I've only ever tried one once. P'wiser Mike Hanks (Mike, you reading this?) has built one or two. He told me they're a lot better for speed, and good, but not as good for rolling than GP's. Aleut paddles are symmetrical side-to-side and top-bottom, but there is a power face and a back face. A skilled Aleut paddler was reportedly able to keep a baidarka going 8-9 knots, consistently with one of these paddles. That's like Greg Barton in a surf ski. I think Wolfgang Brinck's book 'The Aleutian Kayak' has images and a description of how to build one of these paddles. I'm not aware that there is an equivalent to Chuck Holst's excellent online article on building Greenland Paddles. Shawn knelson_at_captivasoftware.com wrote: >Have you, or anyone reading this, ever tried symmetrical Aleut paddles? I'm seriously looking at starting one but first hand information has been scarce. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! News - Today's headlines http://news.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
[Moderator's Note: Content unaltered. Excessive quoting (i.e. headers/footers/sig lines/comments from previous posts, etc.) have been removed. Please edit quoted material in addition to removing header/trailers when replying to posts.] I find that my pseudo Aleut blade is great for cruising, it is a very fast blade, it locks into the water with no flutter, whe used right, but flutters all over the place when used backwards. It is fast, but for rolling and maneuvering I need to remember that it is directional, using the wrong face to do things, can mess me up. I would guess it is similar to a wing blade in this regard. >From: Shawn Baker <shawnkayak_at_yahoo.com> >Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Aleut Paddles > >I've only ever tried one once. P'wiser Mike Hanks (Mike, you reading >this?) has built one or two. He told me they're a lot better for >speed, and good, but not as good for rolling than GP's. > >Aleut paddles are symmetrical side-to-side and top-bottom, but there is >a power face and a back face. A skilled Aleut paddler was reportedly >able to keep a baidarka going 8-9 knots, consistently with one of these >paddles. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I have made 3 pseudo Aleut paddles, my last was best. It is great for cruising because the blade locks in place in the water when used correctly. When used backwards, the flutter is awful. I find that it is almost a hybrid between a wing and a Greenland paddle. It is more forgiving than a wing, but is not forgiving at all when used backwards. It is powerful and fast, but is directional, and that needs to be remembered when manuevering, rolling and bracing. It rolls and sculls nicely, when used right, but will give you problems if you use the wrong face. Mike >From: Shawn Baker I've only ever tried one once. P'wiser Mike Hanks (Mike, >you reading >this?) has built one or two. He told me they're a lot better for >speed, and good, but not as good for rolling than GP's. > > >knelsonwrote: > >Have you, or anyone reading this, ever tried symmetrical Aleut >paddles? I'm seriously looking at starting one but first hand >information has been scarce. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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