ATTN: Anybody who has used and/or sells H2O Paddles

[Not Elvis]

This one's for you, Martin. I am pondering another stick and I was eyeing up an H20. Several questions:

1. There are two types - the Team one, which is more expensive, and the "regular" one. Preferences, performance? I am not a racer, I am a paddle beater.

2. Bent shaft vs. Straight shaft. I had tried one of Maxwell Johnston's curvy wood sticks back in the day and found it strange. Am I just born to be a straight shaft guy? [Insert joke here] Or is the H2O different?

I am looking to buy a stick sooner than later. Any other recommendations, besides these and Werner? Again, I am not a racer, so I need something that will fare for a time while being used in shallow water more than something that weighs less than a stamp.

J. Robbins

[Wendy]

I also have a Clinch River, Mitchell, and Aquabound carbon. I use the AB alot on our rocky runs. I bought a H20, regular and have really enjoyed it: durable (so far), no flutter. I am short and all they had was a 58 inch- it works well, good reach.

[Kev]

This one's for you, Martin. I am pondering another stick and I was eyeing up an H20. Several questions:

1. There are two types - the Team one, which is more expensive, and the "regular" one. Preferences, performance? I am not a racer, I am a paddle beater.

2. Bent shaft vs. Straight shaft. I had tried one of Maxwell Johnston's curvy wood sticks back in the day and found it strange. Am I just born to be a straight shaft guy? [Insert joke here] Or is the H2O different?

I am looking to buy a stick sooner than later. Any other recommendations, besides these and Werner? Again, I am not a racer, so I need something that will fare for a time while being used in shallow water more than something that weighs less than a stamp.

J. Robbins

1. If your not playboating, surfing, or paddling c1 the team blade is overkill for open boating.

The regular blade still has plenty of power.

2. Again i personally didn't like the bent shaft when using an open boat. For c1 it's inspiring, but i found my grip hand a tad low when open boating with it.

3. The non team blade paddle is available in a carbon shaft, even though it's not listed on the website.

FYI: I have a 54" Team Bent for C1 & use a Carbon Straight non team for open boating @ the moment.

[sbroam]

Anybody got a URL for this company?

[pdown2]

http://www.h2opaddles.com/whitewater.php

bottom of the page.

[Sir Adam]

Rough Stuff.

http://www.roughstuff.ie/portal/index.htm

[the great gonzo]

Jay,

1) I am a paddle beater myself, and as such, I recommend the TEAM paddle. I disagree with Kevin here, it is always the better choice IMHO, be it for C1 or OC1. The reason is the blade shape. The TEAM paddle is very wide at the bottom, almost 2 inches more than most other paddles, which provides great power in shallow creeks, where you may not be able to always fully immerse the paddle in the water. The regular H2O paddle is, as far as I cn remember, narrower. The Shaft of the TEAM is also of higher quality than the standard glass shaft.

2) The Bent shaft is noice, but they are limited in where they can put the bend and as far as I am concerened, it really only works if you paddle a C1 with a relatively low saddle height (my guess is less than 6") and a short paddle. For me it works on my 54" paddle I use for my playboats, on the 56" I use in the Finkenmeister, the bend was too low on the shaft.


Judging by what you will be using for, a H2O Team would be a great stick. Just as comparison, I had a Werner Bandit which I wore out (over 2" of wear at the bottom as well as delamination in the area where the blade tends to hit the edge of the boat) in less than one paddling season, while my H2O team paddle has, after 3 seasons of hard paddling, maybe 1/2" of wear at the bottom and is still going strong.
There are definitely better paddlesfor racers and such on the market, but for creeking and from a durability point of view, the H2O team is hard to beat.

martin a.k.a. the great gonzo!

[Kev]

The TEAM paddle is very wide at the bottom, almost 2 inches more than most other paddles, which provides great power in shallow creeks, where you may not be able to always fully immerse the paddle in the water. The regular H2O paddle is, as far as I cn remember, narrower. The Shaft of the TEAM is also of higher quality than the standard glass shaft.

Excellent point on the TEAM blade.
The team blade is 9.5" wide the regular is 8"

The regular h20 is narrower but still is a nice blade for your average joe boater.

The Carbon shaft that comes with the team blade is available for the regular blade shape as well, even though it's not mentioned on the website.

[jnorto01]

J you know what I do to paddles. My Galasport 3M with the heavy carbon/kevlar layup has been holding up well. I gotta get a shorter one for the cboats. I'll have it this weekend so you can check it out. Jim

[philcanoe]

which of the Galasport 3M blades do you use?

anyone have experience with the C1 MAGNUM ELITE

[Larry Horne]

..not the Elite, but I broke three regular Magnums in two years.

If you're hard on sticks, go with the h2o....
The team C1 is a fantastic paddle. I've got two years on it and it still looks great. Mine is the straight shaft.

[jnorto01]

Hey philcanoe,
I'm not sure of the exact model name but the 3M blade that I use is the maxi size and is a carbon kevlar weave that gives it a black and yellow plaid pattern. I also have the extra heavy shaft layup which is a herringbone carbon kevlar weave. The aluminum tip is holding up well. I normally just wear paddle blades down really fast as opposed to catistrophically breaking a paddle. My local run is pretty shallow most of the time. Jim

[bellotti]

In regards to the shafts. How stiff is the carbon shaft? How about the glass shaft?

I would like some flex to keep my shoulders happy.

[bellotti]

Nevermind about the shafts, overlooked an old post from a couple years ago by martin.