Review: Robson SUP-Race Paddle

An Independent Review of the full carbon Robson ‘SUP-Race’ Paddle.

Intro

Robson has been making kayak and canoe paddles for well over a decade. Recently they added five SUP paddles to their line-up, of which I tested the full carbon SUP-Race.

Test Environment

I have been using the paddle almost daily on flatwater, easy whitewater and on a wave for approximately 3 months. I just started SUPing this year, so I can’t compare it to other SUP paddles, but I have been kayaking since the mid nineties have used and owned dozens of kayak paddles, so I think I’m in a position to judge a paddle :)

Strength

As a personal preference I tend to like stiff paddles, so that explains why I tested a full carbon paddle. SUP paddles are long, so even carbon paddles bend under stress, but that’s mostly noticeable on photos - it does feel very stiff. See the photos below.

Robustness

The test environment was shallow and rocky, and since I mostly paddled upstream (that’s my daily workout these days) close to the river banks, I hit a lot of rocks. You can see the result on the photos below. Apart from some scratches, no damage was done - the edges are strong and and didn’t break or wear.

Details

The grip is made of nylon and feels strong and offer good grip. Not very fancy, but it does its job well.

The shaft is a little slippery for my taste, especially if your hands are wet or sweaty. I’m a bit picky in that respect. On kayak paddles, one of the first things I normally to is enhancing the grips with tennis overgrip, but I’m not quite sure yet where to stick that to an SUP shaft, because my hand position changes a lot. Anyway, good grip on an SUP paddle is not quite as important as on a kayak paddle because the top grip helps avoid unwanted rotations.

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