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paddles

Table of Contents

Wing Paddles

Modern sprint kayakers and surfskiers all use the more efficient “wing” style kayak paddle that is characterized by distinct concave scoops in the power sides of the blades and a non-symmetric oval in the blade shape where the “top” (outside edge in the water, inside edge during recovery) edges of the blades are longer and more curved than the bottom (inside edge in the water, outside edge during recovery) edges. This shape lends itself to greater efficiency and speed - IF you use decent paddling technique.

Wesley Echols' discussion and review of wing paddles covers most of the important features that you should be considering in your choice of a wing paddle. As with most aspects of surfski paddling, there is nothing more valuable than experience to guide your ability to make good purchase choices.

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The Paddle Channel - using the wing paddle - this represents their opinions which may continue to evolve. (they are not yet expert paddlers at the time of making this video, but this is a snapshot of where they are in 2023 and what they have learned so far about using their wing paddles. Remember, you can speed up youtube playback if you find the talking a bit slow…).

Buying Your First Paddle

Repair

Setup - Feather, Length, Grip

Blade Size

Smaller or less powerful paddlers usually prefer smaller blade sizes. Stronger paddlers may also go with relatively smaller blades if their paddle sessions and races tend toward longer distances and/or as they get older. Paddle2Fitness Podcast on Blade Size. There has been a bit of evolution toward smaller paddle blades across the range of paddlers, possibly due to a greater awareness of repetitive stress issues and the desire to be able to paddle pain free (or paddle at all) well into “old age”. As mentioned below, shaft stiffness and the abruptness of the paddle catch also play into the overall cumulative stress from a paddle. Jamo Porter on Choosing Blade Size

Reducing Stress, Tendinitis

Shaft Stiffness

Celliers Kruger: “If you’re a beginner or have problems with tendinitis, get a shaft made out of fibreglass. They are more flexible than the other options, which is what you want. The flex will protect your joints and tendons from injuries.

A seasoned paddler can consider a shaft made of glass/carbon. Different ratios are being used. The higher the carbon vs glass ratio, the lighter the shaft tends to be, but it also becomes stiffer. Stiffness allows you to transfer power more directly to your blades through the shaft, but it puts a lot of strain on your muscles and tendons too. Personally I prefer a 30% carbon, 70% glass mix. I suffer from tendinitis and I don’t compete in sprint races, so no point in going for a stiffer paddle.

If you’re serious about sprinting and your body is up for some punishment, go for a full carbon shaft. But I would suggest that you get another paddle too with a more flexible shaft for long distance training sessions.”

Flexible Shafts

  1. Fiberglass is more flexible than Carbon or Kevlar. (Fiberglass in shafts will also tend to be heavier, because the stronger materials require less material to be used) Some makers seem to offer no fiberglass in their shafts (is our impression correct? or is there some way to get fiberglass included in any brand's paddle shafts?) while others do (example - Gara). The higher the fiberglass %, the more flexible it will be.
    1. Brača-Sport Carbon/Fiberglass ratio: most are 100% Carbon, but the IV also has a 60/40 shaft option
    2. Gara Shafts Carbon/Fiberglass ratio: 40/60, 60/40, 80/20, 90/10, or 100% Carbon
    3. Knysna Carbon/Fiberglass ratio: 60/40 or 100% Carbon
    4. Mako has Carbon or Fiberglass option - ask if there are blends or just 100% one or the other
  2. As far as Carbon, Carbon/Kevlar Shafts go the following shafts are some of the more flexible ones among Carbon shafts, but our impression is that a significant % of Fiberglass in a shaft probably makes a greater difference (how much? we don't know and haven't seen any estimates attempting to compare or quantify this) than whatever these get you in terms of flex. Brača does have a standard way to measure their shaft flex - see in the following discussion Surfski.info 2020 discussion of carbon shaft stiffness in Brača and Jantex more flexible carbon shafts
    1. Orange sticker Super Flexi Jantex shaft
    2. Brača 19K shaft or 21K shaft (some of the Brača paddles are known for fairly aggressive catches, so they may not be as much of a body stress/wear reducer as you are looking for)
    3. Epic Green Shaft (Club Carbon) Comments comparing to Jantex
    4. …

Other Factors Affecting Stress

  • Stress can be also be increased or mitigated by how the blade catches (hard, aggressive, or softer?), so consider not only the shaft flex but also the Shape and Size of the blade.
    • Best if you can directly try out a blade yourself, otherwise you may get some sense of this from reviewers although there can be some variation in different paddlers assessments of how strong/abrupt a blade catch is (due to different reviewer's technique, size, strength?)
  • Paddle Length some long distance paddlers going with smaller blades are also adopting higher cadences with remarkably shorter (than we are used to seeing in paddle length recommendations) shaft lengths to what they report is good benefit for their endurance, performance, and paddling health.

Torque Reduction

New Zealand Paddler 2024 Comparison of Braca 4, Flow MS3, Jantex Gamma, Braca 11 and Epic Mid Twist

Manufacturers/Brands

  • While Flow advertises some of their paddles as made specifically to be tougher for river/shallow water paddling, some of these other manufacturers will make custom layups (e.g stronger river layups, etc.) on request.
  • Bennett Paddles
  • Braca-Sport [Brača-Sport]
  • Carbonology Sport
  • Epic
  • Flow Kayaks like their surfskis, some of their paddles are made tougher for rivers, etc. with titanium tips
  • Gara
  • G'Power
  • Gut
  • Jantex
    • Facebook Channel
    • New Lock Ring 2024 allows you to reset length and feather exactly the same without needing to look at paddle (requires notched mating clamp on paddle so you can't just retrofit the clamp to an older paddle with old style clamps) - facebook demo video. Note also that the clamp is about 2 cm wide, so when using it increases your smallest paddle length setting by 2 cm.
  • Kajner
  • Kirton offers a small bladed paddle for kids in addition to the Epic paddles they sell
  • Knysna Racing
  • Mako
  • Meek
  • Orka
  • Race One not clear if any of these are original or just re-branded to Race One.
  • Stellar
  • Think does not seem to show their paddles on their website, but you can find them on dealer websites - example Coast Outdoors Think Power Wing
  • Inexpensive knock-off copies - you're on your own - you may see them from a known brand lending their name (we're not even sure about the originality of all of the ones listed here), with oddball brand names, or as a generic wing paddle on a foreign sales website.
  • …

Dealers

USA

Worldwide

  • Surfski dealers typically either sell paddles or can tell you where to look for them. Some of the paddle manufacturer's websites will also include links to local distributors and/or outlets for their paddles.
  • ….

Travel with Paddles

We know of at least one surfski paddler who takes his blades off of his shafts to allow packing in standard luggage, then reglues them at his destination. But most travelers typically use paddle bags and fill any extra space in the bags with soft items like clothing which will also provide additional padding protection for the paddles.

bennettpaddles.jpg

Logo on Bennett Paddle Bag

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