Overall, a fine paddle in terms of weight and width, but for a paddle that is $180 I had two weird problems with it, not to mention glib lip service from Werner itself, which left me not wanting to give them my money again.
Problem 1: after using this paddle for 3 years, suddenly one day the two shafts stopped clicking in place. Somehow the clasp button feature that snaps the two shafts in place and then allows you to separate them, once connected, got damaged in such a way as to prevent them from staying in place. The paddle was still usable, but it felt very compromised -- especially if paddling rapids when all of a sudden the paddle comes apart!
Problem 2: when portaging around a huge logjam once, I threw the paddle atop the tall bank that I had to pull my boat up and over since it was muddy, I was frustrated, and I knew I needed both hands. When I relocated my paddle I found the shaft broken at its clasp. Just smashed. Now the paddle was totally dysfunctional, so I had to "doggie-paddle" with each blade/shaft in each hand, for 4.5 miles. I was not a happy paddler!
Werner offered no sympathy and stated that a "technician" would look at it, but (a) that alone would cost something like $60 (not including shipping it out to Washington),(b) there was no guarantee that it could be fixed in the first place, and (c) even if it could be fixed, that would cost additional money. Or...I could just buy a new paddle from a different manufacturer, thank you very much. Which is what I did.
