Quick Poll on Paddles

Rand C1 · Post by **Rand C1** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:26 am

Fiberglass Bandit, for the price you can't beat it. They all wear out.
Rand

Alden · Post by **Alden** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:55 am

I usually like the Bandit for creeking, but now that Mitchell has a cool new cboater on their team, I might have to get me another wood blade!

Alden

dafriend · Post by **dafriend** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:15 am

I like the Mitchell Premier a lot. It's my axe of choice. Very light and will take a good deal of abuse. Also, customer service wise, Mitchell has been good to me. I have gone through a number of their paddles however.

That said, whenever a Mitchell fails (or I sacrifice one to the river nymphs) I reach back and pull out the old reliable wooden Sawyer. I believe the model is the Stingray. This old horse has taken every possible kind of abuse. Considering the amount of use it looks great. If I don't lose it somewhere it appears to have many more years of use in it.

Jim P · Post by **Jim P** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 1:28 pm

I've broken two Stingrays. Sawyer fixed them, but I lost my trust. To be fair I have used Sawyer paddles on some remote trips and gotten home without problems. Never broke a jimi stick and I've been much harder on mine than on the Sawyers. They don't wear out like glass sticks, sure they wear down, you get them refurbished and keep going. If you are in it for the long haul, it will be cheaper than the throw away composite paddles.

Wood as also warmer in winter and easier on your joints.

cheajack · Post by **cheajack** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 3:18 pm

Mitchell. Great product. Excellent repair turn around time.

Smurfwarrior · Post by **Smurfwarrior** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:09 pm

As a side note, since we're talking about paddles... anyone know anything about Dagger wood paddles.. has a metal tip. I got it with a boat and was wondering about it.

cheajack · Post by **cheajack** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:28 pm

Smurf; Looks like a Silver Creek to me.

cadster · Post by **cadster** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:31 pm

I remember Dagger's paddle as being a good and relatively inexpensive wood paddle. They weren't available long and quit being sold before the canoes.

2opnboat1 · Post by **2opnboat1** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 4:34 pm

Silver Creeks where way nicer than that

Smurfwarrior · Post by **Smurfwarrior** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 5:13 pm

Thanks Cadster, was wondering if I'd be defiling something cool if I was to cut it down to size and put a differnt T grip on it.

ian123 · Post by **ian123** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 10:36 pm

They don't wear out like glass sticks, sure they wear down, you get them refurbished and keep going. If you are in it for the long haul, it will be cheaper than the throw away composite paddles.

You can definitely have a composite paddle built back up when they wears. I've seen a few of these repairs.

http://www.paddlesportsrepairs.com/

The bandit is a good paddle. It's reasonably light and stiff and its cheap. It's just not that nice.
Any paddle can be broken or lost... shiit happens.... it's kind of nice when they're only 100 or 150 bucks... but I guess if you can afford a 3 or 400 dollar paddle than you can afford to buy a second 3 or 400 dollar paddle...

Rand C1 · Post by **Rand C1** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:25 pm

I have an old DAGGER paddle from the 80s. It says DAGGER and has a Mad River wise rabbit on it, tapered oval shaft, same t-grip, aluminum laminated in the tip. Really good paddle I have taken it out of service though.
Rand

Walsh · Post by **Walsh** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:40 pm

I currently own two glass Bandits, two Norses, an AB Edge, a Viking, an older all-wood Mitchell Premier, and two Galasport 3Ms.

The Galasports are my absolute favorite. Both were ordered from Sweet Composites. The 3M blade has a strong but predictable catch, does not flutter, and has the smoothest in-water recovery of any stick I have tried. The carbon/kevlar layup is easier on the shoulders and a little tougher than the carbon. You can order a heavier layup in the shaft, which will make it an even more durable paddle.

Paddler · Post by **Paddler** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:42 pm

If your into wood, Kenny of blunt family paddles based out of the Portland OR area makes works of art. I have one of his kayak paddles and it's just great. Check out his stuff at www.bluntfamilypaddles.blogspot.com . He makes canoe and kayak paddles as well as oars. He trained with Keith Backlund, and is very talented, good guy too.

RodeoClown · Post by **RodeoClown** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 12:13 am

Smurfwarrior wrote:Thanks Cadster, was wondering if I'd be defiling something cool if I was to cut it down to size and put a differnt T grip on it.

Dagger paddles was some (or several) combination of Keith Backlund (later of Blacklund paddles), Brandy Lesan (Pothole paddles), and Steve Scarbrough (later of... Dagger), among others. So, I'd say it's probably it's a cool piece of paddling history, though I don't think making it something you could use would be considered "defiling."

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