Re: [Paddlewise] custom layup?

Melissa Reese wrote:

> Kathleen wrote:
>
> >>hi,
>
> is there any way to do your own custom layup on a glass paddle blade?
>  or are there places that do custom layups in the s.f. bay area?  my
> web searches have yielded nothing.
>
> this is a purely unnecessary consideration from a practical
> viewpoint, it's all about aesthetics.  and with my budget, one could
> even call it frippery.  <sigh>
>
> kcd<<
>
> Hi Kathleen,
>
> I'm not sure about custom paddle makers in the Bay Area, or even what
> kind of aesthetic customizations you're interested in, but...
>
> Here in WA, there is a company that makes pretty light paddles, at
> relatively low cost, and they do customize their blades to some
> degree.  It is Swift Paddles - part of the Eddyline kayak company I
> think.  You can look at them here:
>
>  http://www.eddyline.com/main.htm
>
> They have variously patterned fabric that they can incorporate into
> the blade layups, and also custom colors.
>
> I've only used Swift paddles a couple of times, and they seemed quite
> nice, though I felt the shafts were a bit "circumference challenged"
> (too small) for my tastes.  I've just been so happy with my boring
> old Werners that I haven't really looked into getting other paddles,
> other than traditional wooden Greenland style paddles.
>
> The Swift paddles are pretty though (at least some of them -
> depending on personal taste).
>
> Melissa
>
>

I have a friend with a Swift paddle (Kathie of my last two trip reports) that is
truly unique.  She sent them the fabric that she wanted the blades made of, so
she knows that there isn't another quite like it anywhere.

Mike


--
    Paddling along through fog so thick that only one's thoughts are
visible, your reverie is abruptly shattered by the ancient cry of a great
blue heron as she lifts uncertainly from the brilliant blue of a
mussel-shell beach witnessed only by the brooding, wet spruce....your
passage home seems as much back through time as it does through space.
Mark H Hunt



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