What do you think: knock off pr “surplus” of some sort? Item 380713888342 for example, looks to me to be unbranded Epic wing paddle. Not even sold a a “wing” so it did not come up in my search initially… Of not a “proper” product, I wonder if eBay has any policy to stop such sales?
Stellar?
Perhaps Stellar surplus?
Steller uses a different locking lever now. Don’t know if they “borrowed” the Epic version prior.
Expensive
They look pretty expensive to be a knock off. I would not pay that much for a suspect, no name paddle from China. Why not just put a little more money to the real thing from a dealer? The savings aren’t worth the risk.
The lock seems identical too
The photo is unclear, but the lock seems identical. Plastic lever lock.
That’s what I’m thinking “surplus”. But it could be new production off Epic’s molds too.
I’ve emailed Epic to let them know and I’ll leave it at that.
I think no epic surplus
If you look careful there is a small ridge near the shaft. The seller also does a copy of a plastex blade. not sure how many paddle builders there are in China but there is a lot.
knock off versus surplus
I spent a bit of time when I worked corporate in Asia (have lived in both Japan and Korea, and spent a lot of time in China). In general, most products like this in China are knock offs. Someone at some plant saw something being made by a competitor, they got one, and made a product that looks identical. Focus is on something that looks identical, but functionality likely is not the same (for example, they will use materials that look the same, but don’t have the same performance properties).
There are a small number of products which are “extra shift” products. The manager at the plant making the real thing has the workers do an extra shift and make extra products (which the company the products are made for does not know about) and then sells these on the side. These would be products made to the same specs and materials as the real thing.
Looking at the products you likely wouldn’t know which you are getting, as the knock offs look that real. I bought a “Nike” swim watch in China once for real cheap, but didn’t know which it was until I put it in a glass of water to test to see if it was waterproof (it wasn’t).
Does not look like my Epic
I noticed the ridge too. My Epic small mid does not have that ridge.
Does not look like my Epic
I noticed the ridge too. My Epic small mid does not have that ridge.
I see the ridge too
Right, this is not on current Epics. The rest looks identical though. The bag too, sans the logo