Brian Nystrom wrote:

Perhaps their products have improved in recent years, but around here,
they used to be referred to as "Breaking Branches", as their wood
paddles tended to snap like twigs.

It (Bending Branches) does seem like and odd name for a paddle.
Maybe they should make a line of canoes called Leaking Logs.

The only Bending Branches paddle I've seen was used by a guy who
claimed "California has no class 5 rapids." So my buddy Boris
invited him on our annual Deer Creek trip. After one mile, a wrap,
and many swims, it looked like he was about to have a heart attack,
so we urged him to camp at a nice spot and walk out (upstream)
the next day. After the trip, he told us "Those weren't real rapids,
there were too many rocks in there."

On the plus side, his Bending Branches paddle did not break.