A mid-term review of the whitewater paddle from Aquabound

Aquabound is a company that has been around for decades, if not centuries. They’ve been producing some of the best sea kayaking paddles available on the market and have been one of the favorite packrafter’s companies these past 15 years. Until this year, the lineup was lacking a solid specific paddle to enter the whitewater kayaking market. Thankfully, Aquabound unleashed the Aerial, a one of a kind paddle that will compete with the best paddles on the market. In this comprehensive review, you’ll learn everything you need to know about this paddle.

Before the Aerial there was the Shred

Two things here: Aquabound before the Aerial and me before my Aerials (yes I have two of them, more on that later).

1. Previous Aquabound whitewater paddle.

Aquabound had been on the radar for a very long time, they had excellent all around paddles, premium sea kayaking paddles and one model for whitewater: the Shred.
Before I go any further and maybe hurt your feelings, I want to say that I’m a big fan of Aquabound and also a proud ambassador of the brand BUT the Shred was nowhere near as good as a Werner, a Lettmann or any premium brand dedicated to whitewater kayaking. The Shred is nonetheless a good paddle, I used mine a lot and enjoyed it. It’s an entry level whitewater paddle, absolutely bombproof, nuke-proof, riverbed-proof. Mine still looks brand new after a lot of paddling in shallow rivers, playboating, instructing, digging house foundations and so on. The price tag on this paddle is hard to beat and the quality you can expect for the price is over the top.

The Shred in action, it’s a fun downriver playboating paddle in shallow rapids: it’ll never break. Some of my “friends” referred to my beloved paddle as a giant plastic spoon. “Friendship over” I said (and with this paddle, it was easy to dig a 6ft deep hole the size of said “friend”).

2. My own personal journey (all paddle related)

When I started paddling after buying my first packraft in 2011, I got myself an Aquabound Manta Ray like everyone else at the time. Soon after, I got into whitewater and bought myself a Powerhouse from Werner, I was so stoked and I thought that I was looking like a pro with my nice fiberglass paddle. I was so proud with my elbow pads and my shinny new paddle. In reality I was still a beater paddler with a bit of ego but with a shinny paddle.
During the next decade, I used a variety of different paddles from different brands: Werner, VE, TNP, Kober, Nespresso, etc.
Then when I became an Aquabound ambassador I switched from a foamcore carbon fiber paddle to a Shred. I had circled around the circle – not sure it’s the right expression. I decided to use this paddle as much as possible even if I had super fancy paddles at home. After all, if we always say “it’s not the boat, it’s the paddler”, why wouldn’t it be the same with paddles? I mean, look at this picture of an entry level paddle in the hands of a premium paddler (yes, I need to work on my ego, it’s becoming problematic):

Well, when I was committing to harder descents, I was going back to my more advanced paddles, don’t tell anyone. But it annoyed me because I really wanted to be faithful to Aquabound and use the products in all occasions.

I was aware that Aquabound was secretly working on a badass whitewater paddle. Yes I know some secrets and yes, I know about your little secrets as well, I wouldn’t be proud if I were you.
And then one day, it arrived in my mailbox (I have a special one for paddles and another one for boats, please send me boats). I immediately felt like Aragorn when he holds Andúril for the first time (in this scene, Elrond is my mailman). If you’re a nerd like me, the previous sentence was hilarious but if you’re not, then it doesn’t make any sense, let’s just move on.

The Aerial

Yes, I can hear you saying “At last! Now he’s going to start talking about the Aerial, enough of this non sense!”. Well, you might be disappointed if you keep reading, I will eventually give my personal opinion on this paddle but it will not be straight forward. This article is built a bit like these annoying websites with recipes, you know the kind: you see a super attractive picture of a delightful dish that looks quite easy to make and then you have to read endless and stupid things about how the author discovered the recipe, what time of the year is best for the dish and so on before you get to the list of ingredients.
Truth to be told, if it was up to me, there would be just one type of food in the world: the peanut butter and pickle sandwich. It’s delicious, efficient and easy to prepare. The saltiness and moisture(ness?) of the pickles pair so well with the peanut butter. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and you’ll never be tired of it. Here’s a picture of me after eating a peanut butter and pickle sandwich:

You can use any kind of bread for this sandwich. On the go, I like to use flour tortillas to make a wrap. For the pickles, choose the salty ones, Polish pickles are the best of course (look for ogórki kiszone). If you know, you know. If you didn’t know, you’re welcome.
Here’s the type of things you can do if you choose the right pickles for your sandwich:

An interesting fact about peanut butter and pickle sandwiches is that most of the time, people will be very intrigued and interested in your food habits if you eat your sandwich in society. Some people will engage in a conversation with you, some will be worried for you, some will want to know you more. Others will be disgusted and leave. One thing is for sure, no one will be indifferent about your sandwich. All in all, a peanut butter and pickles sandwich is a bit like a cute dog on a leash: everyone wants a piece of it.

In order to make yourself one of these delicious sandwiches you’ll need the following:

. Peanut butter

. Pickles

. Bread

Use a knife to spread the peanut butter evenly on the bread, then slice the pickles using a sharp knife. A butter knife won’t cut through the pickles. You can also buy already sliced pickles. I’m sure your local convenience store carries it. Don’t put your dirty fingers in the jar, use a fork to get to the pickles, otherwise mold will come and it’s the last thing you want. Mold is bad, you don’t want to eat moldy pickles, it doesn’t go well with peanut butter. Be generous with the pickles, there’s never too much of it.
Once you’ve finished all the pickles in the jar, don’t be a fool and don’t waste this delicious pickle juice! There’s nothing better on a hot summer day than a cold pickle juice just out of the fridge.

Can you spot the peanut butter and pickles sandwich on this action shot? It’s impressive.

I absolutely recommend this sandwich to everyone, regardless of your ability. There’s a little learning curve to it but as soon as you get used to it, it’ll become your go-to sandwich. In all occasions you’ll be happy to have it and it’ll become soon enough the best tool you’ve ever had. This sandwich is very forgiving, you’ll roll and brace with ease. It’s also the best sandwich for boofing. I noticed that the sandwich is a bit slippery when wet so I like to have electric tape for my right hand (the one that has a firm grip on the sandwich). Aquabound developed a revolutionary way to prevent the sandwich from wearing out too quickly with the LAM-LOK technology, but I’ll let the experts explain what it is, I just know about sandwiches.

Summary

Now that you know everything about the Aerial, I’m sure you’ll want to get one (or two, like me), and you’re absolutely right: it’s a great choice. It comes with a straight or bent shaft, fixed or adjustable length, two sizes for the blades in carbon fiber or fiberglass. Your choice.

I want to thank Aquabound for their trust in me. I clearly know what I’m talking about.

Thanks to Torkel “T Dawg” Pettersson for most of the photos (the good ones), thanks also to Marina Rockstroh-Hovseen and Fredrik Feyling for the less good photos.

Last but not least photo of this masterpiece of a review: one of these two individuals loves peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, can you guess which one? (Spoiler: it’s the one with an Aquabound paddle)

This article is dedicated to Sofie Lybäck.