Brand name paddles vs knockoffs (Ok, ok, I was wrong) - by: SpaceSputnik

Some months back we have discussed this here and I spoke in favour of Z&J paddle which is basically a small wing Epic knock off. I liked it well enough and put a fair bit of mileage on it over a year and a bit.

Now, I have to recant.
I was working on re-rigging my new used Epic 18x kayak. I was making an arrangement to stow a spare. At some point the bungees were too tight and I accidentally put some rotating pressure on one of the blades. The blade cracked slightly and started wobbling. 
I heated it up and it was a little bit shocking how easily the adhesive separated. The two halves of the blade came apart at the insert. I epoxied it all back and it's all solid, but I see that there's some tiny separation past my repair. Besides, to be on the safe side I'd probably need to re-glue the other blade.
None of that is particularly great. I not dealing with a risk of breakage while 10-15k from home. I do carry a euro spare, but I really don't want to have to use more than I want to test a seat belt in my car.

So, yeah. A cheapie bites the dust in slightly over a year of use, a new carbon Epic ordered and lesson learned.