View topic - Whitewater paddle

When I was last up there, Andrew was paddling a powercurved Sawyer on a carbon shaft, or a Clinch River. Seems Andrew has changed sticks!!! What boat was Andrew paddling?

PK

Andy, the maker of Echo paddles and former instructor at MKC instructed a small group of us a few weeks back on the lower Mad. He said he was starting to get a loyal following of instructors/guides using his paddles. It's easy to see why - he makes a very nice paddle!

He was in a zoom mostly, but he had a taureau on the trailer that he kept talking about getting into.

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He was in a zoom mostly, but he had a taureau on the trailer that he kept talking about getting into.

Paul was spent equal time in Scriver's Zephyr, his taureu and his CU fly.

I was in my afterschlock mostly, but spent a day and a half in the zephyr... a "surface boat" as paul calls it.

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But this was my 3rd trip up there, the first time I spent a whole week, the other two were both weekend clinics.

Yes it was a good week, I would have really liked more runs down Chalet and Staircase. I now know where the put in and takeout for the Lower Madawaska section is and I could daytrip that from the cottage (if I had a boat )

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I kind of doubt that Dan, I know you were paddling with the Paul Mason/Andrew Westwood crowd all week. Did you make it through McCoy's right side up?

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Thanks, Dan,

Been a bit since I was up at MKC with Andrew. He was paddling a cut-down narrowed yellow Ocoee at the time. Yep, it must have been 6 years ago. There are too many places to paddle, and I don't have enough paid vacation to get to all of them.... at this time.

PK

We ran it twice. The first time I was paddling the afterschlock (slowest boat ever), I ran a sneak route down the right side and nailed the line clean and in style . The second time I was in the zephyr nad attempted to thread the needle ... I overestimated the hull speed, bit off too large a chunk of satler's and swamped, then got swept downstream into phil's... next time I will run it clean.

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A couple of years ago I got a great deal on a Waterstick with what I believe is a kevlar/glass shaft. It has a 3 plane blade that is amazing, both paddling and in the toughness dept. I'm not that great a paddler but it is a great improvement over straight blades(imho).

I think that the aquabond AMT is a great paddle for creeking because its plastic blade its very light and i highly recommend it i also recommend the werner bandit its a great paddle too the inly thing is it doesnt have a plastic blade so its not as good for creeking but its still great. The AMT has a bigger blade so it has more power but their both great.

Resurrection....

After renting a Raven that came with a plastic paddle I came to despise the paddle and eventually switched back to my ottertail. I understand one needs a rugged beater for white water but I found control strokes were unbearable. Draws and sweeping draws acted more like a brake when moving laterally to avoid obstacles. I am of the mind that where the blade begins the shaft should end and Canadian and box stokes between rapids were painful with the aluminum tube that ends halfway down the blade. I'm finishing the handle on a beavertail for my next trip but are there other plastic paddle options?

Profiles of paddles are often not shown on websites and I'm looking for a blade that looks more like an airfoil.

I have several whitewater paddles and all have thicker cross sections near the middle of the blade but none have a shaft in the middle. I do use flatwater slices in flatwater, but I avoid them as much as possible in whitewater. I've had the paddle come back at my head too many times.

Back to the paddle, my current whitewater sticks are a Mitchell curved carbon blade and a Jimistix with a straight glass sheethed wood blade. Both slice pretty nice for a heavy duty paddle. I previously used a Silver Creek and a Grey Owl Hammerhead. The Silver Creek sliced pretty well too. The Hammerhead is so damn thick that I learned to avoid slices with that paddle.

I suspect as you run more and more whitewater you'll find that your ottertail will get banged up in shallow conditions and when trying catch eddies, surf waves and peel out in tannin stained rocky rivers. I busted a couple nice flatwater sticks using them where I shouldn't.

PK

I use a 20 year old Mitchell slalom paddle, carbon shaft, glassed blade, aluminum tip insert.

But before that I used Norse.

NORSE. I believe they are back in business. They seldom break, they just wear away.

I have or have used quite a few of the paddles mentioned here including the Aqua Bound carbon Edge, the Werner Bandit (mine has a fiberglass blade), and the Mitchell Premier (carbon shaft, wooden blade).

For many years I used Harmony paddles with big blades, and I still have 5 of them because they were so durable. I did break the shaft of one onetime but Harmony replaced it.

I agree that Aqua Bound is a good, tough paddle for the cost, but I have never liked the feel as well as my Werner Bandit or Mitchell Premier for some reason. I do believe that it flexes a bit. The Mitchell with metal blade tip reinforcement is very tough. The Mitchell Premier, Aqua Bound Edge, and Werner Bandit are all curved bladed paddles, although the Mitchell Premier can be ordered with a straight blade. I agree that the Werner blade tends to chip, although the fiberglass blade seems less prone to do so than the carbon.

I have never used a Norse, although I have seen quite a few. Norse is in business and has a new paddle, the Millbrook, which John Kazimierczyk of Millbrook Canoe also sells:

http://www.norsepaddles.com/product.php?id=21

A nice, though pricey paddle is the ZRE Power Curve designed by a friend:

http://www.zre.com/shop/power-curve-car ... -p-49.html

Fortunately, Kaz sold me a used one at a good price. It too is a curved blade paddle, and probably has the best feel of any I have used.

If you are looking for a tough, all wood whitewater paddle you might check out Cricket's Solo:

http://www.cricketdesigns.com/solo.htm

This is also a curved blade paddle that many whitewater canoeist seem to prefer these days. It has an S 'glass reinforced blade with Dynel edge reinforcement and a knitted Dynel sleeve reinforcing the shaft. The grip is unusual, rather huge, and asymmetrical, allegedly designed by Mike Galt. I bought one used in July and have not yet had it out on the river but it looks like one tough customer and appears well-made.

For whitewater a flat end on the blade and heavier materials. I like walnut, mahogany, ash, and even elm because they are durable. So many paddles now are made of pine, cedar and other light weight materials. Not so good if you hit some rocks or jam your paddle on the downstream side of your gunwale.

Years ago a woodworking friend glued up some durable dark colored woods mentioned above with a white ash stringer down the middle. I made a paddle out of it and have used it for decades. I have lost it in capsizes several times, but have always managed to recover it. I left a little extra heft in the blade of the paddle and have never noticed the extra few ounces.