Good whitewater paddle?

[SamS]

Hi everyone, much to my surprise, my parents bought me a decked l'edge as a joint birthday/christmas present. I am really excited to take this out, and with some of my extra money would like to buy myself a good paddle. I currently use an old generic plastic paddle, so would an upgrade make a big difference? What are some of the good companies, and what should I look for? Most of the whitewater paddles I found are advertised for C1s... Will these work fine for a full canoe as well? I paddle class IV but hope to use this paddle to paddle V as well. Thanks!

[Shep]

You lucky so-and-so! I (and I bet many others) am jealous.

There have been a couple of threads on this recently. Everyone has there favorites, however, I think the good ones to look at in the $150-$300 range would be the Werner Bandit, a Mitchell, and a Class V (sold through Mohawk's website).

Werners are the cheapest, and also pretty common in stores in my neck of the woods, so would probably be the easiest to demo. I've never paddled with a Mitchell, but may buy one anyway. The most expensive of this lot, but a lot of people like them, and the only wood-core in my list (I think). The Class V looks like a great paddle and a good deal, plus it sounds like Victor has a couple of mix-and-match options, so he might be able to put together something specific for your type of paddling.

Hope this helps,
Shep

[Wiggins]

The biggest difference you will notice is weight.

I would say get a better stick, but I would be careful about going too far into the high end. Bad things happen to paddles, and shelling out half a grand each time something happens to yours gets old fast!

Kyle

[SamS]

Thank you for the replies! The suggestions were very helpful, and I'll look into all of them. I agree that they shouldnt be too expensive, and I think 250ish would be the max price. When I was scrolling around looking at paddles, and I spotted this one http://www.h2opaddles.com/WhiteWater/ww ... 1team.aspx

What is that exactly? It certainly caught my eye, is it a gimmick?

[Sir Adam]

Worth a read if you haven't:

http://cboats.net/cforum/viewtopic.php?t=7963549

A good wood or composite (or hybrid) paddle is a joy to use, and you'll smile each time you take a stroke... but your wallet will be lighter.

I tend to use paddles for years and not break them, and like light weight paddles with a good feel. Echo is my current favorite (and they are a sponsor of this site too!). I look forward to trying a Class V shortly too:)

Mitchell and Galasport also make really sweet sticks.

[Larry Horne]

That's what I've been using for a few years and I love it. I have the same blade but a straight shaft.
I thought the blade shape might just be a gimmick, but it does work really well.
I do recommend it, especially if you're tough on paddles. Beware though, they had (Have?) issues with the blade coming loose. If it was any other paddle, I would advise against for that reason. But it is really a good paddle and there are no others are like it. I had no problems after I reglued mine.

All that said, lots of good used paddles show up for sale here.

[TheKrikkitWars]

Thank you for the replies! The suggestions were very helpful, and I'll look into all of them. I agree that they shouldnt be too expensive, and I think 250ish would be the max price. When I was scrolling around looking at paddles, and I spotted this one http://www.h2opaddles.com/WhiteWater/ww ... 1team.aspx

What is that exactly? It certainly caught my eye, is it a gimmick?

It's imperfect, and the crank will place your hand in the wrong place for paddling a full sized canoe (or even a c1 with a really tall saddle) Powerful with a curious flex though.

I was in your postition about 4 years ago, and bought a Werner Bandit, it's outlasted my teens, and whilst looking increasingly battered remains my go-to paddle for most occasions.

I have an all wood mitchell which I picked up second hand for £50 from someone who was oblivious to it's real value, and that's pretty good too, it's heavier than my compostie paddles (my split paddle is a re-purposed double dutch carbon slalom blade) which means I tend to use it most when it's very cold (freezing or lower) and I want the extra warmth of a wooden shaft (beleive it or not the insulation of a wooden shaft can make the difference between being able to feel your fingers and being unable to grip a paddle due to the cold...)

[FullGnarlzOC]

SamS - Aquabound Edge my man. $90. and can handle whatever you dish out. Easy on the shoulder, performs very close to any $300 paddle, that you would be terrified of breaking.

