I know kayakers who use conventional blade paddles who insist on off-setting the blades, and all of my 2-piece Werner and Aquabound paddles have the extra spring button holes to rotate the shaft to set small offsets (15 degrees, I think). This is one reason why most Euro blades are round. I ascribe this preference among some of these offset paddlers to their having paddled whitewater in their earlier years with kayaking and being accustomed to rotating their wrists.
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I had an encounter years ago that underlines the significance of having a quality paddle, something that is not stressed enough to those entering the sport. I was doing a solo day trip to a local reservoir that had a kayak rental concession and came upon a young couple in crisis mode in their separate 8’ rec fleet boats. He was trying to persuade her that kayaking was really fun and she should relax while she was complaining VERY loudly that it was “too hard” and “a stupid idea” and she wanted to go back to the dock. I noticed right off that she had been given what looked like a 240 cm paddle and it was one of those monsters Szihn describes, aluminum shaft with chunky ribbed black plastic blades large enough to shuffle a good sized pizza – she was tiny, probably barely 5’ and 100 pounds soaking wet. I took a chance and paddled up to them and told them I suspected the paddle was too big and heavy for her and offered to loan her my deck spare, which was a 210 cm carbon shaft. Told her if she wanted to use it to go back the dock I would follow them and carry the rental paddle until we got there. But once we traded paddles and she started using the Werner she lit up and lit out, shouting “This is so much better!” She took off across the lake and her mate struggled to keep up with her with his own “boat anchor” paddle. I hefted the rental paddle myself and tried a couple of strokes just for the hell of it – just horrendous. Stashed it under the deck rigging and continued on my way with the GP. I spotted the couple a few times over the next couple of hours (pretty small reservoir) and she was still going strong and he was thrashing to keep up. Caught up with them when I decided to call it a day and asked for my paddle back. Both thanked me profusely and the wife announced that she now “loved kayaking” and she had made her hubs promise to get her a paddle like mine for her birthday. Fastest conversion I’ve ever seen on the water.
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Szihn: does this paddle look familiar to you? Got this for $5 at my local outfitters consignment corner, specifically to outfit my “kayaking Krampus” holiday yard display. Fitting accessory for a hell-demon, don’t you think?
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I’ve see a few like that one in the hands of a few rafters and river paddlers on the Big Horn and the Wind rivers. (Love the SOF kayak ) 
The big one I use to have had blades in a shape like an Aqua Bound Shred, but not made of material as good, and just a bit larger. The tube was just aluminum and pretty thick. I was marketed as 8 feet long but I measured it and it was slightly longer then 8 feet so I think it was really a 245 CM. I put a wrap in the center of it made from foam, because it would sink. Not a high grade tool to be sure, but in my early days I didn’t know anything, It was something that I could grab a lot of water with, and that’s what I used for about a year. I did learn to use it fairly well though. A few times I marked out a leg using a USGS map on the lake and timed myself over the length of that mileage and I got pretty fast using that “water shovel”. I transitions to a GL about the end of the time I was using that Taiwan paddle and once I learned how a GL should be made I didn’t miss the water shovel at all. My 1st GL was far too small with a far too long a loom. The next one was better and the 3rd one was a LOT better.
Since then I have made 7 different GL and Aleut paddles for myself and my wife and about 25 others for friends and customers. Last year I went back to trying to learn how to use a Euro paddle correctly and I used 2 different euros for about 75% of my paddling and now that I have some hindsight I can see and understand what so many others are saying.
When I started they may as well have been speaking Chinese (or Marian) to me. Explanations with no context or conceptualizations are not very educational, but the educators often do not understand what NO knowledge really means. So their best-intentioned advice is not understood, because they are talking at about 8th grade level to a 4 year old pre-schooler.
2+2 = 4 is how so many would approached me at a time when I didn’t know what a “number” was.
But I’ve learned quick in many areas of my life ----- and in some of them I didn’t even get hurt. (very badly anyway)
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The SOF in the Kayak Krampus shot is a very well-loved and “rode hard and put away wet” QajaqUSA fleet boat that was going to be offered up to the bonfire at the Delmarva Greenland skills camp 2 years ago. It had been re-skinned a couple of times but portions of the frame have degraded beyond salvage. It somehow missed its Viking funeral so they were desperate to dispose of it at the end of the '23 camp – since I had brought my box truck camper I had space to throw it on top of my own SOF and composite boats inside for the trip home. My intention was to strip the skin and hang it as an art piece but after I created the Krampus dummy to oversee my Festivus/Solstice party 2 months after bringing it home, I gave the SOF a last hurrah of sorts. It’s still under the big oak and pine trees at the end of my driveway, may have chipmunks living in it by now.
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Well I ordered my wife’s paddle. Hope we are not disappointed. I stepped outside my comfort zone by straying from werner and ordered a aqua bound tetra bent shaft for her. They just went on sale this month. She had carpal tunnel surgery on her wrist about 5 years ago. Her wrist are good now, but want to keep it that way. I feel the bent shaft will do more good than harm for her. At 220cm its only 22oz. I felt the kalliste might be too much surface area for her…she is tiny at 5 feet tall. The athena I felt was probably too small surface area on the blade. The tetra falls between the two. I’ve also heard that with the monolithic layup of the paddle, drip rings aren’t needed. The paddle blade and shaft are one piece on each side. With the more open cockpit of her delta 12ar minimal water drippage into/on her will be welcome. I on the other hand ordered a Kalliste straight shaft. I want options for a more laid back experience at times.
