A raw carbon face is a paddle surface where the cloth weave and the resin skin do the gripping. A coated face is a paddle surface that carries a separate layer of particles over the resin skin. Each one fails in its own shape. The better choice depends on the kind of failure a brand can live with.
A raw carbon face wears flat. A coated face can come off. The difference shows up in how much grip each one loses and in how easy the loss is to predict. A raw carbon face loses grip slowly, so the change shows on the surface before a player feels it. A coated face holds its grip for a while. Then the layer can leave at once, with no slow phase to warn anyone.
The Short Answer: They Fail in Opposite Directions
- Raw carbon wears flat. Grip falls along a long slope. The change shows on the face before a player feels it.
- A coated face holds, then goes. The particle dulls, then the layer can lift as a sheet.
A buyer should ask two questions instead of one. The first question is how much grip the face loses. The second is whether anyone can predict when it fails. Raw carbon answers the first. The coating usually answers neither.
What “Raw Carbon” Means on a Face
Raw means there is no separate coating on the face. The cloth weave and the resin skin are the working surface. The word refers to the coating, and the cloth itself may still be treated.
Spec sheets write it as T700 raw carbon, or 3K woven raw carbon. Six Zero lists the Double Black Diamond face as T700 raw carbon. Paddletek lists the Bantam TKO-C as unidirectional PT-700 raw carbon.
The word pair confuses buyers, so keep raw carbon and carbon fiber surface terms apart before you write a spec.
What a Coated or Sprayed Face Actually Is
A coated face is a base plus a functional layer. Paddletek sells the Bantam TS-5 Pro with a UV-coated textured fiberglass face. JOOLA sells the Dash with a sandblasted fiberglass surface.
Selkirk defines InfiniGrit as a molded face texture. The texture forms inside the mold during production, so the face does not depend on a sprayed coating. That definition splits the family in two. A blast cuts pits into the skin. A spray stacks particles on it. Both are layers, but only one of them can peel.
How Raw Carbon Gets Its Grip: Weave, Resin and Texture
Grip comes from two places: the geometry of the weave, and the resin skin over it. Tow crossings leave ridges. The resin adds its own micro-roughness across the cloth.
Both sources sit under the highest point of the surface. Wear takes off the high points. The pattern continues underneath, so the face keeps a working texture.
Selkirk says raw carbon faces go nearly smooth after about 50 wear cycles. The change follows a slope, so a player sees it coming over many sessions.
How Coated Grit Is Applied: Particles on a Film
Particles stand above the film and rely on adhesion to stay there. That creates two failure points instead of one.
- The particle itself wears dull.
- The particle and the film lift off the base.
The second one costs money. A bare patch in the contact zone is a warranty conversation, and the customer finds it before QC does.
What Wears First on Each One
- Raw carbon: resin skin goes bright, the weave shallows, then the texture reads smooth. All three steps are visible and measurable.
- A coated face: grains dull, bare patches open at the edge and the contact zone, then the layer lifts. The first two steps are hard to see. The third arrives at once.
That order changes how you read a test report. A bond test and a particle-dulling test answer two different questions, so one number cannot cover both. Read what actually wears grit down before you accept either one.
Watch for one answer in particular: a single number for the whole face. Wear is uneven across the surface. The contact zone and the rim tell different stories, so a buyer should ask for readings from both. Edge contact also hurts a coated face more than a woven one, because the layer ends at the rim.
The Two Wear Curves Side by Side
Stage | Raw carbon | Coated face |
First sessions | moderate grip, dull look | highest grip |
Mid life | falls on a long slope | holds, then patches open |
Late life | reads smooth, still flat | grip can leave at once |
What you notice first | bright bands | bare edges |
These are shapes rather than measured values. We hold one 100-hit comparison on a ball cannon, and that is all the wear data we have. The industry still lacks a standard grit wear protocol. Anyone showing a smooth life curve with month markers built it from an assumption.
When a Coated Face Is the Better Buy
A coated face is a real option for the right line. It simply fails in a different shape.
A coated face fits a line that sells on price, on color, or on grip out of the box. Full-face graphics print cleanly on a flat coated surface, and color options run wider than on a woven face.
It also fits a line where the warranty covers structure only and the customer list is casual.
Cost runs the other way. A coated fiberglass face sits in the entry band, around USD 8.00–15.00 FOB. A woven raw carbon face lands in the mid band, around USD 15.00–35.00. An infused face starts near USD 35.00 and runs to USD 100.00 on a flagship build. Those are the ranges we quote.
Brands that need grip to hold through a season move to a durable grit paddle face. Grains cure inside the resin instead of sitting on it. That build costs more, and it fails in the slower of the two shapes.
Texture, Grit and Roughness: Three Words Buyers Mix Up
Three words, three different things.
- Texture is the shape of the surface. A weave pattern, a blast pit, a molded bump.
- Grit is the particle itself, if there is one.
- Roughness is the instrument reading: Ra, Rz or Rt.
The three move on their own. A raw weave can read coarse with no particles at all. A coated face can carry particles and still read smooth once they wear dull.
The phrases “our face wears better” and “our face is rougher” describe two separate claims. A buyer should ask a supplier which one it is making.
How to Tell the Two Apart in a Sample
Four checks need no instruments.
- Drag a fingernail across the face. A coating lifts or chips. A weave resists.
- Wipe a patch with alcohol. A coating changes color or turns tacky. A resin skin does not move.
- Light the face at a low angle. Bright smooth bands mean a worn path.
- Shoot a macro photo of a used paddle. Compare it to a new one at the same distance and angle.
Sanding a face to refresh it rubs the grains off.
FAQ
Does raw carbon lose grit over time?
Yes, along a slope. The weave shallows and the face brightens. It rarely goes bare in one session.
Is a coated face less durable?
It does not fail by rule. A coated face fails as a layer rather than a surface. Under heavy play, most coated faces lose the contact zone sooner than a woven face.
Can a flaking coating be repaired?
No, the face cannot be repaired that way. Re-spraying and sanding rub more grains off and leave an uneven patch. The spec is the thing to fix on the next run.
Which face holds up better outdoors?
A woven face has no layer to peel, so dust and sun do less to it. A coating loses adhesion faster with heat and grit.
Is texture the same as grit?
They are different things. Texture is the shape. Grit is the particle. A face can have one without the other.
Which face should a first paddle line use?
A coated fiberglass face at entry cost. Move to a woven face when the line needs a durable story.
Final Checklist: Questions to Ask Before You Specify a Face
- Is the face woven, coated, blasted, or infused?
- If coated: which process, and how is adhesion verified?
- Mesh size and grit lot number per run
- Roughness (Rz and Rt) before and after a wear run
- Wear data with more than one reading per side
- Does the face clear the USAP roughness and COF limits?
- Did the sample come off the production line?
The last three questions tell you what a factory audit should prove. Read what a factory audit should prove before you sign. Or send the list to our engineering team and we will answer every line.