I guess I would define a Greenland paddle by the dimensions I would use to make one: LOA: An armspan and a cubit. Alternately from the ground to the wrist or fingertips of the standing paddler. There is actually a great deal of variability in this dimension, from 180-cm "storm" paddles to 220-cm or longer "standard" Greenland paddles. Mine is about 218 cm. Length of loom: Varies from as little as two to three fists for a storm paddle, which is used only with a sliding stroke, to about shoulder width plus two to four fists for a standard GP. Paddles with shorter looms are typically used more with the partial sliding stroke. I once tried measuring the ratio of the loom to the total length from photos and drawings of traditional GPs and got a result of about 25% to 30%. Width of blade at tip: No more than the paddler can grasp comfortably. For me that is a maximum of about 3-3/8 inches (8.6 cm), though I find 3-1/4 inches a little more comfortable. My wife's is about 2-7/8 inches. All traditional paddles (made in Greenland) I have seen dimensioned drawings of have been under 3 inches wide. Width of blade at root: Varies from the thickness of the loom (no shoulder) to about half the width at the tip. Thickness of loom: No more than you can circle your forefinger and thumb around. Mine are typically about 1-1/2 inches by about 1-1/4 inches, though 1-1/2 inches by 1 inch would be more authentic. Those are the basic dimensions. Generally: long, narrow, unfeathered, symmetrical blades no less than 1/3 the length of the paddle, with the blades tapering from maximum at the tip to minimum at the loom. This distinguishes GPs from other Inuit paddles which might taper in the opposite direction. The maximum length and width also distinguish GPs from superficially similar paddles such as those from Baffinland, which might be as long as 245 cm and as wide as 4 inches, but which cannot be used in the same way. The symmetry distinguishes them from Aleutian paddles. Also, Greenland blades vary in cross section from lenticular at the tip to a thick oval or diamond shape near the loom. One last distinction: Greenland paddles do not have carved or other drip rings that might inhibit a sliding stroke. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Sep 07 2004 - 15:41:03 PDT
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