Prusik is a great knot. Ive used it on a tree and even smooth poles as an anchor point for a hammock. But it needs a load to remain secure (Roger Moore 007 fashioned his shoe laces into prusik knots to climb a thick rope to a monetary on a mountain peak).
I use ropes to lash everything down, because straps with ratchets can apply too much pressure. My tie down ropes are 1/2 inch braided, which is overly strong, easy to tie and untie, and it abraids less on things I lash down.
Anyone unfamiliar with knots can find details on YouTube. A loop like the “Alpine Butterfly” (or any of various name for it) can be used instead of the taut-line, which can slip slightly. The “Alpine Butterfly” won’t slip, the wrap puts less stress on the rope, and its easy to untie. Once the working end of the rope passes through a cleat or around the object securing the load, pass the end through the loop in the rope and it serves as a pully to increase tension. Then go about wrapping the excess around the rope and tie it off.
Constrictor knots (similar to a clove hitch) are useful. I use one to secure both ends of a length of 1/4 inch by 5 feet rope to a hiking stick. It doesn’t slip, but can be slid to pull it taunt or give it slack so it serves as a “rifle sling” to free up my hands. Then it can serve as a tarp pole with a loop on one end fastened to the tarp with stick toggle, and another length of rope fsstened by a “sheet bend.” I can’t find directions for the specific constrictor knot, but can take a picture and post it for anyone who wants to copy it. I used the thin nylon venetian blind cord to make an eyeglass lanyard when I couldn’t find my store-bought lanyard. A constrictor knot on the earpiece arms is neat and holds tight. To hold the glasses tight on your head, use twist ties to cinch the lanyard (plastic is better than the paper coated ones that dissolve when wet, or use zip ties, another piece of cord made onto a constrictor). Pull the little zip tie back and forth to tighten the eyeglasses to fit your face.
For transporting my two piece GPs (a carbon Gearlab and an Eastpole wood) I picked up a pink camo Realtree 46" padded zip around rifle case at a discount store for $11 which is the perfect size.
Also discovered recently when I installed a bunch of the Harbor Freight Tools 46" long LED pendant strip lights in my new workshop that the cardboard box that each light came in is the perfect size for a 2-piece paddle and even comes with foam blocks at each end to cushion the tips. I kept a few of them instead of crushing for recycling in case I ever need to ship a paddle.
For my precious custom-made cedar/Doug fir single piece GP, I stitched a double thick fleece sock for it and usually slide it across the floor of my small station wagon from the middle of the hatch entry and between the console and the passenger seat, where it stays snug and out of the way.
I considered building a PVC roof rack tube for it (I had one like that years ago when I was an electrical contractor, used for hauling long skinny stuff like ground rods, Unistrut and all-thread) but decided I am not comfortable having my paddles outside the security of the vehicle.
We don’t all drive Big SUVs and pickup trucks. To carry my 84" one piece cedar GP inside my tiny Mazda wagon, I have to slide it from the hatch to extend between the front seats and edged against the console or along the outside of the passenger side seats between them and the doors, where it’s in the way for anyone riding shotgun. The fleece sock I made for it keeps it from getting gouged by assorted hardware and tracks under and along the seats. “Picky” and “practical” are in the eye of the beholder.
For me, it’s until it gets the first ding, but my paddle started life as a 2x4. I was that way with my kids. Hovering over them until the first stitches, tumble down a flight of stairs, or ugly scar. Then I just made a new one and let the other roam free.
Yeah, my 72" storm paddle started life as a Home Depot short cut stud and is coated with some ghastly industrial strength ugly varnish – it just gets flung wherever. I’ve even used it to dig cat holes and lever rocks out of the way to clear a launch site.
But the 84" was custom made to my specs and metrics by a small artisanal woodworker, Friday Harbor Paddles in the San Juan Islands (sadly no longer in business, due to repetitive stress problems with his hands and forearms). He used 5 laminations of WRC and Doug fir and finished it like a baby’s bottom with tung oil/varnish combo. By now, even with care it’s earned plenty of scuffs in 14 years of use, and has been sanded and recoated a few times. But it’s irreplaceable, balances in my hands and meets the water perfectly. Will always be my favorite paddle – it just feels right.
I’m not a Greenland Paddle fan for two reasons. Primarily, it doesn’t offer the performance that I expect from a paddle. Yet I’m surprise that in the right hands, the paddle can “approach” the speeds attainable with modern carbon Euro
s. Where it shines is in comfort, versatility, and ergonomics. I can’t dispute that. The second issue is the overall weight of the wooden Greenlands. Although I didn’t paddle far with the Greenland, I had the chance to compare it to a GearLab model that Craig loaned to me.
The paddles are virtually identical dimentionally, but my wooden paddle has more finely tapered blades; however, I’m not sure how much the thickness or taper of the blades affect performance. The carbon paddle was lighter, but the difference didn’t feel significant, and the swing weight of both felt well balanced.
Despite my less than enthusiastic regard for the Greenlands, the design is intriquing. The GearLab provably performs better, but there is something more esthetically appealing to the natural feel of the wood; even though it’s just a hand-selected Home Depot 2x4.
I found three more 96 inch select studs that started at $3.89 at the beginning of the Covids, $7.00 mid-lock down, and $10 for the last one. All the blanks are essentially knot free, straight and still arrow straight after 3 years.
