Surprising paddle comparison

[rb608]

This probably won't be at all surprising to the experienced paddlers
here; but here's the story nevertheless. Our family took a trip to
paddle the marshes on MD's eastern shore, and we took along a family
friend to join us. The offspring have their own CLC boats; I have a
single for when I'm by myself, and an Old Town tandem for when SWMBO
comes along. Usually, only three of us paddle, and SWMBO has the
fourth/extra paddle but doesn't use it much because of shoulder
issues.

With the guest along, however, we used all of the boats, and the guest
got the "spare" paddle. He's a newbie, and he was having some trouble
keeping up; but I attributed that to his inexperience. Still, I took
a bit of pity on him & offered to switch paddles. He took mine; I
took his. Within minutes, he was gone; out in front, leading the
fleet. I was having trouble keeping up.

Now, right up front, I know that the spare paddle was a cheap POS; but
I had no idea how poorly it performed. When pushing the big beamy red
barge for two, I've been using a 240cm Aquabound carbon shaft paddle.
Not terribly expensive, but nice enough for my frequency and
distances. The "spare" was a Carlisle "Day Tripper". I sweartagawd,
I may as well have been using a flat stick by comparison. I was
simply astounded at the difference in power between the two. Paddling
wasn't even fun anymore, it was work.

So here's a question for you experienced folks. When looking in to
buying paddles a few years back, I'd done a little bit of research on
shaft weight, blade shape, shaft length, etc; but I don't recall any
info arising regarding blade size. I might never have noticed the
difference had I not tried pushing the barge with blades 75% of what
I'd been using. Are there guides/rules of thumb/typical sizes for
blades when upgrading?

J

[Dymphna]

It is not just the blade you need to worry about, but the length of the paddle. A paddle that fits you correctly, you should be able to stand with the handle to your nose and out stretch it so that your one arm is straight out to the side. The blade should start where your hand is. This will make your stroke far more comfortable. I know this is the hardest part for me, as I am very short

[watersprite]

Hello Dymphna, on Thu, 9 Jul 2009 14:59:22 -0500, you wrote:

> A paddle that fits you correctly, you should be able to stand
> with the handle to your nose and out stretch it so that your one arm is
> straight out to the side. The blade should start where your hand is.

I'm a bit confused by your description here. Even if I weren't so
confused, I'd probably feel like mentioning that there are other
variables to consider here as well--including boat beam and paddling
style. I can imagine that the Old Town tandem "J" paddled that day
was a fairly beamy boat, hence the 240cm paddle he was using (though
that length might still have been too much--I don't know).

Years ago, before I discovered my penchant for GPs, I used a 230cm
"euro" paddle with pretty big blades (a Werner San Juan). My boat at
the time had a 21.5in beam. While I was very comfortable with that
paddle (used it exclusively with an 80 degree feather, by the way), I
probably could have gotten away with a shorter paddle--had I known any
better at the time.

I now paddle boats with beams anywhere from 18-22in, and I use 212cm
GPs with 18in looms with all these boats. If I stand my full length
paddles next to me and reach with my arm straight up, I can just curl
my fingers around the edge of the blade. Of course, I'm talking here
about GPs, but if I were to use a euro style paddle again (can't
imagine why), I'd probably be pretty happy with one about the same
overall length as my full length GPs. Much shorter than my old 230cm
paddle, in any event.

Some people paddle with a more horizontal stroke, some with a more
vertical stroke, and many will vary their strokes depending on the
conditions or their moods. Whatever size and shape of paddle/blade
one uses, a good technique will go a long way in achieving both good
paddling efficiency and ergonomic comfort.

Finally, some paddles are simply bits of ****, and there's just no way
around it. You can do your best with them, but there's only so much
they can give in return.

[Dymphna]

My canoeing days were mostly in my youth and the brands have changed greatly. I do get out on occasion, but not as often as I would like. Usually it on the Stillwater River by my folk's cabin. I was taught in Girl Scouts that the best strokes were deep and hard. It isn't how fast you pull it through the water, but how hard you pull it through. They had taken us up about 10 miles into the Bush in Canada and dropped us off to teach us this. We were out there for a couple of weeks. The first week was almost all training. The second we did over 100 miles of lake canoeing.

Frustrated me a couple of summers ago when I was in Oregon and the camp I was with went to rent canoes. The instructor there was teaching how to paddle the wrong way. I suppose for someone who is not going to spend much time in a canoe it would be a cheater method, but he was telling them to paddle as if you were in a raft rather than a canoe - three strokes on one side and then three strokes on the other. Oh Brother! That did not happen in my canoe! And the girls in my canoe learned right. We switched sides twice in the whole trip. At one point we went down a short stretch of rapids, so I said lets do it again, turned the canoe around and started paddling upstream. We made it about 2/3's of the way before giving up, but had a good time trying.

I will try and take some pictures when I get a chance to post on what I am talking about for length of arm. But all the paddles I believe are up at the cabin and I don't know when I will be there again.