Testimonials

ABOTY Award

Bending Branches won its first ever recognition for Accessory Brand of the Year. President Ed Vater was on hand to accept the award, and said, "Our goal as a company is to make selling paddles easy and profitable. We are honored that our dealers value our hard work and commitment to their success. Thank you to everyone that supports Branches, LLC., and enjoys our American made paddles."

Here are a few testimonials about both our paddles and our company. We would love to hear from you! If you have a paddle specific review, please place it on that product's page. Many thanks and happy paddling!

Comments

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:09
“The more and more I order from you folks, the more and more I get hyped up about Bending Branches. I’m hoping my paddle orders from the “other folks” might actually show up before fall. It’s nice to know that it won’t take me 2 months to get these. Thanks for doing such a great job.”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:10
“Many thanks, you guys are great! As I might have said before, I am very very happy to do business with you. I’m happy about the way you (Sonya Swanson) and Bending Branches works.”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:10
“You truly are the best manufacturer I feel with, great service and product. Kudos to all of you!”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:10
“I received my paddle today; it was at my desk this morning when I arrived for work. What a nice surprise, the paddle is beautiful. My coworkers were very impressed with it. Thank you for a speedy delivery.”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:11
“I just received my paddle. Thanks once again for the quick turnaround and great service!”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:12
“I received my re-conditioned paddle. I really appreciate your customer service. I am a Bending Branches/Aqua-Bound fan forever!”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:13
“We’ve used these paddles extensively for 15 years with virtually no signs of wear. A truly superior product.”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:13
“Bending Branches will be the only brand I've ever used ;-)”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:14
“The paddle arrived in perfect condition and it's amazingly lighter than my current paddle. I paddled with it on Lake Mendocino today for a little more than two hours and it really does do all of the strokes. I sure enjoy use paddle.”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:14
“My new paddle arrived and it works great. You can consider me a lifelong customer for all of my paddle needs.”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:14
“I just wanted to thank you for the paddles. They are wonderful! I didn't realize that quality paddles made such a difference.”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:15
“I think Bending Branches have the most stunning ‘look and feel’ of any canoe paddle”

Submitted by bb_admin on Thu, 09/15/2011 - 17:15
“My bb (Bending Branches) has never let me down yet and has been used to push off oysters in marsh and so on! Keep up the great work!”

Submitted by bb_admin on Wed, 10/12/2011 - 19:55
Thank you for the replacement paddle you sent me for the defective one I sent in. Your customer service is very good and I am pleased that you stand behind your products. I see that the paddle blade is made of a different material than my first one. It is rigid whereas the first one had a slight give to it. Is is this going to make the blade more brittle? Thank you.

Submitted by bb_admin on Wed, 10/12/2011 - 19:56
Thank you for the compliments on our Customer Service. We aim to provide the best service in the paddle sport industry and your feedback reinforces that we are doing our job well. It is likely that your original paddle had experienced some deterioration in blade stiffness. Our current abXII blade material is 22% stronger, so you can be sure that your replacement is a better paddle than what you had. Happy Paddling!

Submitted by charles.nadia96 on Fri, 12/16/2011 - 09:47
I have put my Slice to the test on a 340 mile race across the state on Missouri! I went from KC, MO to St. Charles, MO in 66 hours with my slice on the Missouri River! The second largest River in North America! This paddle is great! also see my video on Youtube with me and my Bending Branches Paddle! The name of the video is The Lone Kayaker (6 min 17 sec)! Great fun and I will buy more paddles from Bending Branches!

Submitted by Joe D (not verified) on Fri, 02/10/2012 - 19:55
When the rock guard on my current paddle (BB Special) detached I called bending branches to see if there was a way to repair it. Though it could not be repaired bending branches (Rick Raffesberger) offered me a great deal on a replacement paddle even though my BB Special was WAY beyond the one year warranty period. I've never had a company go so far out of their way to keep me happy. Your products and customer service are second to none. Also, it's great to see that there are still a few items made in the USA.

