I’m looking at a four-piece paddle. The all-black carbon-reinforced version weighs 28.75 ounces. Same paddle with the pretty red fiberglas blade weighs 30 ounces. I’m leaning toward the red blade simply because I like the way it looks. Silly, I know. Advice?
Go for it.
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I would do it. If you’re silly I’m silly.
Prices?
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That difference in weight would not be enough to make me choose the one I didn’t like as well.
Thanks. The sight of a beautifully colored blade lifts the spirits (as if spirits need to be lifted any further when you’re on the water). At least in my case.
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Red will provide better visibility too.
Yeah, and not just for collision safety. I watched a video of a guy camping on Lake Nipigon.
https://youtu.be/OvP4LmN_GmA?t=3404
Wind came up and blew his carbon double-blade away. He never found it. The black paddle had orange tape on the shaft. I keep thinking I should spray paint my blades yellow.
As a paddle maker just told me yesterday, your paddle should give you joy when you look at it. So like others here, I say go for the happy making one.
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I love my cherry red Gearlab Akiak (bonus being that it matches the Feathercraft kayak). It came with two sets of extra tips, white and black, but I have not needed to replace the tips yet. I usually have a pretty rugged 72" wooden storm paddle under the deck lines to use for prying or shallow rocky sections, so I spare the Gearlab and my cedar GP that kind of abuse. This was just a local day paddle on the terminal section of the Yough where it’s all soft mud.
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Forget about the fiberglass paddle. 1.25 ounces = 35 grams = the weight of 14 pennies. The weight is at the end of the paddle so it’s like taping 7 pennies to the middle of each blade of the lighter paddle.
I’d start with the best paddle and give it to a local artist and say “do whatever you want”.
“Mean fish”
Alternatively do some web browsing around decorated paddles and get out your masking tape and (just about any kind of) paint and have at it. Unless that red is your absolute favorite red in the world you can do better even if you just mask the shaft and paint the blades. Maybe a candy apple red metalflake.
These are fabulous responses. Love the decorated paddle. The red GearLab Greenland paddle is on my wish list. When in doubt go with beauty.
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That’s a gorgeous combo! They don’t make paddles short enough for me, so my wallet is grateful.
I’ve always gotten a chuckle out of wording that used to be on Werner Paddles descriptions of their carbon paddles. I just looked and couldn’t find it, but they used to say that the paddles came in “Every paddler’s favorite color: Carbon black”
I’m a sucker for all of their brightly colored fiberglass blades but I loooove my Werner Athena in carbon!
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Henry Ford’s quote about the Model T: “Any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black.”
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Werner’s candy-apple red is beautiful.
When I buy a paddle, I stay within one type. If I bought fiberglass, some of the color choices were so difficult I wanted to buy two (never did, though). If I bought the carbon fiber instead, I accepted that the choice was black, black, or black.
I taped a piece of retroreflective tape (SOLAS) on the paddle’s throat to make it more visible. Probably doesn’t help on water; for that some tape on the blades would be better. Too bad they don’t make a retroreflective NEON PINK tape.
Pick what makes you smile. I used to own a Jeep Wrangler whose clean, pure yellow color cheered me up when I saw it at a distance. The vehicle itself had a lot of problems, but hey, that was a terrific paint color.
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That’s a beautiful paddle, the Athena. As much a work of art as a kayak paddle.
One ounce isn’t much of a difference. But losing an ounce out toward the blade tip is different than an ounce on the shaft weight. I assume these two are the same brand and model otherwise components company backing etc must also be considered.
If different models , then blade size could be a factor adding to weight of the finished paddle.
If you send out to have a paddle painted it will gain more than an ounce…and solis tape or any other stickers etc also add to weight. Also if you are going by advertised weight for this comparison, many times these are average weights. Not all paddles are the exact same weight in any group of same paddles . An ounce isn;t much. Too close n weight to use that as a determination…look at design
My Eddyline paddle has a carbon shaft with a bright blue composite blade. Guess my favorite color.
I also have a black on black. I have Solas tape on all the blades.
Btw, red disappears in low light.
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Have you tried a Greenland paddle? Do you already know your size?