[craig]

A good paddle costs a few bucks. Ever since I spent $150 on a
Silver Creek paddle years ago, I have not lost or broken one. I switched to a Mitchell about 10 years ago. Much better feel and easier on the shoulders, but they are over $200 now. they can be rebuilt too, at a reasonable cost. You must have been a really good kid to get a new boat for christmas, can you put in a good word for me? I want Santa to bring me one too!

[dhumphrys]

Hey,

I would suggest you look at Echo Paddles. http://www.echopaddles.com

Andy builds really nice sticks that last. Depending what you want he can put together different combos of wood and composites. One nice thing about having a composite shaft is the blade can be changed out if you break it or the shaft and you only have to replace one part saving you some money. However Andy is also very good at repairing paddles vs. just tossing them out and starting over. I have seen him work wonders!

As for toughness look at his Creek Stick. I am a big guy (6'5" 215lbs) and am hard on paddles. Andy has built me a couple that have lasted and I have not been able to destroy yet. I have chipped the blades but nothing he can't fix for a very reasonable price. I would also suggest that I am doing less damage to his blade all the time as Andy finds solutions to me being big and strong delivering frequent abuse to my paddles.

As for comparing Echo Paddles to others. You will notice the difference in weight but also the catch of the stroke. A good paddle is stiffer and grabs the water in the catch better resulting in transfer of energy more effectively. Comparing an Echo to say a Aquabound is night and day. After using a Echo the Aquabound feels like a pool noodle. Some folks like the flex as it is easier on joints then say a composite (carbon) paddle which is stiff. However I would look a wood as a nice balance between preserving joints and good energy transfer. Stay away from Aquabound if you want a reliable blade...at least that has been my experience.

Cheers

Dave

[Craig Smerda]

A quality paddle is the most important piece of gear you can have. I've tried a few "other" paddles over the years and I feel I can pretty much gauge something that's worth the $ compared to something that wouldn't last me 3 months.

My top three... wood shaft carbon covered blade Mitchell, affordable and well regarded in the c-paddling community... Echo also makes a great wood bladed paddle that I really enjoyed using while in Canada but carbon shafts and I have a bad history... personally I prefer the Clinch River wood shaft, carbon covered blade for general use.

Hope you enjoy the boat...





Here's the Echo while testing the first production hulls.

[Creeker]

carbon fiber shafts and the gnar can have some issues with breaking. the worst is a good buddy of mine busted the paddle and after throwing away the bad piece he went to grab the broken end. he ended up driving home with 3 gigantic shards of carbon fiber through his palm to hit the Local ER for proper removal. how these things fail is of some concern. I personally have avoided CF for 10 years. I've seen guys coming down 40 foot cascades and their blades just fly the hades off for no apparent reason or they hit the landing pool, roll up and then the blade just falls off a carbon shaft like it was attached with elmers glue or something. I'll always go with something that wears down faster or hopefully slow VS anything that just frequently busts massively. normally I don't think this is a major canoeist concern but you did say class 5 gnar was coming.

[Larry Horne]

[quote="Creeker"]carbon fiber shafts and the gnar can have some issues with breaking. [quote]

yep.
But aside from a glass Bandit, I think most decent canoe paddles are going to have a carbon shaft. I always wrap mine up with tape to keep 'em from getting nicked. I know it adds weight and is ugly, but it seems to have solved that problem of sudden unknown explosion syndrome.

[dhumphrys]

I would agree that the Carbon shafts give no real warning but instead just break. I don't think you need a carbon shaft to have an Excellent paddle though. The most recent paddle Andy at Echo constructed for me was a wood shaft and blade but then wrapped in carbon to add strength and stiffness. My second creek blade is also all wood but instead of carbon has glass reinforcement. It has held up for a couple years now however I just packaged it up for some repair work after slipping the tip between two perfect placed rocks well moving down a canyon...something that would likely damage any paddle!

cheers

Dave

[Smurfwarrior]

Ref carbon- I use carbon fiber arrows and they also tend to just destroy themselves without warning. One tip with arrows, and which might just work with carbon shafts, if you smack the arrow with your finger and if it sounds deadened or buzzy, there is a micro crack in there somewhere. Should feel and sound firm when struck, and with a paddle shaft it might take a harder and larger object than a finger to test the harmonics. A trick to this is you have to know what it feels/sounds like when its NOT cracked to know when it is cracked. Might work for you, YMMV