At great expense, ($375), I acquired an Adventure Technology touring paddle. It has a slightly bent shaft at the grip and a ovaled shape that gives extremely precise feedback as to what the blade angle is. The construction appears to be the best of any paddle I ever saw. I did a rolling practice session with the paddle and found it remarkably easier to roll with. Now I never miss a roll in practice on my good side and very rarely on my bad, but with this grip on the AT paddle I seemed to fly up, and every roll seemed perfect. Was I having a good day or could the paddle make such a difference? I have a number of other paddles with various blade shapes from Greenland to wide blade, shor and long and never noticed that any of them was easier to roll with than any other. Jerry *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, 2 Nov 1998 16:52:19 -0800, you wrote: >At great expense, ($375), I acquired an Adventure Technology touring paddle. >It has a slightly bent shaft at the grip and a ovaled shape that gives >extremely precise feedback as to what the blade angle is. The construction >appears to be the best of any paddle I ever saw. Is there a web site where these paddles may be seen or is there a retailer that you can suggest? TIA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
There is a picture of the new AT sea kayak paddle in the latest issue of Sea Kayaker. Their website is www.atpaddle.com I am a big fan of AT paddles. I have their whitewater paddle, and it certainly is the best ever made from composites. I have used a prototype sea kayak paddle briefly, and it was easily the best composite sea kayak paddle I have ever used. However, I still prefer my $25 Greenland stick any time I am on the sea. The ergonomics of their crankshaft is light years ahead of the other cranks and double-torque paddles I have seen and used. The construction of the paddle is as close to bomb-proof I have seen. It is worth the $375 in my opinion, but be warned. Once you start using an AT paddle, you may not be able to go back to anything else. Cheers, Kevin ___________________ / Kevin Whilden \ |Dept. of Geosciences \___ |University of Washington \ |kwhilden_at_u.washington.edu| \________________________/ On Tue, 3 Nov 1998, Stephen Bird wrote: > On Mon, 2 Nov 1998 16:52:19 -0800, you wrote: > > >At great expense, ($375), I acquired an Adventure Technology touring paddle. > >It has a slightly bent shaft at the grip and a ovaled shape that gives > >extremely precise feedback as to what the blade angle is. The construction > >appears to be the best of any paddle I ever saw. > > Is there a web site where these paddles may be seen or is there a retailer > that you can suggest? TIA > *************************************************************************** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List > Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net > Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ > *************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
I can't speak for the AT paddle, but I have noticed a similar phenomina with my epic excalibur wing paddle. A wing paddle, for those of you who haven't used one, is a paddle specialized for racing. The blades are bent at a slight, but weird twisted angle and the blade itself is shaped like a scooped out airfoil. They are great for making well executed forward strokes. They are terrible at sweep strokes, correction strokes or just about any other kind of stroke. I took my wing to the pool to see what it would be like to roll with a wing paddle. I was expecting it to be very difficult. I was really surprised, however, at what I found. You have to make sure the blade is oriented correctly, but once that's taken care of, its incredibly easy to roll with the wing paddle. I found it almost like doing a paddle float roll -- it was that easy. After I thougt about it for a while, It kind of made sense that it would be so much easier. The wing paddle gives you an incredible bite into the water. Also, when sweeping across the water's surface, the lift component points straight up and provides even more resistance to pulling the blade down as you roll up. So I'm not surprised you would find different paddles impacting how easy a roll is. Especially if you're like me and depend a bit too much on the paddle during the roll (something I'm learning as I pathetically try to get my hand roll). --Tim *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, 2 Nov 1998, Mattson, Timothy G wrote: > I took my wing to the pool to see what it would be like to roll with a wing > paddle. I was expecting it to be very difficult. I was really surprised, > however, at what I found. You have to make sure the blade is oriented > correctly, but once that's taken care of, its incredibly easy to roll with > the wing paddle. I found it almost like doing a paddle float roll -- it was > that easy. I had the opposite experience. I didn't feel good rolling with the wing, it seemed to be more picky than my other paddles. I've also only rolled with the wing 8 or 10 times, maybe with more practice. > (something I'm learning as I pathetically try to get > my hand roll). Are you trying to hand roll a sea kayak or a whitewater boat? I had an easy time hand rolling a whitewater boat (a dagger rpm) but my sea kayak hand roll is definitely an intermittent skill. kirk *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
I have been paddling with wing paddles virtually exclusively for the last 6 years. While initially requiring some changes in technique both for an efficient forward stroke, and for braces, familiarity almost invariably results in a strong desire to never ever use another flat blade. Indeed, I even had a 204cm paddle with sprint blades made up which I use whenever I hit the surf on our wild west coast here, with our little 8 foot surf yak. For me the chief advantages of the wing are efficiency, particularly if you like going fast, grip on the water for accelleration when catching waves (bites like a Rottweiler on steroids!), and the action which to me is a more natural action in that the blade virtually requires no "steering" as you power on. For the amount of bite, they are also more forgiving in strong winds which is important as i love paddling when it's blowing hard and there are lots of waves to chase. They are relatively poor for some technical strokes such as at the tail end of a sweep stroke, or when trying to scull the paddle forwards however over time I have learned to scull up from a capsize, and pull off Dufeks while paddling polo boats. It all depends just what you wnat to do. The final thing is that being a racing paddle, they are very light built in carbon which helps reduce fatigue. I still use my first wing paddle following racing, sea kayaking, touring and even racing through Grade 1-2 whitewater (crunch go the rocks....) so they are well built. Here in NZ, there are a growing number of paddlers sea kayaking with them, and even Paul Caffyn was rumoured to have recently been seen trying out some. Paul's current paddling partner uses then exclusively for his sea kayaking and in recent years they have done trips in NZ and also in Alaska, New Caledonia and Greenland together. Glyn Dickson Auckland Paddling Perfection New Zealand Finest Quality Hand Crafted kayaks *************************************************************************** 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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