Award-winning kayaking company pioneers new scheme offering heavy discounts when replacing a broken paddle.

By Gearlab Outdoors

Taipei, August 17th, 2022: Gearlab Outdoors is no stranger to leading the way when it comes to innovation; its line of cutting-edge Greenland paddles have helped bring this one niche piece of equipment to the mass-market, building a loyal customer base with sea kayakers around the world. The company now seeks to extend peace of mind as well as value to its customers, by ensuring they can replace paddles which are broken on the open water at an attractively discounted rate, in a first of its kind “3-Year Crash Replacement Program”.

Customers who buy a carbon fiber paddle from Gearlab will now receive a unique certificate with their new purchase, titled “Accidental Crash Replacement Program”. This certificate, which is in addition to and not replacing the standard manufacturer’s warranty, means that paddlers who break their paddles during use on open water can replace it at a significantly reduced cost (between 30-50% off the original price). Gearlab Outdoors hopes this move offers value to its loyal customers, while acknowledging that open water can be a challenging and unpredictable environment, where accidents do happen. Encountering heavy surf, rock gardening, bracing and rolling are all examples of situations where even the best paddles are sometimes put under severe strain and an accident leading to a broken paddle is a situation almost every paddler will encounter at some point. As Gearlab Sales and Marketing Director Mike Shih explains, “We as kayakers always prepare for the unexpected, but elements of nature can sometimes be unforgiving. We believe in the integrity of our products and community and offering this benefit to our customers just feels like the right thing to do”.

In order to be eligible for the program, customers must register within 60 days of purchasing and may only use it once during the 3 year validity. In addition, it is only valid for the original owner of the paddle and will not “carry over” if a paddle is sold second-hand. If a paddle is broken, customers must provide a brief explanation of how damage occurred, with photos of the paddle and its serial number. Customers who qualify for a replacement will then receive a unique coupon code to purchase the same or comparable model for 30-50% discount.