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From: K. Rasmussen <kayakfit_at_fidalgo.net>
subject: [Paddlewise] rolling and sculling brace with wooden paddles
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 23:06:30 -0700
Ken Rasmussen
kayakfit_at_fidalgo.net
www.kayakfit.com
rolling and sculling brace with wooden paddles

    I'm going to have to investigate the Toksook paddle.  I hadn't heard of it
before.  Who is the distributor?  If these work well I might like to open an
account.  I forgot to mention why I'm interested:  I teach rolling, and I'm
alway looking for ways to help the students succeed more easily.  I'm not very
impressed with rolling with floats on the paddle blades, but using an easier
paddle to teach with seems fine to me.  If a student can't wean him/herself
from the teaching paddle they can get one like it to paddle with.  Nobody is
going paddling with foam floats on both blades though!
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From: Steve Holtzman <sh_at_actglobal.net>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] rolling and sculling brace with wooden paddles
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2004 23:44:14 -0700
Ken Rasmussen said:
>     I'm going to have to investigate the Toksook paddle.  I 
> hadn't heard of it before.  Who is the distributor?  

Ken,

Check with Wayne Horodowich at University of Sea Kayaking
(www.useakayak.org). I know that he imports them. I've been using one I
bought from him during a class he and Derek were teaching several years
back. Because of the length of the blades, most people are more comfortable
with a longer paddle than they usually use. This gives the same shaft
length. I used a 230 when I bought the Toksook and both Derek and Wayne
suggested I go to a 240 with it.

Not only is it a great paddle for learning to roll - but it is my paddle of
choice every time the water and/or weather get rough. I'll put up with a
little extra weight for the support that it gives.

Steve Holtzman
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From: John March <jsmarch_at_acpub.duke.edu>
subject: [Paddlewise] Toksook
Date: Wed, 01 Sep 2004 06:35:03 -0400
>Check with Wayne Horodowich at University of Sea Kayaking
>(www.useakayak.org). I know that he imports them.

Wayne will ship you a Toksook to try, with the rental cost applied to the 
purchase if you buy. He's a terrific guy and, as an aside, a very good 
teacher.  The design of the Toksook is attractive, but the weight is a 
killer.  I paddle an AT Exception and switching to the Toksook was 
painful.  Even Wayne uses a lighter paddle for longer distance paddles. 
switching to the Toksook for surfing and rock garden play where support and 
durability are more important.  I wish they'd make one that weighs 28 
ounces, then I might switch.




*********************************************************
John S. March, MD, MPH
Professor and Chief, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Program for Child Affective & Anxiety Disorders
Duke University Child and Family Study Center
718 Rutherford Street, Room 132
DUMC 3527
Durham, NC 27710
919/416-2404 (P); 919/416-2420 (F)
Email: jsmarch_at_acpub.duke.edu
Website: http://www2.mc.duke.edu/pcaad
CAPTN:  www.captn.org
TADS:    https://trialweb.dcri.duke.edu/tads/index.html

*********************************************************
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From: Steve Holtzman <sh_at_actglobal.net>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Toksook
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 05:32:33 -0700
John March said: 
> The design of the Toksook 
> is attractive, but the weight is a killer.  I paddle an AT 
> Exception and switching to the Toksook was painful. 

That was the same feeling that I originally had. I tried a friends Toksook
for all of about 5 minutes before handing it back and saying that it was too
heavy and I didn't like the 90 degree feather.

Then I took my first class with Derek and Wayne. Wayne is an old friend and
he insisted that I use his spare Toksook for the 1st half of the class. I
very reluctantly did.

By the time we stopped for our lunch break, I was running to the car to
confer with my wife before coming home with a new paddle (she's our family
CFO and doesn't like to be surprised when it comes to my kayaking gear).

There are times that the weight is actually an advantage and after Derek
showed me that twisting the control hand wrist with a feathered paddle was
wrong, I really started to like this paddle.

Even when I'm going for a long paddle on a relatively calm ocean, the
Toksook is on my back deck. It is great for getting through surf, high
winds, large following seas, and again, the roll becomes totally effortless
with it.

Steve Holtzman
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From: Joshua Teitelbaum <teitelba_at_post.tau.ac.il>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Toksook
Date: Wed, 01 Sep 2004 17:08:50 +0200
At 02:32 PM 9/1/2004, Steve Holtzman wrote:

>By the time we stopped for our lunch break, I was running to the car to
>confer with my wife before coming home with a new paddle (she's our family
>CFO and doesn't like to be surprised when it comes to my kayaking gear).


           Now this I can relate to...


==============================================================================
Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, Senior Research Fellow               Tel: [972] 
3-640-6448
Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and                 Fax: [972] 3-641-5802
   African Studies
Tel Aviv University
Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978  Israel
E-mail:teitelba_at_post.tau.ac.il
www.dayan.org
============================================================================== 
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From: Kirk Olsen <kork4_at_cluemail.com>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Toksook
Date: Wed, 01 Sep 2004 11:12:40 -0400
On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 05:32:33 -0700, "Steve Holtzman" <sh_at_actglobal.net>
said:
> John March said: 
> > The design of the Toksook 
> > is attractive, but the weight is a killer.  
>
> There are times that the weight is actually an advantage 

Okay I'll bite.  When is additional paddle weight an advantage?
Assuming comparable paddle strength.

Why would I want a 39 ounce toksook (weight from
http://www.useakayak.org/toksook.html)
over a reinforced carbon Epic at 24.5 ounces
(http://www.epicpaddles.com/products/paddles/touring/active.htm)

I'm interested from a paddle construction/weight basis.  
Assume the epic comes with the toksook shaped blade...
-- 
  Kirk Olsen
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From: Steve Holtzman <sh_at_actglobal.net>
subject: RE: [Paddlewise] Toksook
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2004 08:52:48 -0700
Kirk Olsen said:
> Okay I'll bite.  When is additional paddle weight an advantage?
> Assuming comparable paddle strength.

Kirk,

While paddling in 25-30 knot beam winds with the winds gusting to strengths
I couldn't begin to estimate since I had never been in winds that strong
before, I was using my Werner fiberglass Kauai which is much lighter than
the Toksook. Twice the paddle just started to rise in the wind causing me to
have to let go with one hand to keep from capsizing downwind.

I switched to the Toksook and the problem went away, although the wind did
not. The only thing I can attribute it to was the additional weight.

Some of the additional weight must also come from the metal inserts at the
tip of the blades. That has certainly made for a lot less blade damage in
rocks and pushing off of beaches to launch through surf.

Otherwise, I'm like you, I prefer light weight - and if the Toksook could be
modified to be as strong as it is and weigh less, I'd be very much in favor
of it.

I have been playing with a Greenland Stick for a while and I really like it
- especially the lighter weight. However, I don't feel confident with it in
surf yet as I don't feel I have the acceleration that a Euro provides.
Friends have told me that is because my technique still needs work - I hope
so, I'm taking a class on it at the Southwest Kayak Symposium. I do like the
lighter weight of the GP!

Steve
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