Why does no one ever ask this question?
which one?
Which question do you want answered: why you don’t paddle a kayak with a canoe paddle or why no one ever asks? LOL!
possibly
because every one knows that the eskimos would use single bladed paddles when they hunting seals close to shore, not to mention that Verlan Kruger used singled bladed paddles so it is obvious they are a good thing!
well Mint, it’s kinda like this…
Did you ever see the “Little Caesar’s” pizza commercial with the monkey? They offer the monkey one banana or two… he chooses two. They offer him one female monkey or two… he very enthusiastically chooses two. They deduce that two is better than one (and hence the “two pizzas for the price of one” deal).
But seriously…
I’ve tried it a little, and I find that the low, straight-legged seating position in a kayak makes a canoe paddle less effective than it is in a canoe. I’ve never seen a Kruger canoe, but it’s my understanding that they have higher seats than kayaks. But I do sometimes carry a canoe paddle in my 'yaks for narrow creeks and reservoir backwaters where swinging a double is difficult.
Fun change of pace…
We use short 12 degree bend outrigger size blades. No problem to keep a cruising pace and I think people would be suprised at the top speeds achievable. Also have some thicker seat pads too. Move the seat up and the foot braces way back… enjoy.
Nice to have for a back up paddle instead of double blade.
Useing this type of paddle in a kayak might wind some people up … sort of like how some would get p/oed and look for excuses as the guy riding knobby clad Mtn. bike rides away from their (roadie )group ride on the hills and pulls too hard on the flats.
rudder
Kruger Canoes have a rudder to keep them tracking and turning well.
But that is a good question! Don’t see why it wouldn’t work with a ruddered yak.
I saw some folks …
in a rec. tandem yak paddling with canoe paddles, and they looked mighty funny as well as slow.
They had little short kids paddles, and watching them it dawned on me why.
In order to use the canoe paddle properly, you would have to raise the seat about 6 or more inches.
If you did that you would have a unstable kayak and have to widen the beam to make it stable.
If you widened the beam, you would have to add some thwarts to keep it rigid.
Hey, now you have a KANOE.
I hope the twain shall never meet!
Cheers,
JackL
Paddle a kayak with a pizza paddle?
krousmon, LMAO!
I’ve never seen that commercial, Little Ceaser’s is not prevalent in my area, so they don’t advertise. I can imagine it though.
Recent article…
…I think I saw in Sea Kayaker, Paddler, or such on this topic, with pictures.
canoe paddle on surfski
One of top paddlers in the recent CR100 race paddled Fenn XT surfski and used a single blade paddle for about 25% of time as a relief from a wing paddle.
Colorado River 100 race pictures:
http://users.frii.com/uliasz/wayfarer/cr100_04.htm
a pizza paddle would make for good
speed I’ll bet! Little Caesar’s always had the best commercials, they were sooo funny. The pizza was cheap too. I lived on it and pbj in my college days.
See Paddler Magazine
There is an article by Mark Molina in the most recent Paddler Magazine on this very topic. Mark talks about how many traditional arctic peoples paddle kayaks with single bladed paddles.
thanks , great pictures!
Actually,
I posted my question as a jest, in consideration of the two threads “canoe with a kayak paddle”, and “kayak paddle for canoe” that recently appeared near each other. That question seems to come up frequently.
Interesting that it spurred some serious conversation.
I’ve never actually tried a canoe paddle with a kayak. I have tried canoe-style strokes with half of a kayak paddle just to convince myself that it could be done if I break my paddle.
Break the paddle (apart )and really
try it…
less tired
I used a 7oz single blade and just completed a 6-month solo paddle trip following Lewis and Clark.
http://www.lewisandclark-2004.com (updates and hundreds of photos)
A 7oz. paddle is 16oz less than the average kayak paddle. This is 1 pound. My stroke rate is 50 pm on average which means I lift 50 lbs less per minute than someone using a 23 oz paddle which after a 10 hour paddle day adds up to 30,000 pounds or 15 tons more weight one would have to lift over the course of the day. Why tire yourself out?
Yes a Kruger sits a little higher than a standard sea kakak but you could just get a shorter paddle, say a 45 inch etc.
I tried it yesterday
Yesterday my son and I went out for a bit of paddle-fishing. He was using my OT Pack and I had the Loon 138. I quickly discovered that a few strokes with my kayak blades put a good bit of distance between us. Call me whacky, call me crazy but I asked him to give me the Sawyer paddle that I put in the canoe in case he wanted to switch boats. Paddling the Loon with a canoe blade was alot of fun. Not fast, but fun and it allowed us to stay close together while paddling. I enjoyed it enough that I broke down the kayak paddle and stored it under the front deck and used that Sawyer all day. I had tried this once before with a 36" kids paddle and it was like paddling with a 2x4. My Sawyer is a 56" and it felt great as far as length and with the bigger blade that kayak would move fast enough. Later I used his 50" bent shaft and found it to be just as good as the Sawyer. It was nice not having paddle drips coming into that monster cockpit. It worked exceptionally well after we had paddled our way back up into the narrow sections of the creek. I found the seated position in the kayak to not be a hinderance to paddling with a single blade. Just thought I would pass it along if anyone else has goofy ideas like mine. I liked it enough that I’ll probably use that canoe paddle with the Loon the next time too.