Whats going to be hilarious is if she likes the kalliste better…that would be ironic and the paddling gods will probably see it unfold that way. Lol. We’ll see…
Never thought of that. Although I don’t feather, it saw that one person paddling feathered high angle managed to orient the paddle blade so it slides up and out at the exit without flinging water.
This amount of water being lifted add an unnecessary cumulative load of over a pound per stroke, times 4o stokes each minute times 69 minutes per hour for 2, 3 4 or more hours.
You point out about twisting the wrist. My cadence is too high to focus on accurately manage consistent rotation of the wrist. Steve is coming around to the value of a better Euro, but he can uses those cheap paddles because he has the power and endurance to make them work.
Both overall weight and swing weight have a significant impact. A lighter paddle is also offers more sensitivity that transmits the action, much the same as a quality fishing rod transmit the feel of the bottom, whether it’s mud, sand, stone, etc. A light paddle transmit the cavitation, oscillation, anf flutter. Feeling that helps transfer more power. I can’t afford to muscle the boat around anymore, but the increased efficiency has allowed me to compensate for loss of physicality.
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@Marksman where are you located, I have a 220 Aquabound Whiskey you can try.
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Are you talking bout me… 60deg feather and all.
and really I’m not rotating the wrist, per-se the rotation comes mostly as a natural part of the high angle.
I do add a small bit of rotation but thats just to either apply thrust slightly offset to the parallel stroke youd normally make the obliviates my need for a sweep or J-Stroke to correct for wind or current. mostly.
as you know conditions can deteriorate where that would become necessary.
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My wife loves a feathered paddle as her choice for Euros. Her biggest favorite is an Aleut I made for her but carries the feathered carbon 1 piece on her deck and sometimes switches off. I got a good one in my buying /selling of kayaks, and Anna kept it. It’s about 7’ 4" long, 1 piece and made with feathered blades and it’s full carbon.
Me…I have tried feathering several times , and even had Anna try to teach me how to use a paddle that way.
She Tried.
I tried.
The results were far from smooth. In fact “Spastic” is a pretty good descriptor.
The spectacle was reminiscent of a saying we had in the Marines ----- something about sexual proclivities of monkeys, and their attraction to footballs.
I’ll stick to unfeathered.
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Just outside of Philly - damn
I saw you ordered a Aquabound for her, which model did you go with.
Since you can get them all with a carbon shaft and either poly-pro blades, fiberglass or Carbon-fiber, I would recommend the latter two as they have very light swing weight. And with the new design where they are impregnating the edge with poly-pro you don’t need worry anymore about banging the paddle into things and delaminating the blades.
My whiskey is the previous model and has a few de-lams from where I was less than careful. Fortunately coating the edge in superglue stops the de-lam real quick.
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The “Tetra” is the model. Its brand new/ just went on sale this month. Dan with Headwaters Kayak, a youtube channel, has been using a demo for a few months. He hasn’t done a review yet on his channel but in his recent video uploads he’s been using it. In one video he talks about it some and you can tell he really likes it alot. Any day now I’m sure he’ll be loading up a full review. I’m a die hard Werner fan, but I got a gut feeling that Tetra will be perfect for the misses.
I am talking about you. Your manage to exit without without flinging water. While I end up 30° away ftom thr boat and slice upward and outward, you follow the ghull and exit cleanly with the power face parralel to the sidr of the boat. You don’t lift water. Your cadence isn’t that high, but I can’t follow the rotation as you mamage the feather. It’s high angle but it looks closer to a rythemic low angle stroke.
The Tetra is $75 more than the Kalliste, and 98 sq inches compared to 99.7 sq inches for the Kalliste. Weigh is similar. Aqua Bound paddles tend to more forgiving designs. The lower end paddles are good, especially for the price. I also like the Werner paddles.
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Craig’s swing for high angle is smoother than most others, and I cant follow the feathered technique. I didn’t realize it was feathered without him telling me. That is too much like work.
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It’s also Aqua-Bound’s first ‘foam core’ paddle.
(Paddling Magazine (with Dan) review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI3fG1gnFbg)
Werner doesn’t use the term ‘foam-core’ (anymore?).
It seems their ‘Ultimate Performance Level’ paddles (eg: Cyprus, Ikelos, Kalliste) are foam core (Corryvreckan, Shuna not).
Though I have 2 favorites (one for long, one for short paddles, both foam core), I like a variety of paddles to change things up.
I’d like to try the Tetra (compare it to the Whisky, not foam core) for the feel of the blade entry and exit (buoyancy).
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I just find something with a blade on it, stick it into the water and pull on it.
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Whatever it is it will work better if you push on it.
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Pretty much everyone I know who uses a GP makes their own. You can vary all of the dimensions including shaft shape and diameter.