Swift Wind vs Onno Full tour
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Unfortunately, it appears that the Wind Swift has been discontinued; it’s no longer on the Swift Paddles site. Depending on how brave you are, you could always make one by trimming the blades of a larger-bladed paddle.
I see that. I have shortened CF paddles but a blade would scare me.
Nimbus Paddles makes a Zephyr, somewhat similar to the Swift Wind. They also make quill paddles which are even narrower and presumably purchased a bit longer. I have their Chinook quill which is really easy on my arthritic shoulder, as is my GP. Whereas, my Aleut is a bit heavy and not so merciful on that left shoulder.
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My friend Len Payne in Missouri is making paddle full time and I gave him the specs of the Alaskan Marsh hunters “lollypop” paddle. He’s made a few and is going to bring them out to Wyoming on his next visit so we can try them and see how well they work.
Here are some of the ones he’s working on now that will be for sale. If anyone wants to speak with him he will make a paddle to fit anyone that wants one to whatever specs you give him. Contact him at windrush48@yahoo.com His pricing is quite competitive. on standard style GL paddles.
DSCN5494 by Steve Zihn, on Flickr
DSCN5487 by Steve Zihn, on Flickr
DSCN5480 by Steve Zihn, on Flickr
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What is the point , so to speak, of the bulbous tip?
I don’t know String.
It was so odd I thought I should make one (Len Payne did that for me) so I can try it out and see.
A friend in Alaska sent me pictures and measurements from an old paddle in Alaska, said on the sign under it to be used for hunting in the mashes. That doesn’t mean the sigh under it is accurate either, because some museum exabits are based in speculation.
I have never seen anything quite like it before. It’s short at only 5 feet and 10 inches long. (the reproduction is an even 6 feet) It may be good for a “storm paddle” but I am totally in the dark as to it’s original purpose and why it was made that way. The disks are 5-1/2 wide. The old one is supposed to be from the 1840-1850 period, and was from Alaska. It’s in Homer now (or Kasilof… I can’t remember which one my friend told me) now but he said if was from the Alaskan coast, much farther south.
He is friends with some of the people involved in the Alaska Historical society, and his friends say the sigh under the exhibit is all speculation, and that nothing is known for sure about it.
But it was intriguing to me.
I told Len about it and he asked me to get him dimensions. He made 2 of them, before I could make my 1st one. Said it was quite a lot of work, done nearly all by hand.
We want to paddle them and see if there is anything special about them. Why it would be used for a hunter in a march I can’t really guess, but maybe the tips catch more water when it’s shallow?
Or perhaps it’s sliced forward and not removed from the water in a stalk, similar to a canoe paddle stroke?
Any information on such paddles would be very welcome. I hope someone has some experience or insights into such a design.
Anyone else ever see one with disks made into the tips? If so, please post what you can tell me.
We used to pole the marshes in SC. The poles had a duckbill end that opened and closed. Open to push, closed to retrieve. Looked sort of like that but the “blade” was metal.
It increases the blade area substantially at the tip, which would be helpful in shallow water, so perhaps the sign it correct.
Why is your friend using flat-sawn wood? It’s easy to find, but it’s not the best choice for paddles.
I’s assume it’s because of availability. Slab sawn wood can crack along the grain so you are correct, but availability of quarter-sawn wood in very low here in Wyoming(in fact it’s non-existent for now) because of supply issues and it may be in Missouri too.
I have had success with getting flat sawn 2x10s and 2x12s, then ripping them down to 2x4 0r 2x6. with a little selection, you can get very nice quarter sawn that way.
Resawing a 4x4 is another alternative that I’ve used.
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