Last week I had the good fortune to take a class with Derek Hutchinson. It was meant to be a dry day, and was for the most part; a day focusing on paddle strokes. Now those of you that know or have read Derek's writings, know that he hardly has any opinions at all. :-) One of his opinions along the lines of "most light weight modern paddles are rubbish" got my attention; particularly when I was able to try out his paddle. He calls it Toksook. It has foam core symmetrical blades with the paddle shaft extended nearly to the end of the blade as a faired in 'backbone'. This faired in backbone gives the blade a wing cross section having the same convex surface on both faces. The blade edges are thicker than most blades that I've seen. That's my best description of it construction. My experience using it was immediately positive. We had been practicing sculling and I found it much easier to scull with his blade. It was more forgiving than my thin blade with a curved power face; it was less likely to dive or flutter. Sweeps were easier to control, more predictable. Others in the group had similar experiences with the Toksook. Can anyone tell me more about this paddle? Are there other designs like it? Apparently they are made in very limited quantities in the UK. I hope to get my hands on one but wonder what other paddles might provide a similar experience. Bob Tellefson Santa Barbara Kayak Assocation http://www.sbka.org *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Apr 05 1999 - 15:41:07 PDT
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