Submitted by BranchesMediaAnchor on Fri, 03/02/2012 - 09:20

Can I just say, "fabulous"? Absolutely superb customer service.

I purchased a Viper bent-shaft paddle for my husband, but it just didn't seem to be the right size. However, the paddle was the longest paddle manufactured in that style. My husband is not a giant so it seemed a little weird that there weren't longer paddles available. I called Bending Branches to find out if it was possible to get a longer paddle.

Rick in customer service was so knowledgable about their products and paddling in general. He asked some specific questions that immediately got to the crux of the problem and offered suggestions for how to rectify the situtation. It turns out the paddle is just the right size and my husband (a straight-shaft paddler) needed to adjust his stroke to maximize the potential of the new paddle.

Thank you Bending Branches. A great product, but even better service.

Submitted by Mark Phelps (not verified) on Thu, 03/08/2012 - 10:27

I AM AN OLDER PADDLER (almost 60) AND HAVE BEEN PADDLING MY 17 FT. TOURING KAYAKS FOR 16 YEARS NOW. OBVIOUSLY I HAVE SEEN A LOT OF CHANGES MADE IN THE PADDLE INDUSTRY, WITH DIFFERENT DESIGNS AND DIFFERENT MATERIALS USED IN THEIR CONSTRUCTION AND EVEN DIFFERENT WEIGHTS OR BLADE SHAPES. ALSO, I WAS INTO KAYAKING BEFORE THE "CRANKSHAFTS" WERE EVEN MADE AVAILABLE. I ATTEND MANY VARIOUS KAYAK SHOWS & SYMPOSIUMS AND I BELIEVE THAT I HAVE TRIED JUST ABOUT EVERY KIND OF KAYAK PADDLE THERE IS ON THE MARKET. LIKE EVERY OTHER PADDLER, I HAVE MY PERSONAL FAVORITES, AND YOU CAN CALL ME A "OLD SCHOOL" PADDLER OR A "DINOSAUR" IF YOU LIKE BUT JUST LET ME SAY THAT THE PADDLE THAT HAS ALWAYS PERFORMED THE BEST FOR ME IS THE BENDING BRANCHES KEVLAR "STORM DREAM". STRAIGHT SHAFT BECAUSE I JUST DON'T LIKE THE WAY THAT CRANKSHAFTS FEEL ESPECIALLY OVER A LONG DISTANCE PADDLE. I HAVE USED THIS PADDLE FOR YEARS NOW AND I GO ON SOME LONG DISTANCE OCEAN PADDLING EXCURSIONS, FOR EXAMPLE FROM SAN PEDRO, CA. OUT TO CATALINA ISLAND AND BACK, ALSO CIRCUMNAVIGATED AROUND THREE OF THE CHANNEL ISLANDS INCLUDING EXPLORING ABOUT 50 DIFFERENT SEA CAVES, ETC. AT TIMES I HAVE HAD TO USE MY PADDLE TO GENTLY PUSH HARBOR SEALS OFF THE BOW OF MY BOATS THAT WERE TRYING TO HITCH A RIDE. I REALIZE THAT THIS PADDLE IS NOT AS LIGHT IN WEIGHT AS SOME OF THE NEWER CARBON FIBER PADDLES AND IS A PHASED OUT MODEL NOW, BUT I LOVE IT AND I ALWAYS SEEM TO GRAVITATE BACK TO IT WHEN I REALLY DESIRE A PADDLE THAT I CAN DEPEND ON THROUGH THICK & THIN. I HAVE PADDLED IN SOME EXTREMELY ROUGH SEAS AND THIS IS THE BEST EVER PADDLE THAT I
HAVE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. THANK YOU FOR A FINE PRODUCT THAT HAS SAVED ME MORE THAN ONCE WHEN PERFORMING LOW BRACES AND KEPT ME OFF THE ROCKS AROUND THE ISLANDS.