Paddle Length?

[MikeB]

The article by Nigel Dennis says that a split Carbon is usually OK and the it is the one piece that is too stiff....Gosh the more you get into it paddles are a complex subject :o

I have a fibreglass shafted, plastic bladed Lendal - and I have a carbon, cranked version of the same thing. Guess which is the spare. The paddle is quite probably the single most important purchase, even more so perhaps than the boat.

[Thompo]

Selkie, I got hold of a Lendal joiner to do exactly as you're considering; I split my one-piece into a shorter two-piece as a spare on deck which also provides variation ref blade. It really was as easy as was suggested on here. The tricky bit was getting hold of someone at NDK, and then they didn't have stock; in fairness they were very helpful, though, one did eventually come through, and as a POI was very reasonably priced.

Bards

Were you able to fit the switchlock connector to a standard or 1pc shaft?

Thanks

[tg]

The article by Nigel Dennis says that a split Carbon is usually OK and the it is the one piece that is too stiff....Gosh the more you get into it paddles are a complex subject :o

I have a fibreglass shafted, plastic bladed Lendal - and I have a carbon, cranked version of the same thing. Guess which is the spare. The paddle is quite probably the single most important purchase, even more so perhaps than the boat.

Pretty contraversial Mike! Got to be boat first and paddle to match boat. Are you suggesting buying a paddle to suit the person; how can that be...? :-}

Tim

[MikeB]

Funnily enough, I've used the same paddle to paddle a Nordkapp Jubilee, an Aleut II and my current Quest.

[tg]

Kinda joking. But I think it's a point worth making. Especially if your boat is particularly beamy; or skinny.
Tim

[Fenn123]

I used to paddle 218 wings and dropped to 212 when I padled ski. I occasionally extend them to 216 depending. They are not a big wing but still require some pulling through the water. I was very surprised today as I was out paddling with a friend who paddled 240! we swapped for a little while, they were not wings but a thin paddle from canada, but they felt really nice and just glided through the water.

Although I do love my wings.

[Bards]

Selkie, I got hold of a Lendal joiner to do exactly as you're considering; I split my one-piece into a shorter two-piece as a spare on deck which also provides variation ref blade. It really was as easy as was suggested on here. The tricky bit was getting hold of someone at NDK, and then they didn't have stock; in fairness they were very helpful, though, one did eventually come through, and as a POI was very reasonably priced.

Bards

Were you able to fit the switchlock connector to a standard or 1pc shaft?

Thanks

I was told by either Lendal or a reliable poster on this forum (poss MikeB or Jim?) that it was either impossible or at least ill-advised to try the Switchlock, so went for the fixed-position Paddlok. As I always now paddle with no feather on my 'new' paddles anyway, the positioning of the hole on the recommended Paddlok in respect of off-set wasn't really an issue; I would only have preferred variability in order to give 'guest paddlers' an option. Why on earth I should have felt it appropriate to pander to their off-set heretical lunacy I haven't the foggiest, on reflection... ;-)

Hope that helps,

Bards

[simon64]

I've found that the shorter than what used to be considered normal works well for me, I'm 6ft average proportions, I like the 210 werner tybee at a 45 degree feather, I find using anything longer feels a real strain, I used to have a 218, then a 215 and would'nt ever consider going back to those, and small amountsmake a big difference, all you can do is try different lengths on the type of blde you are interesting in using, as mentioned a smaller blade feels a lot different to a large blade like the nordkapps for the same length, I like a medium size blade, the problem with forums is that the info you get are just other peoples opinions, whilst valid and interesting everybody is different in preference and paddling style.