At Eddy Paddle
The AT Eddy has been my primary paddle since I really got into paddling, and remains my primary paddle of choice. I picked my first one up with my first boat years ago. I got a heck of a deal on it from Next Adventure, and I have to say I was impressed by the quality of the paddle for the price. Fast forward some years and I have paddled many days of creeks, rivers and playboating on two sides of the country... and I feel I can safely report that the AT Eddy is a solid paddle!
The AT Eddy has held up well for me. Sure, I broke my first AT Eddy... but I broke my thumb at the same time getting my thumb stuck between my paddleand the boat with the paddle jammed into a rock. Talk about some crummy luck on that one! The failure itself also wasn't catastrophic. I paddled off that river with the same paddle, broken thumb and all. AT provided me a brand new paddle (thanks to Next Adventure for helping coordinate this) and I'm still using it a year and a half (and a lot more beatering) later! Since I broke the first AT Eddy in a situation that i'm sure would break any paddle (and thumb), I can't hold this against the paddle. I've also broken three other paddles during this time that I've tooled around with, while the AT Eddy remains my trusted primary paddle.
The AT Eddy is a good paddle for getting into the thick of it. The blades are big enough to have significant grab, but not so large you feel beat up. The foam paddle blades make rolling notably easier, as I can find the surface better and it provides a bit of extra flotation. The paddle itself feels confidence inspiring while putting strength down, and when you're rolling it's got one heck of a purchase. The bent shaft is a bit wide compared to other brands, but feels great in hand and is always easy to index. I don't think the paddle can be beat!
The AT Eddy is plenty light. I can somewhat tell the difference between this and other very lightweight paddles, but when I'm in the thick of it that weight proves far less important to me than the other factors that make this paddle amazing.
The AT Eddy isn't great at playboating, but isn't miserable either. Playboat specific paddles are a lot more agile in the water. See my review on the Sidekick. However, for downriver play in serious rapids, the Eddy comes to beat them. I would claim the main differences to be flatwater tricks , where a blade like this with bigger purchase also can be a detriment as the blade can get stuck at times if you're not perfect with your manuevers. The difference can also be felt a bit with in water agility being inferior to a thinner playboat paddle. Still though, this paddle gains plenty where it gives up only a bit.
I'd like to try the AT Eddy Flexi to compare at some point. My one gripe with the AT Eddy is that my shoulders are often quite tired with this paddle. It has been my experience that the larger the purchase of the blade (overall surface area, that is relatively wide to say a playboat paddle) the more force you can put down, but the more force that is transferred to you. The exceptions i've found with this though have been with wooden paddles, where the flexibility helped notably. Unfortuantely, the three wooden paddles I've used I managed to all break within five months, while my AT Eddy is still as good as when I bought it. Hence, the interest in the AT Eddy Flexi.
Overall: I would reccomend it. Great all around paddle, great first paddle. Good choice in general for on the river!