I finally got the two canoe paddles I had ordered from Oak Orchard.
Service is pretty slow, compared to big name online retailers, and I paid a ton for shipping, but their prices are pretty reasonable and the paddles were packaged well.
https://www.oakorchardcanoe.com/canoepaddles.php
The two paddles I ordered are about as different as two canoe paddles can be. No, I’m not “confused” sticking with one paddle and one paddling style is boring.
One of the paddles is the cherry ottertail. Being cherry, it isn’t very light, but it’s a very nice paddle, for a hundred bucks.
The second was the Oak Orchard MAX fiberglass. I ordered this for three reasons. The price ($90), toughness, and a pretty unique blade shape. It’s not light. In fact, it’s one of my heaviest paddles. The fiberglass shaft is pretty crude, but the grip is really nice and the blade is made out of a tough plastic. It’s a bent shaft, but not aggressively so. The blade shape is pretty unique. It’s a bit like a touring kayak blade. I hope you can tell from the photo. But the weight is an issue. I haven’t paddled with it and probably won’t this year, but I can’t see using it much, unless I really like that blade. They make a version with a carbon shaft, but it’s a pretty big jump in price and only shaves off a few ounces.
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Their cherry otter tail paddle looks pretty nice.
How long did the delivery take?
thanks for the awesome information.
Faster to make one. They are my prized possessions. They have been fished out of eddies for decades.
I’m surprised that Oak Orchard was slow shipping. They are usually very prompt.