I have my first oiled wood paddle as of this season. I usually store my paddles hung vertically on a rack in the garage. I live in a part of NY state with a lot of freeze/thaw cycling over winter. We get DEEP freezes from time to time, but more often it’s below freezing at night, maybe above freezing during the day, especially with the garage having plenty of southern exposure. The paddles are reasonably dry (wiped with bilge sponge) when put away. I haven’t have any issues with my varnished paddles after ~5 yrs. There’s not really a downside to keeping it inside, other than that I don’t have a great place to mount another rack inside and don’t fancy unnecessary holes in drywall.
I think the answer is don’t worry about it, but is there a chance that freeze/thaw cycling is more likely to warp an oiled paddle, to the point that it’s worth keeping it inside over winter? I assume it’s better hung vertically on a rack in the unheated garage than leaning in a corner in the house?
Mine all hang in the paddle shed aside from a few that are truly decorative in the house. We hung a paddle near the radiator and it twisted badly. If you hang inside the uneven heat can warp a paddle if the paddle is not fully dried( which takes a couple of years)
I live where between Jan and March the temp never gets above freezing. Usually between 15 below and 20 above.
Some of my paddles are oiled and others varnished and some a combo of both.
I think the dryness of the house and the unevenness of most heating systems is more of a threat that out in the shed.
WInter air in itself is pretty dry but the house is worse ( and we do have a humidifier).
I live in South-central Michigan and have an oiled Greenland Paddle that has lived in the garage through 6 winters so far with no sign of any issues. There are also 3 varnished wooden canoe paddles, a varnished Betsie Bay GP, and an oiled (but new) Storm GP that also live there and show no issues from that. Years of use on the other hand …
@PaddleDog52 in fact trees do sometimes fracture and split when sun heats frozen sap too quickly. It’s the reason deciduous trees exposed to extreme cold often have light bark, eg birch and aspen - to prevent absorbing too much heat too quickly and causing damage. Shouldn’t be any sap in paddles however…
No problem with paddles. Problems with wood, aluminum, vinyl, and canoe hulls of various materials bolted or screwed together. They have different coefficients of expansion.
