C-Forum

I'm using an all carbon Bandit, but am about to switch to a laminated wood stick - my shoulders complain too much.

If you had taken this poll a year ago I would have answered "all wood" instead of the "synthetic blade & wood shaft" that I answered this year. Although I've used other paddles from time to time for various reasons, for decades an all wood "Rainbowave" paddle made by Mykyl Messer in the mid-80s was my primary stick.

However, I picked up a slightly used Mitchell carbon blade/wood shaft at a great price for my oldest son last year. He didn't like the dynel sleeve that I added to protect the throat and lower shaft from wear, so I tried it out once and loved the combination of wood shaft with the lighter carbon blade.

John - isn't that still a wooden blade, covered with carbon cloth instead of 'fiberglass'? Not to argue, just interested to know if there was a different offering.

philcanoe wrote:John - isn't that still a wooden blade, covered with carbon cloth instead of 'fiberglass'? Not to argue, just interested to know if there was a different offering.

yes it is... coming from a guy that's busted a few of them

not the paddles fault as I was doing abnormal things every time I broke 'em... Mitchell makes a great stick

Galasport 3M heavy layup. Carbon/Kevlar weave. Aluminum tip - no mushrooming problems. I have not used a paddle with a better feel than this model. They are about $270 depending on the exchange rate, worth every penny. (purchased from Maximum Whitewater Performance. see paddling links)

I have two of these. One with around three seasons use and the other with about 2 seasons use. They are holding up great and I'm really hard on paddles. A Bandit will last about a 1/2 season before I have 2in ground off the blade.

Kober F-Power.. which is a light glass / glass with reinforced tip (sadly no alum, so it gets smeared with Gflex every couple times out to prevent the all-too-common fraying).
And I have a DIY wood stick in the making. Will be reinforcing blade with carbon, stick with carbon stringer wrap-around.. if I can figure out how to make a tiny groove to put them inside. Its actually a kayak paddle cut in half, de-spooned and well.. I'll post process images once i'm done and it didnt break on the first outing ;D

Wood is great, yeah.

Craig Smerda wrote:

philcanoe wrote:John - isn't that still a wooden blade, covered with carbon cloth instead of 'fiberglass'? Not to argue, just interested to know if there was a different offering.

yes it is... coming from a guy that's busted a few of them

not the paddles fault as I was doing abnormal things every time I broke 'em... Mitchell makes a great stick

I don't know Phil & Craig...I'm sure that some of the wood shaft extends part way down the blade, but the total blade thickness for most of the blade appears to be way too thin for there to be much of a wood core throughout. I used an all wood Mitchell many years ago and this blade is much much thinner.

John

I broke the aluminum bead off my carbon blade Mitchell and sure enough the wood extends all the way through the blade. Probably acts a bit like a foam core. The aluminum bead is somewhere on the bottom of the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. Finders keepers.

Mitchell's wood shaft/carbon blade and carbon shaft/carbon blade both have wood core blades, however the layups differ slightly. The wood/carbon is laminated woods that are cut and ground to the shape then covered with carbon. The carbon/carbon has an ash shaft that runs the length of the blade into the shaft. A basswood veneer is glued to this core and then it's covered with carbon making for a slightly lighter blade with thinner edges than the wood/carbon version

Have been using the class V Stinger for a few months and have been very happy with it