Matt Broze wrote: >>While I'll admit that unfeathered paddles suffer less disadvantages than usual when used with a low angle stroke I don't seem to have any problem using feathered paddles at a low angle either so I'd appreciate hearing why you think "traditional paddles make more sense" for touring. Why "for a short time"? Wouldn't it be even more beneficial to feather if you had to paddle into the wind for a long time.<< I see traditional (straight) paddles as making more sense because in coastal kayaking the wind comes at you from all quarters. The feathered paddle only helps (to any large degree IMHO) when you are paddling into the wind. In a crosswind it is a liability and downwind no help. So 2/3 of the time the straight paddle wins. For a short time? Only because I far prefer the relaxed feel of the traditional paddle. I use a Greenland stick most of the time except when teaching classes, when I use a straight Euro. I tend to build tension using the feathered Euro and find it more trouble than it is worth. I have actually only found the need to feather a Euro three times in ten years to make progress through winds. The rest of the time I rely on narrow blades and low technique. An aside -- I found using feathered paddles in the wind easier when all of them were still 90* instead of the diluted angles of today. The 70*-and-less offsets make the upper blade climb and stall in a heavy wind and this adds a lot of tension either trying to control the effect or ignore it. >>I find I can make my 220 paddle into the equivalent of a 260 cm or longer paddle temporarily to gain leverage by simply shifting my hand position when I want a broad sweep. If the wind is high this has the secondary advantage of vastly reducing the leverage (length of lever-arm) the wind has to wrest the upper blade from my control while doing the broad sweep.<< I agree. I spend a lot of time teaching beginners to not move their hands around on the shaft, so I tend to practice what I teach, except when using the Greenland paddle, which I find very natural in extended strokes. However, on a recent trip to Belize I trusted that the friend who was providing me with equipment would have a suitable paddle and thus wound up using 250 cm Camano for my spare and an approximate 100-110 cm Skinny Dipper (the beloved old-style Werner Little Dipper) for my main paddle. I liked the short length when paddling in winds, but had a devil of a time correcting course without extending. The problem is that you don't get much extension out of Euro without shifting your hand to the end of the blade, and I find that uncomfortable and perhaps inadvisable in rough conditions. This is all irrelevant with Greenland sticks. >> in a heavy fluid like water, once the blade area is big enough that it hardly moves in the water as the kayak is drawn past it, it wouldn't make the leverage hardly any greater if you tripled the blade area. Both the standard and huge blades would still do essentially the same thing, hardly move at all through the water as the kayak was drawn past. Those big blades would be hell in the wind though. << I agree to a point. For me, smaller (narrower -- not necessarily smaller area) is definitely vastly superior in the air, particularly in winds. And I think that there must be a point where increases in size and/or length no longer result in reduced slippage in the range of power generated by most of us. However, it just hasn't been my experience that this has caught up to me within the paddle size range I use. I once tested the Skinny Dipper, Camano and San Juan paddles in 220 and 230 lengths over a short, closed course by paddling with one after the other at what a perceived-constant rate of output. My findings were that I took 10% fewer strokes as I jumped from blade to blade, going from smallest to largest, and also 10% fewer strokes going from the 220 to the 230 in each blade type. I did not notice the slight increase in stress on my body during any of the tests. However, I have also day paddled with all the above and the difference switching from blade to blade and up or down in length makes a big difference in how my body feels after five to ten miles. I definitely hurt myself with the larger, longer paddles, so they must be giving me more bite. I think the answer is that longer and/or larger makes a difference when first accelerating the boat and at the catch of each stroke. Once the boat is gliding at speed and the blade has established pressure against the water, then I would believe there was little discernible difference in slippage. But when accelerating the boat, and when establishing water pressure against the blade during the catch phase of the stroke, I feel that the more powerful paddle is like jogging on pavement in your bare feet -- no shock absorption, a quick impact of force onto your muscles, resulting in muscle soreness and quicker tiring. >>A disadvantage of the longer paddle is that with the blade further from the kayak each stroke has a greater percentage of ones energy use in turning rather than propelling the kayak ahead.<< True. However, I think that this is of less concern in touring than in racing. >>Another is that with the blade further from ones hands one has a lot less control over that more distant blade. While the brace may have more leverage with a longer paddle it will also take longer for one to start to brace<< Agreed. However, when talking about differences of 10 cm or so (2-1/2 inches per side) do you think this really matters that much for a touring kayak? I can see the critical nature of length in Rodeo and performance surfing, but not so much in touring. If you start comparing a 220 to the very long 250-ish paddles favored by some in the NW (is this still the trend?) then, yes -- the difference is easy to feel. >>Paddling deeper to get the long paddle to not turn you so much has been suggested and may seem logical but in practice it is fraught with difficulties.<snip> << It would also tend to rock the boat fore and aft, robbing the boat of speed. Matt, thanks for your comments. I'm always awed to hear from the man. Just out of curiosity, what stick do you usually use? Harold *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). 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