C-Forum

Has anyone used a good, light, whitewater canoe paddle? I do a lot of playboating, some creeking, and just about everything besides flatwater. I got started with a Werner Point, and it lasted about 1.5 years, and was OK, but no real performance. I got an all carbon werner bandit, and love it because its ultralight, and the blade is really stiff, with good curvature. However, this paddle is terrible for durability. I have worn one corner down significantly, and where I occasionally hit my boat with my paddle, the blade is all chipped up. I get a good deal on werner paddles, so I am conscidering the same thing again, but with the newer fiberglass blades. I've also seen that mitchell uses an aluminum strip in the end of their blades, so that would be cool too. what is anyone using? FWIW, I paddled a Disco c-1 for about the last year and a half, and now I have a Perception Spin. For creeking I have a Pyranha h2-245 and run class 4 and occasional 5 stuff.
Thanks for your help
Tim

I paddle in rocky areas, and think for longevity an aluminum tip is a must. I'm just "retiring" my favorite paddle, an old Schlegal, which I purchased in 1995...it's beat, has been repaired numerous times, but is STILL lighter than most other paddles. It's replacement? A Mitchell. Great craftsmanship and repair policy... Check out the Home page for CBoats.net to see a few links to Paddle Manufacturers, and the "Paddles" page on the left for more ideas about what to look for (bent shaft perhaps? Some people really like Climax Paddles...).

Heres a few recommendations.

I am VERY abusive on paddles and have found that Clinch River Paddles are incredibly durable. Bailey makes them in a curved face and if you ask him he can lay up the blades a little beffier if necessary. (Note-- don't even consider a paddle without a aluminum inlayed tip!)

Maxwell Johnson is making Climax paddles which look extremely high quality as well and his have the added advantage of an ergo shaft. I am really looking forward to trying this setup ...as soon as he has one ready for my torture test... right Maxwell?

Mitchell makes a very nice paddle as well, but typically theirs are better for racing.

I prefer a wood shaft with a carbon faced curved (spoon) blade. I have broken two glass/carbon shafts without being rough on them.

Good Luck,
Craig

I have a Werner Nantahala, and it has NOT lived up to my standards. I'm very disappointed by it. Very poorly made.

I also have an aluminum-tipped Mitchell, and it, by contrast, has held up VERY well. Highly recommended -- just don't loose it!

I have three curved-blade paddles. The Mitchell has a glassed wood blade with an aluminum tip, and a carbon shaft. The blade has a bit of "trail"-- that is, it is as if the paddle were slightly bent where the shaft attaches to the blade. The aluminum tip itself has held up well, but there is a bit of delamination between the aluminum and the overlying glass layer. This paddle is very light, has excellent handling, but for me, is perhaps slightly too flexible. However, the flexibility is distributed evenly between the blade and the shaft, so that when the blade catches on a rock, the shock is taken up very evenly and gives me time to react.

I had a custom Clinch River made for me because as a very tall and heavy person in a C-1, I thought I needed a bit more blade area for bracing and rolling than I had in the Mitchell. The Clinch blade is curved and slightly wider than the Mitchell. The tip is phenolic rather than aluminum, and it has not been quite as durable as aluminum (see below). Contrary to the other Clinch River reviewer, I think that there is a little too much material in the Clinch blade. And that extra material is resin rather than cloth. I think Bailey needs to shoot for a thinner and more flexible blade using the same amount of cloth (which is carbon in this case), but less surface resin. My Clinch River paddles are showing a bit of crazing of the surface resin, though I doubt this would lead to any further problem. This Clinch River paddle is flexible, having a Carbon/Kevlar shaft, but the shaft takes the main burden of flexibility, while the blade is stiffer than a Mitchell blade. The Clinch River curved blade is "straight" without any trail of the blade relative to the shaft, and occasionally it may flutter slightly, while the Mitchell never flutters. This carbon face, carbon shaft Clinch River is a little heavier than my Mitchell, not enough to fuss over.

I picked up my other Clinch River at a benefit auction for NOC Rhino racers. It has a stiff oval wooden shaft and a curved carbon blade. This Clinch blade has an aluminum tip which has been very durable. I use this paddle with my open boat, where it serves for poling as well as paddling. It is very stiff, but I have gotten used to it. The blade is about the same width as my Mitchell, narrower than my other Clinch River. There is no trail in this blade, relative to the shaft, and perhaps because of the smaller blade and stiffness of the wooden shaft, I have not felt any flutter with this paddle.

I can't say anything about the T-grips. My hand is very large, so the first thing I did was put custom grips on each paddle, carved from elm, walnut, and/or alder.

I have a Mitchell premiere, wooden shaft, carbon curved blade. Is light and very strong. The strongest i ever tried. (but i don't knok Climax and Clinch River)

I use Galasport for rodeo, very light and performer paddles with no flotation, but not so committing in abuse.

I have a Galasport Michal Martikan Elite Carbon layup ergo shaft -- huge HUGE blade, paper thin, super feel, incredibly light ... but I reserve it for flat water racing and would never let it near a rock!

I also have a fabulous paddle more of you chaps in the US should look at -- the Rough Stuff C1 Savage -- see

http://www.roughstuff.ie

They FedEX to the US all the time. Excellent service. It is all carbon but very tough layup and I have the bent shaft. It also has an aluminium/titanium alloy running from the tip all the way through to above the grip -- as they say, "There is no f***ing way you can snap off the blade". It has a great feel, really solid yet very light and responsive -- my choice for river running.

Finally, for knocking about and pool and anywhere with a lot of rocks I have just made two paddles from a broken set of Schlegel Duralen kayak paddles (legendary in their ruggedness) -- the shaft broke near one blade, so I just put a wood tgrip (from a shovel handle!) on the long end and stuck an old carbon shaft I had handy on the short end -- I got the broken kayak paddle for $2 so with the spade handle and a lot of araldite (epoxy glue) and a couple of heat shrink sleeves I have two extremely rugged paddles for about $15 ...

/edwin

Thanks for all the sugguestions. Looks like my next paddle will be a mitchell, despite the deal I get with Werner. Maybe I'll just wait until this one is kaput, and see what I need to do from there.
Tim

Greetings...

Another option, if you don't mind a little work and weight-reinforce it yourself. I've fixed a few guide sticks (raft guide paddles) with some S-glass and WEST systems epoxy with good results. You could also add some Dynel to the tip. Perfect solution? No, but it would keep the paddle serviceable for a little longer (or make a great backup, or teaching paddle). Just read the warnings associated with the chemicals you're dealing with, wear a respirator, and try to keep the weight down....

I conscidered beefing this one up. I work in a machine shop and was conscidering riveting in a stainless steel plate on the tip (probbably 1/16" or so thick) and then glassing over it. We'll see how the finances are for a while
Tim