I bought this paddle along with the 13' Advanced Elements Expedition kayak. It's a paddle so it does what it's supposed to - paddle. It features spring loaded locking cleats that allow you to twist and angle the blades up to 60 degrees. Personally I like mine parallel. The shaft is made of heavy gauge aluminum and seem like it would hold up well. The blades are molded plastic but appear to be reinforced so breakage would be hard to do. This particular paddle is a bit long at 230 cm. Most veteran paddlers will tell you 210-220 is all you need. The Expedition if a pretty wide boat however so the extra length works for a novice, but overall its length promotes poor paddling technique forcing you to use sweeping strokes to avoid the sides of the boat rather than vertical strokes. It is also a bit on the heavy side when compared to expensive composite paddles, but that's to be expected for the price. Its real strength is its portability. I love being to break it down into 2 or 4 smaller sections for easy storage. All in all it's a fine paddle for the Advanced Elements inflatable kayaks, but I would go elsewhere if you are using a hard sided boat. Advanced Elements 4-Part Packlite Paddle
I bought this paddle to use with my NRS packraft. I pack into high lakes and fish. It works very well for that purpose. The pieces fit together snugly, so I am always careful to disassemble the paddle at night. I have seen other paddles (not this brand) become fused together when left assembled for too long. Rather than mess with lubricants or anti-seize compounds, I just disassemble them. In general, I feel it is worth the price.
I have paddled many miles in my Advanced Elements kayak using a $180 paddle. I decided to try the Advanced Elements paddle as one of mine needed replacing. This paddle works well for someone that is not paddling long distances such as on long sea kayaking trips. - Advanced Elements - Inflatable Kayaks - Kayak - Inflatable Kayak'
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