Aqua-Bound Eagle Ray Carbon Paddle - 2-Piece Posi-Lok for Sale, Reviews, Deals and Guides

Firstly, this is THE SINGLE WORST PIECE OF PADDLING GEAR I HAVE EVER USED. *PROOF IN 2 POINTS.* 1: THE BLADES- It is a flagrent LIE that this paddle is "100% carbon" as aquabound claims. It is PLASTIC. Specifically, carbon doped plastic. Think dipping a rabbit turd in gold and claiming it is a gold nugget. The blades are only slightly stiffer than the (other) cheapo plastic paddles at Woomart; "20% stiffer" according to aquabound themselves. Don't believe me? Aquabound's own paddle line reveals the next paddle up in price and performance, as well as lower weight, is Pure Fiberlass. Yep. Thats right It's THAT kind of lie. 2, THE SHAFT: while IT actually IS carbon, it's the cheapest possible assembly. This is carbon tape, wound around a former/ mandrel like spiral winding duct tape around a broomstick. Complete with sharp overlapping ridges. THE LIE: this is special texturing aquabound did for your benifit, on perpose. THE TRUTH: it was the cheapest thing they could do. THE RESULT: big, bad BLISTERS. (Btw, if you think you will be immune, good luck. I am a former professionals athlete with a 600lbs deadlift (without gloves), and had to abandon the second day of paddling due to LARGE BLISTERS from this paddle. My dainty hands? My calluses have calluses.) 3: OVERALL PERFORMANCE: The lock sytem is ok, but not that special. The blades are a good shape, but are heavy flexable PLASTIC. The result is an uncomfortable, inefficient swing weight. Horrible polar mass loading. (Think spinning a dumbbell vs cannonball of same mass.) The shaft is lighter, and actually carbon, unlike the plastic blades they are bonded to: but what good is a shaft that is a little lighter if it takes you out of the game from hand blisters? USELESS. 4: CONCLUSION: I am shocked that any retailer would sell paddles from this company to their customers. Aquabound has bold-face-lied about the material compositions of these paddles, saying there are "100% carbon fron tip to tip", and multiple other statements specifically designed to mislead consumers. They are PLASTIC blades. Again, if you want to UPGRADE to an ALL FIBERGLASS paddle, they will sell you one, but for alot more money. But, why buy from these con men? Do yourself a favor and buy a fiberglass blade paddle from a company with integrity. It will be lighter, stiffer, better swing weight, more comfortable in the hand. And yes a little more money. But at least you wont have gotten con-jobed into paying 200$ FOR A PLASTIC PADDLE. And if you want to paint it black and tell your friends it's 100% percent carbon, go for it. After all, thats what Aquabound did.

I am a low angle paddler. The difference between the MantaRay fiberglass and EagleRay carbon paddles is night and day. The swing weight and overall weight of the EagleRay carbon feel like effortless paddling compared to the MantaRay fiberglass paddle. The MantaRay paddle is good. The EagleRay paddle is great.