Avoid the walkout – why everyone should carry a breakdown paddle

Posted on Wednesday 13th March, 2024

Introducing the new Creeker glass four-piece breakdown paddle.

 

Never worry about breaking a paddle again

(by ambassador Heidi Walsh)

Sometimes you get unlucky on the river, your paddles might be torn out of your hands or you might just drop them in the river, they can take the full force of an impact and snap. Losing your paddle sucks!

You can’t simply go to the car and get another paddle, you'll have to finish the river first. Carrying breakdowns alleviates a lot of stress. Personally, I’ve found that carrying breakdowns has been very confidence inspiring, especially when running waterfalls when I throw my paddles. I know that absolute worst case I have a spare in the back of my boat ready to go.

 

Be a hero for your friends

It might not be you that loses your paddle but as a crew, you should always be carrying group gear with you. Absolute non-negotiables for me are a first aid kit, breakdown paddles and pin kits. If you’re going paddling in colder climates, it’s worth bringing an emergency shelter too.

When in a group, at least one person should be carrying breakdown paddles and when the group gets bigger, more people should have them. I think 1:4 is a good ratio to have. Be a good friend and help out your buddy in an emergency.

Why a four-piece paddle?

On some boats you can get a two-piece spare into the back of the boat, and sea kayakers carry their break appart paddles on the deck. But on most modern creek and river boats its not possible. Thats when a 4-piece breakdown paddle is the one to have. With a joint in the centre of the shaft, a four-piece also allows the blades to be separated, using extra spigots – great news for compact storage.

Will any old break appart paddle do?

I’ve used many breakdown paddles which are cheap and cheerful and to be honest are probably best saved for holding up a line to dry your gear. I need a paddle that I can properly rely on to feel like the one I may have lost or broken, and also can be set up to help my mates if they need a spare as well. They maybe more spendy, but a good four-piece paddle is worth it, especially as they’ll last me a good while.

I’ve been using the new VE Creeker 4-piece and it ticks all the boxes. Same super tough gass blades that I use creaking. Well fitting spigots so there is no wobble or flutter when pulling power strokes and best of all adjustment which lets me set any angle or length to suit who ever needs to use them … plus they are bright yellow so I’m not likely to lose them!

How to store your breakdown paddles

VE breakdown paddles come with a mesh bag to keep all of the sections together. Expedition paddlers sometimes customise their boats for paddle storage, but the quickest and easy way to store your breakdown paddles is to leave them in the bag and put the whole thing in the stern of your kayak. You’ll find that they will rattle around quite a lot like this, so to stop this from happening, simply put an airbag over the top and blow it up as much as you can. This will fill the space around the paddles and keep them in place nicely.