A local shop has the harmony Shadow bent shaft in stock. its in the right lengh no less. have looked at them on the internet. but first tine seeing and haldling it though. i realy like the blade size, and only 27oz. so feels not much heaver than my viper or other bent shaft. i love my viper but find the other paddle works better when i need to improve hadling of the canoe.(bent shaft but only 10digreee bend) the shadow has the same dagree bend but the blade while wider is shorter. plus i realy only have used bebding branches paddles. so not sure if harmony paddles hold up as well. the price is good and may buy it just to have choices. like the wider blade and expect it would push me along as good if not better than my other two. but since i tend to use a pry stroke more than a draw,dont kwhat affect it will have.
Go With Bending Branches…It’s Worth It!
I did the same thing you’re going through. I went to my local shop and the guy said if you planning on paddling more than once, go with the bent shaft. But since you’re new, go budget and get the Harmony Shadow. On my third time out it broke in half! I went to my local shop and they wouldn’t return it because they said it was abused. I used the paddle to push off a rock! (How is that abuse?). I called Harmony, they said any time a paddle breaks the way mine did they won’t repair/fix it. Just my luck.
I drove to the Cities and went to REI. I got the Bending Branches Sun Shadow for $110 and three years later it is still in great shape. They have some ‘Rockguard’ material so the paddle never breaks.
Make sure you don’t leave the paddle in your garage over winter (like any paddle) and you’ll have the BB paddle for many years.
Spend $30 for an extra 5-10 years of use…worth it!