On Jul 21, 2009, at 9:24 AM, Paul Hayward wrote: > I accept completely the 'what works for you' approach. > My interest is in finding out what that means - and exploring the > 'whys'. For me, one of the most compelling reason for the general form of Greenland style paddles is reliability. A long, narrow, relatively thick (for its width) paddle blade is much less likely to crack, split or break than a short, wide relatively thin blade. While it is possible to make a short, wide, thin blade out of wood using primitive tools, it is very difficult to make one that will not split at the first impact with something. A wide blade that is not protected by a waterproof finish will warp, check and eventually split even without hitting anything. A long, narrow, thick blade will generally last a lot longer and is much less likely to split. The longer blade also distributes paddling loads over a wider area where a short, wide blade will have a stress concentration at the base of the blade where the blade necks down to the shaft. For a subsistence hunter with limited access to quality paddling- making materials, reliability alone would probably be sufficient reason by itself to settle on a paddle form. Nick Nick Schade Guillemot Kayaks 54 South Rd Groton, CT 06340 USA Ph/Fx: (860) 659-8847 http://www.guillemot-kayaks.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/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jul 21 2009 - 07:21:52 PDT
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