Carbon fiber is a wonderful thing. It's revolutionized countless industries, changed the way we look at the colour black, and of course, makes really nice paddles for Stand Up Paddling. But despite the fact that everyone LOVES carbon fiber, it does have a few enemies, many of them present during the every-day use of a paddle.

Sharp impacts, UV and scratches are the kryptonite to anything made from Carbon Fiber. Just one scratch can lead to a breakage further down the line, but how can that happen to something so expensive? It's all about the fibers. Jim Terrel from Quickblade explains:

"The blade itself is not going to break with just weight applied." As he stands on a paddle blade supported by two bits of wood. "If I was to fall on it in the surf, then I might get a break". After which, he gently falls on the blade, with his foot, crushing it with a nasty crunching noise that's all to familiar to many paddlers.

It's the sharp impact that's the key. Carbon is very brittle, and although it can withstand huge bending and twisting loads, those loads must be applied slowly. It's just like breaking one of those Red Skin lollies. Bend it quick, it'll snap right in two. Bend it slow, and it will bend all day. That impact to your paddle never goes away either. Remember that time you dropped your paddle in the car park, and it hit the gutter about half way down the shaft? While there might have just been a tiny scratch, that impact has done the damage. If your paddle is going to break down the track, then it's going to break on that scratch for sure!

The other killer, is UV. As those rays beat down on your sexy black fibers of carbon, they're slowly making them more and more brittle. Being so brittle to start with, every second that blade sits in the sun brings it two seconds closer to breaking. That ratio might be a little off, but you get the picture. Sun = bad.

Jim Terrel, the guy bouncing around on his paddle in this clip, is a world famous kayak paddler from way back in the 80's and 90's, before stand up paddling was even invented. They even named the Olympic Park in Milford after him! The point is, he's been around carbon fiber paddles (and been making them) since it became viable to start making them from carbon. He knows how they work, how they die a natural death, and how paddlers kill them prematurely.

Watch the clip below to see a 'beat-up old V-Drive' smashing to bits with one little impact from Jim Terrel's Foot.

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