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/ ***************************************************************************
Bobm I Haven't used a Toksook paddle, but I've seen a picture in SeaKayaker so I know something about them. Your description just tends to reinforce my impression that it is a cross between a greenland style paddle and a modern composite paddle (e.g. Werner, LIghtning, etc.) Now that you have described it in more detail, I am more convinced that my impression is correct... symmetrical foil blades, and thick leading edge. These are defining characteristics of a greenland paddle. I tend to doubt that the toksook paddle handles any better than a greenland paddle however. In fact, I bet it is a lot worse! My suggestion would be to make you own Greenland paddle (can be done for less than $30 and a days work). If you loathe the thought of manual labor or paddling with natural materials, then the toksook is probably a great paddle. Cheers, Kevin ___________________ / Kevin Whilden \ |Dept. of Geosciences ___ |University of Washington \ |kwhilden_at_u.washington.edu| ________________________/ On Mon, 5 Apr 1999, Bob Tellefson wrote: > 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/ > *************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** 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 Haven't used a Toksook paddle, but I've seen a picture in SeaKayaker so > I know something about them. Your description just tends to reinforce my > impression that it is a cross between a greenland style paddle and a > modern composite paddle (e.g. Werner, LIghtning, etc.) There used to be a web site up dedicated to the Toksook paddle, but I can't seem to find it now, and all links to the US distributor do not appear to work. My recollection of the Toksook is the blades being leaf shaped. Something like a bay leaf, only a little more rounder. Nothing like my greenland paddle. I don't remember if the blade was symmetrical or asymmetrical though. I remember the site because it used to have short videos of rolling demonstrations online. Anyone remember the site? Woody *************************************************************************** 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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