Seems nearly every manufacturer and style is well represented. For myself (open water touring) I use a lightening ultralight split (carbon, nearly weightless) and switch off to a regular lightening seatouring. My partner uses a lightening ultralight one piece exclusively. I bought the split so i could bring my own paddle on trips involving air travel where i might rent a kayak. But so far the greatest advantage was when i was paddling under some of the piers along Manhattan's West Side and suddenly ran out of room. I took the paddle apart and was on my way again. -Jeremy Speer *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Prefer a homebuilt Greenland style paddle for the lightweight and rapid stroke, which sames to work well with my high speed, low torque engine. Always use unfeathered and have no wrist problems; also find the narrow blade presents no significant in a head wind. Cheap to replace, so don't care when I shove off rocks or smash my way through ice and the paddle gets dinged up. Tried various laminations including cedar, spruce, and mahogany. My favorite is still the first prototype I made out of mostly cedar because it has a lot of spring. Others I made out of spruce were stronger but stiffer, which sometimes feels a little harder on the joints. For canoeing, use a Zaveral carbon bent-shaft. Very stiff, but seem to have avoided any problems in my joints by paddling on a regular basis. The light weight makes it fun to use all day. Found the length of the paddle makes a BIG difference. I reduced muscle stress and increased my speed when I went from a 52" to a 51". Tom *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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