I once received a letter from a fellow who asked advice on a paddle he hoped to patent. The paddle had ridges running vertically down the blade. He claimed to have tested it and that it increased drag. Never heard from him again so don't know if he ever did get a patent or if he ever tried making it. Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Web site address, http://home.ican.net/~735769 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
John, I doubt if such a thing is patentable (not that I'm any kind of expert). First, it would be viewed as obvious, and second, I think there are already such designs in use. I've seen a paddle that fit that description, more or less. If you'll pardon the electronics expression, it looked like a heatsink on a stick. Looked like a heavy pain in the a**. How about a paddle with a chamber at the end? The blade area would be about 3 cm thick, making the blade approximately as buoyant as the entire paddle weight. A paddle like this could be used for rolls even for the incompetent and would provide braces even for those who can't learn a stroke. However, it would probably be too rigid & too heavy for extended use and certainly wouldn't cut the water cleanly. jerry. At 06:11 AM 05/18/2000 -0400, 735769 wrote: >I once received a letter from a fellow who asked advice on a paddle he hoped >to patent. The paddle had ridges running vertically down the blade. He >claimed to have tested it and that it increased drag. Never heard from him >again so don't know if he ever did get a patent or if he ever tried making >it. > >Cheers, > >John Winters >Redwing Designs >Web site address, http://home.ican.net/~735769 > > >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not >to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ >*************************************************************************** > *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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