can I get an amen?
you said it brother.
message from god …
Think of that annoying water in your lap as a message from god.
I’d say stick with the double-bladed paddle if you’re one of those who enjoy the prestige of looking good by wearing really cool paddling gear like the really cool kayakers and cyclists do.
Canoes are built for real people who wear real clothes – and besides, using a double-bladed paddle on a canoe looks tacky anyway, so any cool clothes you buy really won’t do much for your image even if you do wear them while trying to kayak a canoe.
Listen to god, take a deep breath, slow down and pick up a good single-bladed paddle and learn to paddle with only one stick. If it doesn’t feel right, try different paddles, as blade and shaft dimensions really do matter when soloing because if the paddle doesn’t match your boat and paddling style, it won’t be any fun.
Well said.
LOL
– Last Updated: Jul-10-08 10:33 PM EST –
so off the mark.
I know how to use a single blade. I have taught FreeStyle Canoeing for 11 years.
And I do still love double blading..its just two different body movements.(I do occasional kayak guiding for the AMC)
Get over one being better than the other...
Paddle with me on Lake Superior and you will see the advantage of a double.
Paddle with me in Wabakimi and you will see a disadvantage to the double and superiority of a single.
Two different tools. Nothing at all to do with image.
Okay, no argument there…
– Last Updated: Jul-10-08 10:44 PM EST –
...but that was just an incidental sideline to the main point, and not nearly as black-and-white a statement as you must want it to be. What you are responding to was only my reaction to the original poster's statement about how when using a double-blade paddle, there was no need for him to make use of his extensive years of experience, the logic of which still escapes me.
The main point was that there's nothing to gain by applying the standards of one style of paddling to another style that's completely different. As one example of this sort of thing, the whole argument about "which is better, a canoe or a kayak" would go away and never come back if more people understood that. Same goes for paddle drips.
it still looks tacky
makes me want to vomit when i see someone paddling a perfectly fine canoe with a “double bladed canoe paddle,” which sounds too politically correct. by that logic, i can use a ping pong paddle in my canoe and all of a sudden it’s a “round, tiny single canoe blade that’s used in only one hand?”
in the end, as many have said: “half the paddle, twice the paddler.”
your image and your rants
– Last Updated: Jul-11-08 1:15 PM EST –
I would suggest everyone reread kayamedic's well stated post on the use of both types of paddles, Having seen her do freestyle, I'm sure she can use a single blade as well as most of the posters with single blade attitude. She states the case better than I would for simply for using both as the situation suggests.
The point of my blabbering on semantics of paddles was missed with comment on "double bladed canoe paddle" sounding politically correct. I never inserted the word canoe (or kayak) in the middle when discussing double blade paddles. That was the whole point of my semantics rant. I'll restate that as simple as I can: Man has made paddles for thousands of years. Some have one blade, some have two blades. They can be used to propel a canoe. They can be used to propel a kayak. The same paddle can be used with either craft. That paddle doesn't change when used with a canoe or with a kayak.
Actually, a somewhat shorter double paddle is better with narrow kayaks, with narrow canoes, and when using a high angle stroke. In a wider kayak or wider canoe and when using a low angle stroke, a longer paddle is better. A short double blade used with a high angle stroke will produce much more drip in a canoe.
The nonsense about "clothing" worn is just that.
Studying the 160 year history of recreational paddling would lead to a more nuanced perspective. As only one example of many possible examples, pack canoe were developed in the late 1800s. They are use in smaller lakes with frequent portages (called carries) between the lakes. "Real men" (and ladies) wearing "real clothing" have used pack canoes for over 100 years. They hike between lakes a number of times each day carrying their canoes and gear. They usually, but not always, use double blades.
As for me, I have many single blades, historical, collectable and modern. I used to use both single and double blades. A fall on ice five years ago damaged my shoulder and necessitated three hours of surgery. Single blades now irritate my shoulder when that side hand is on the grip so now I only use double blades. I was using double blades frequently before I injured my shoulder, now their use a medical necessity to continue paddling.
Use whatever floats your boat, or in this discussion, whatever propels your boat best (in your experience), without the attitude about difference choices.
Dave
You talking to me?
Your post was directly under mine.