As you surely understand, the hard part was dipping it in the brackish water. After the test paddle, that pristine beauty was tainted (not unlike seeing your baby in the first bar fight). It cost less than $5.00 and about a day to shape, refine and finish with several coats of tung oil, but concerns about major damage or warping had me emotionally charged. It now occupies a position of prominent display in my family room. My wife got sick of rolling againt it at night, and I was afraid it would sustain damage if she had night terrors.
I understand how you feel about you custom paddle.
Wow, I have never seen grain that tight and clean in the orange or blue big-box stacks. Almost looks like Douglas fir. I’ve bought a lot of studs in the past 30 years (multiple home remodels) and finding one that doesn’t look like it’s a pre-cambered ski blank, has been tunneled by termites or fished out of a fire is a major miracle. I’d like to make my own GP just for the heck of it. The Greenland skills camps I go to yearly usually have optional paddle-making workshops, but I do have the workshop and tools to do it at home.
We have a huge local architectural salvage warehouse here in Pittsburgh that has opened an entire aisle of lumber salvage that they sort by varietal type. Most of it is old-growth rescued from barn and large commercial and industrial tear downs. I keep checking for cedar, fir or poplar but no luck yet. Lots of wormy chestnut, walnut, oak, yellow pine and fruitwoods, and much of it has nail holes and would be way too heavy. Of course, denser old growth grain means a bit heavier per cubic inch. Most modern plantation pine studs might as well be balsa wood.
I’m a distance cruising rather than speed-driven, paddler so the GPs suit me. I do often paddle with a local friend who likes to do sprints on the long flat-water river trips we do. I recognize she needs this to blow off stress from her job (and two adult kids that still have not managed to leave the nest), so I always bring my most efficient carbon Euro blade under the deck rigging to switch off to keep up for those burst phases of the outing. I confess I am always happy to switch back to the GP.
I’m fortunate because I have a specialty lumber shop a mile away that usually has WRC 2X4. They seldom have clear ones.
Before I found them I made GP by gluing Home Depot WRC 1x4 together.
I do believe that is marketed as douglas fir. I went through a pallet of 2x4s to find them. Many stores have a stack marketed as select. That’s where I found the $7 and $10 dollar studs.i also have a clear douglas fir blank I bought for $30, but I intend to use that laminated with sapele. The way I managed to balance mine was to use the table saw to set the 32 inch length which also set the thickness and width of the loom. Then band sawed the waste and used a 2" long x 1/2" diameter router bit in a router table with a set fence to clean the loom. Layout lines to establish the spine, then using a joiner (loom on outfeed and blade tip on the infeed gives a consistent taper that can be repeated until reaching the lines. Since everything is consistent, the remaining layout lines can be drawn on flat surfaces. The rest is up to a block plane and a spoke shave, then final shaving with a card scraper.
I’m more funiture builder than paddle maker. When finished, I balanced the center and was within 5/8 inch of balance left/right. The final truing with a card scraper removed a ounce or two.
That’s actually a better option. Its easier to find straight grain wood on at least one edge, or select a tight plain sawn 1"x4" x 8’ and cut strips, then turn the strips 90° to glue them together. A 3/4" center with the same or contrasting wood to flesh it out would make a strong and attractive paddle. It also gives built in visual lines. A few give a better reference than pencil lines which get cut away.
When I moved into this 1945 house 2 years ago it came with all sorts of materials stashed in the vast dry basement and the huge double garage out back – bought it from the heirs of the original owner/builder who was a civil and masonry contractor. I discovered a few months after I settled in that the massive steel I-beam that runs the length of the “spine” of the house overhead in the basement has several hundred feet of vintage virgin and clean-grained 3.25" beadboard strips, mostly 20’ long, stacked in bundles up in the web! The large side porch here has that ceiling but it looks like he bought enough for 2 more porches, or perhaps this (and many of the other stashes of building materials stashed in the rafters and cupboards) were just stuff he salvaged from job sites during his contractor years. Beadboard in this area is usually heart pine or fir (sometimes walnut). (Photo is of the installed stuff in the porch ceiling)
The guy who made my horizontally laminated GP also offered vertically laminated ones. I’ve been looking at all this pretty wood and wondering if I could rip the bead off some pieces and make a 1.5" thick by 3" wide laminated paddle blank.
Then again, I could probably get a pretty penny for all the beadboard. A short dive into building material sites finds as much as $15 per square foot for modern solid fir beadboard (which is only available in 8’ to 12’ lengths) and I have over 300 square feet of this vintage stuff with beautiful color that has been in dry climate controlled storage for 80 years.
Photo below of my 9’ by 20’ porch ceiling. There are 33 strips but only 8 of them have one or 2 butt joints in the whole expanse. 25 of them are continuous 20 footers. Hard to find lumber like that these days.
If I was younger I’d save all this stuff and used it to build a small bungalow on the extra building lot i bought with this house. Alas, I’m at the point in life where my projects list is too long for the years and energy I have left to complete them.
This lumberyard about 90 minutes drive from me (though less than an hour from one of my favorite paddling locations) has some pretty WRC boards, 3/8" x 6" x 8 feet. Planing and laminating 6 of them could make a nice paddle blank for $51 worth of wood ($8.50 each). I dropped the guy a note asking what other dimensions he had since he says he has some "different thicknesses.
seems like simple question. faced by many. after reading the question, an just sticking to a simple answer , i see 3 options. the first, and least expensive, is to just tie it , like you would any 2 x 4 you needed to transport. the second and third options are to by either a wooden or carbon 2 piece and just consider it a part of the cost for having bought a new car.
