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Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All! 🎄🎅🏻🎁
Double blade paddle . . . worth it?
- Thread starter Blukanu
- Start date
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- Aug 10, 2018
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Potheads would be in floaties (paddle optional)
Tweaker will use anything, but paddle with a super fast stroke rate. Pothead will use anything, but paddle at a super slow stroke rate. Drinking enthusiasts, such as myself, single stick only, with great panache, but often falls out of the canoe while draining the excess alcohol out of their bodies.
Don't forget the pole.
Seriously - poling set my paddling skill development back a few years. Yes, it can be addictive. I was poling class 2+ and doing multi-day poling trips before I managed a halfway decent forward stroke with the single blade - nevermind all the other boat control strokes. I'm still a better poler than paddler.
But in the traditional timeline, poling came first - so there's that. Wow...it just occurred to me how much my time with a paddle has held back my developing poling skills.
Alcoholics would be the ones that love to sit around and tell you how great of a paddler they are, of all the great paddling feats they have, and will, accomplish, and tell you about all the things you're doing wrong.
Then when you actually get them on the water you realize they're just a goon stroker
Alan
I used to paddle with people that would bring a 12 pack on the water or smoke pot all day. I rafted with them too. Never again.
- Joined
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12 pack?! Better be a day trip. 
I have been with the same woman now for 26 years a personal record. We have one cardinal rule and only one rule.
"Don't Tell Me What To Do."
"Don't Tell Me What To Do."
Maybe so, but in their beat up Grumman and dirty old keds sneakers and cut off jeans,with the accompanying once white armless beater shirt, they will probably still be out paddling the posers with their fleece paddle socks. That's been my experience many times lol.
After decades of responsible drinking and decades of responsible padding I recently decided to combine the two. I enjoy it so much I've lost my desire to drink unless I'm paddling. The key is moderation.
CHEERS
CHEERS
Here is another benefit of a traditional straight shaft single blade.
When the safe padding advocates taught me that alcohol and water don’t mix, I decided to stick to beer and red wine while underway and save the whisky and water for the campsite.
I used my carbon/Kevlar bent shaft and left the otter and beaver tails on the poor mustalids and castorids. (That's a joke!)
I've done the same with a bent shaft (knowing how angles work), but my paddle is only 48 inches long, a bit of a reach for such a short paddle in an 18-6 canoe. (That's not a joke < grin >)
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Sure, good for a lateral pass. But try scooping up sunken treasure like someone's cell phone with a straight shaft.
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2017
- Messages
- 903
- Reaction score
- 434
Last time I tried using a double blade I ended up doing a 10 yard sprint straight into the branches of a fallen oak tree and managed to tangle up myself, the boat, and the paddle. I think I may have said some bad words.
I'm a happy single-blader but I admire those that have a lot of double-blade experience. I want to build my double-blade experience.
I don't know if a cruising speed comparison will tell the story without including distance. Even I can sprint faster with a double but after a mile or five or twenty the comparison could get interesting.
Dang it, I thought I had invented that move! It's a little more difficult in the 20 foot canoe, usually involves some contortions before the paddle will reach.
I was in my 20 footer when I invented that. You should see my roach clip.
This was fun. Now, lets do ottertail vs carbon bent.
Since I never single blade any more I was willing to use my beavertail and carbon bent for the comparison. They were long enough that two bolts through the top of the shafts gave me the preferred 270 cm length in the new double blade. The bent shaft lost in all categories until I twisted it 180 degrees and used it like a scoop.