An important lesson today I learned
Nessmuk was “tacky”
Jim
One of your comment is directed at me…
– Last Updated: Jul-11-08 4:57 PM EST –
...so I'll respond only to that part. There's a reason some paddling styles involve getting wet all the time and others don't, and there's a reason why getting wet all the time can be tolerated when necesary, and that's proper clothing. There're also advantages to paddling in ways that don't require such specialized clothing. When being critical of one paddling mindset (wanting to stay dry), a person had better be prepared to see that the critisicm CAN go both ways if someone else uses the same ill-founded logic. My use of examples to illustrate this wouldn't have looked like a biased statment of what's right and what's wrong if you were to read more carefully (to clarify, those folks in pack canoes 100 years ago didn't use them "in spite of getting wet" and they didn't use them because some other type of paddler would've called them a wimp if they chose not to. They used them because they were able to stay dry and comfortable with their long paddles and low-angle stroke). By missing the point and shooting down what I said about that, you now appear to justify the very same intolerant statement by one person toward another about which I was voicing my disapproval, which in turn seems to make you a hypocrite regarding your message about "tolerance of other peoples styles". You might want to read a little slower next time.
Two (simultaneous) blades rule !
Hehe … by which I mean ROWING ofcourse. Now there’s a blasphemy to wrap your mind around!
By the way … my canoes generally stay dry (unless it’s raining or the waves huge) , I can go fast or slow, row straight or spin at will … with power or endurance … in any clothes (and boots) I want to use for comfort and/or protection. And when it comes to navigating in tight-quarters (marsh explorations) where forward vision is helpful, I just ship the oars and pull out a t-handled Mitchell for slow speed skulking around.
Yes … I’m an unabashed heathen !!!
PS: Guideboatguy … are you watching my back on this?
Speak of the Devil!
Good to see you here. It occurred to me last night that I might actually bring up the subject of rowing, as there are only a handful of us here who do that. I’ve never heard a single snide remark about my rowing when out with a bunch of kayakers and canoers (but speaking of “watching my back”, there have been a few times on river trips where someone has said, “Hey Eric, did you notice that there’s a stump up ahead?”), but on these boards I HAVE been told that rowing a boat without a sliding seat is just too half-a__ed of a method to be worth the trouble.
All dis here jawbonin’ about…
– Last Updated: Jul-11-08 6:33 PM EST –
about single or double blade paddlin'....
Gad Zooks, Pilgrims, waan ah' paddle me top secret skunkwoyks canoo/yak/ski (fer Andy_S) Pamlico XXL it be none o' dem girlie-man one or two blades fer dis here varmint.
http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2609734060094647494XYdHSO
Fat Elmo
but they arent different.
– Last Updated: Jul-11-08 6:26 PM EST –
Lots of things can be done using the same principles of hydrodynamics because they apply to boat movement in the same way no matter whether its a single or double blade.
A post is a post whether with one blade or two.
I have to admit that a sideslip with a double blade sometimes leads me into underwater exploration!
I am soooo glad I
went paddling today. And not computering.
God was good to give me opportunity to live life on a lake. Exploring the bog, it was a single paddle day…no need to tear up the bog with a double.
Tomorrow if the winds are higher it might be a double blade canoeing day.
I care not about my image. I am too old to care about cool.
High winds + canoe =
drop the rudder and use the Zav for me, rather than grab the double blade paddle. I find that to be much less work in the wind than having one blade up in the air all the time.
I got a blister on my hand today using a double blade in my rudderless and skegless kayak. Message from God? Maybe I should’ve used the Zav?
Also, I really perverted the experience today by wearing blue jeans, leather boots with overshoes and my long sleeved work shirt when paddling before work. Will I be excommunicated by the p.net paddling fashion police? Or should I just go hang out with the Duckheads?
Happy paddling.
i want one o dem new pamlico xxls!
and those new fangled paddles yer maken there Fat Elmo, how much fer one o dem?
feathered double blade
– Last Updated: Jul-11-08 11:23 PM EST –
for me is not as much as a problem as dropping a single blade for hit and switch.
Plus there is that bugaboo of the second that the paddle is being transferred from one control hand to the other. During that time no paddle is doing the work.
Maybe the dough needs to rest now. God knows its been beaten enough.
What was the original question?
it’s all in good fun, dave
i see it as we’re like a group of siblings who need to bicker for a bit just to make it more fun.
i don’t like kayak paddles in a canoe, but i also paddle a Rob Roy with a sliding wenonah seat, kneeling with an outrigger double-bend.
i’d say i’m WAY more of the odd duckling than yak paddles in a canoe.
I use both . I am getting better with
the Zav, but when the wind starts kicking,I’m going for my 230 two-ended paddle.