stirrer to wipe across the mix to level out the surface and start to get a more even finish.  The shot here is how things look just after the mix has been added into the hole.

Step 6 - Sanding - After leaving the paddle to rest on a level surface for the full curing time of the epoxy (best to allow a day).  You can get to work with sanding down the epoxy to get a smooth finish. You can use regular sandpaper or a small power tool like a Dremel (carefully!). Whichever you use, regular sanding at the end with fine grade paper helps get a nice finish.

Step 7 - Smarten it up - Use some clear lacquer spray over the repaired section and surrounding area to both provide protection and also to cover any marks you may have made sanding etc. You will be surprised the effect this has.

That is all there is to it.  Don’t try and do it in on day, leave time for the epoxy to fully dry before sanding and all should be fine.

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