C-Forum

Any body paddle one, and love it like no other. Ive put seven hundred plus miles on a werner bandit, and am looking for something a bit stiffer, and lighter, looking in that direction, opinions...not ruling out possibilities, just searching around, anyone.

I love mine ! I have the wood shaft/carbon covered blade. This thing is tough as nails, super stiff & oh, so smooth in the water .

I recomend that you hand pick one though. At the same time that I ordered mine, a buddy ordered the same layup & length, but he got the straight blade. His shaft & grip are a little smaller & his has more flex. I don't know if it is a normal difference when you get the straight blade, or if it's just a typical variance with wood.

I got my hands on a Galasport at Gauley Fest. It felt good, but their blade has a rib on it. I think the under-water recovery would not be as smooth as the Mitchell. I also wonder about that indexing rib on the shaft. Does that get irritating after pulling the paddle all day?

My Mitchell was without a doubt the best paddle I've yet used. That said, it was too stiff (read: hurt my shoulder, elbow, etc.). I had a carbon fiber shaft though and a wood shaft should make all the difference.
They wear very well to a point, but once you're into the wood core it's all over. I guess you could do some maintainence and prevent this, but I personally go for the ease of paddles that wear at a consistent rate until there's no blade left.
I'd say if stiffness is what you're after and you're not too abusive to pay for a premium paddle go with a Mitchell.

My Galasport Kevlar/Carbon paddle has no significant rib in it and it feathers better that any other paddle that I've used. The edges are thinner than the Mitchell. It's even the equal to the composite paddles that I have made, except it's not quite as stable (but the Galasport is much lighter).

how much are the galasport paddles, the bent shafts are pretty sweet looking, and better ergonomically. But they seem fairly pricey, where is info on galasport pricing, besides the site, which has no pricing info.
-isaac

Not sure what a bent shaft costs, but they had some straight shafts at GauleyFest, that I think were blems, and they were close to $200.

I almost got one. I was impressed that the two Galasport paddles that I handled seemed to weigh about the same as my 10oz Zaveral flatwater paddle- which helped me picture breaking it right off the bat.

So I'm guessing that the price for an unblemished bent-shaft is: A LOT.

A really nice aspect of Mithchell paddles is that they will modify the premier according what you are looking for. They have taken a wood shaft that was too stiff for me and thinned it; modified the curved blade and cut it down according to an outline I sent; put on a galasport shaft; used one of their thinner and more flexible carbon shafts. People love working with these folks because they are so accomodating and pleasant.

So tell them what you are looking for and they can usually match it up in whatever materials. The curved premier blades are great and incredibly durable with a wonderful recovery. The stock design is big and pulls lots of water. The wood shaft can be very stiff as well. But narrowing the the blade shoulder and thinning the shaft can give very different results, thus appealing to different needs. Thus it can wind up very light and fast or somehwhat heavier and more powerful.

obviously recommended.

Galasport USA
(301) 263- 9594
email- galakayaks@aol.com

Good company- Cool paddles.

BTW
I think the prices are similar to Mitchell.
This is a different paddle than your looking for, but I paid 178 for a new Demon. Not blemished.

I also loved a Mitchell years ago.
Can't go wrong with either co. in my opinion.

Davey Hearn is the US distributor of Galasport paddles.

http://daveyhearn.com/MWP%20Gear/MWP%20gear.htm

I've only had my Galasport for a few months, but Alden Bird has been using one for quite some time and it's held up. If you know Alden, you know anything that he can't destroy must be pretty tough.

I have been using Mitchell paddles for about 15 years now. I started using the Premier curved blades about 6 or so years ago and have found them to be a real nice paddle. I have both a carbon shaft and wood shaft version. I use the carbon shaft mostly for slalom racing. I do believe that the carbon shaft being stiffer than the wood shaft can take a toll on the body.

The thing I like about Mitchell is that they repair their paddles for a mere pittance. I have sent them my wood shaft at least two times to refurbish it. The rope edging had broken off near the tip and the wood was also chipping off where the rope was missing. They repaired that and put on a new metal tip for $40. The whole process from my shipping it to gettting it back only took a week.

As noted by others in prior messages, Mitchell is very accomodating in both the repair and construction of your paddle. Peggy is a pleasure to deal with and can be very helpful when trying to make a decision about which paddle to get.

I also agree with Bob P. about Alden. If the GalaSport holds up for him it should be a good paddle.

Hey Alden how 'bout an opinion to help out here!!!

Ken

I've got the wood shaft wood blade. It's sweet, flexes just enough and is much better ballanced than my Werner Nantahala which was blade heavy.

I think the first question, to someone who has a lot of wilderness miles, is "are you thinking of a new paddle for day trips or for big-time wilderness up in Canada?"

I would say, if it is a wilderness paddle, you will want a wood or fiberglass shaft and not carbon. Any paddle maker who does custom work can make you a dam stiff wood shaft if that is what you want. I don't think I'd take my mitchell on a long trip to Canada...everyone talks about how great Mitchell is about fixing them...that means the blades do break from time to time. If I were to go on a long expedition with a Mitchell, I'd go with the wood shaft/carbon blade version.

When I go up north, I take a Viking glass shaft/blade or a Backlund all-wood. Vikings are not being made right now, but Backlund says he is currently making a de facto Viking...and they are actually available. Custom Backlunds are sometimes hard to get in a reasonable time frame, but are wonderful paddles which last and last and last.

I have an all wood Mitchell canoe paddle that is over 20 years old. Never broken. Its been on numerous whitewater trips, extended Canadian wilderness trips and slalom racing. I also have a Mitchell all wood kayak paddle that is over 12 years old that I use for slalom and cruising and other than a few wear spots and chips on the blade edges its still going strong. This paddle does not have the rope edges that they use now, so that's why its a bit more worn I think. I'm not the easist person on my paddles either, as I have paddled a lot of shallow creeks and rivers.

I have been on cruising trips where I have seen the Mitchell carbon shafted versions break in the shaft and Mitchell fixed them very quickly for the owner.

I think they make great paddles and would recommend them, although I think the wood ones last longer than what I've seen in the carbon ones. It depends on how hard you are on your paddles.

C1Dub