Badger Paddles, two thumbs up.

[lowangle al]

My wife was recently in need of a new paddle after her current favorite was broken. This was second favorite paddle of hers broken by someone else.

We had hoped to find one at the WCHA assembly, but no luck. So we stopped at Raquette River Outfitters on our way home to have a look. They carry Badger Paddles. Most were cherry and although beautiful were heavier than she wanted. We found one made from sassafras in her preferred length of 54 inches that was very light. (22.25 oz. When we weighed it at home)

The paddle was a traditional otter tail shape with a 28.5” blade. She liked it immediately and said it felt better than any paddle she had used before. Her previous paddle was a Sawyer sugar island type in the same length.

After looking at the paddle for a few days it occurred to me that this was the paddle that I had wanted for a number of years. Many years ago I had seen a vintage photo of a guy holding a paddle the appeared to be half blade and half shaft and liked the look and wanted one.

I took it out for a test paddle and it surpassed my expectations. First off, it had way more power than I expected. I thought an otter tail would pull less water than an equivalent beaver tail but was wrong. This paddle is the Tripper model with a 5.5” wide blade. It carries its width almost the full length of the blade and you can feel the power from the large volume blade. This is not the blade shape if you are looking for something easier on your shoulders and hands.

With the extra catch and power I think I get just as much or more boat movement as I get from my 57” beaver tail, and being three inches shorter it is easier for hit and switch style paddling. It was great for heeled over paddling amidship and power paddling switching from the stern.

The short length made it very comfortable paddling. I didn’t have to angle it a certain way to prevent my arms from going too high, it was just natural.

The oil finish was nicely done and feels and looks great. The blade is thick enough to be reliable for tripping yet it still cut through the water nicely for underwater recovery strokes. It comes with a protective one size fits all sock, so if you get two paddles, you get a free pair of socks. Here it is compared to a beaver tail. You can see the extra volume.

 

[Crazy Trout Craft (CTC)]

It looks wonderful! I love the deer in the background too’

Enjoy!

 

[Crazy Trout Craft (CTC)]

Curious… is that a semi permanent camp set up… love the canvas and wood stove of course

 

[Foxyotter]

I find the otter and beaver tailed paddles to be some of the most aesthetically pleasing paddles. They are true pieces of art. I admit mostly ignorance to their use. I have a nice but heavy ash otter tail. I find that underwater recovery strokes work great and they are effective as a rudder but for the life of me, I can't get a catch without cavitation. The animal tail blades seems way too long for effective hit a switch. Do you have any insight into achieving an effective catch? I want to love the animal tails paddles but then I pick up an ugly carbon paddle and it is light and so effective in all manner of paddle uses.

 

[lowangle al]

Curious… is that a semi permanent camp set up… love the canvas and wood stove of course

That's a good description, "semi permanent camp". It is set up in my yard at my lake cottage in Pa. I don't sleep in there, but spend a lot of time enjoying being outside in all weather.

I find the otter and beaver tailed paddles to be some of the most aesthetically pleasing paddles. They are true pieces of art. I admit mostly ignorance to their use. I have a nice but heavy ash otter tail. I find that underwater recovery strokes work great and they are effective as a rudder but for the life of me, I can't get a catch without cavitation. The animal tail blades seems way too long for effective hit a switch. Do you have any insight into achieving an effective catch? I want to love the animal tails paddles but then I pick up an ugly carbon paddle and it is light and so effective in all manner of paddle uses.

I'm not sure how the catch compares to a shorter and wider blade of a carbon paddle, but the shorter blade sure makes hit and switch easier. It's possible that the carbon blade may have you spoiled, which is understandable if it comes in at almost half the weight.

I'm not sure how to improve the catch, but I did notice that I adjusted my stroke a bit. I had little to no pushing forward with the upper hand while pulling with the lower one to get leverage. It seemed that after submerging the whole blade I pulled down and back with both hands, without creating that levering effect. It seemed to pull enough water (boat) that I wasn't looking for any extra leverage. It also matched my wifes' stroke better, more evenly matching when the power was applied. This particular paddle is also on the stiff side compared to my favorite beaver tails so I got less "pop" from flex while doing the push/pull thing.

 

[Foxyotter]

I don't typically notice the weight of my paddles unless I switch from my carbon paddle back to any other heavier paddle. Then it feels like I just picked up a club. For me the animal tails are a real joy in deeper water with underwater recovery quietly following the contour of a steep bank around fallen trees etc. Off course just looking at the oiled wood laying across the gunnels is nice too.

 

[Ober27]

I bought the Badger Woodland paddle in cherry about a year ago. I absolutely love it!!
I was a beavertail paddler for many years before that. Beaver tail paddles are great for versatility, working equally well in deep and shallow water, but after 40 years of paddling my shoulders needed something gentler.
The ottertail power comes on so smooth and easy without undo stress on the shoulder joint, night and day difference between that and the beavertail. I will still use a beavertail when on the river, but as soon as the water begins to deepen I'll reach for the ottertail.
I'm also really enjoying underwater recovery strokes with my Badger. I've experimented with them over the years with limited success, but this Badger Woodland has really improved my skills in this regard.
This year my wife bought a Badger Tripper is sassafras, she's really enjoying the way it moves through the water.
The owners at Badger Paddle also seem to be genuinely nice people.

 

[recped]

Once I acquired a carbon ww paddle giving up my "cricket bat" wooden ones I switched from taking a old beat up "bat" as a spare to a couple of moderately priced ottertails for the flats and sometimes CII rapids when there is enough volume/depth. I find them easy on the shoulder as mine have a lot of flex with a weight similar to the carbon.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

We found one made from sassafras

I'm jealous. I've always wanted a sassafras paddle, and if I ever get another paddle—which I certainly don't need—it would be sassafras.

Do you have any insight into achieving an effective catch?

I have one ottertail paddle, a Bruce Smith, which is a work of art and I love. However, it has a weaker catch than any of my Sugar Island, Honey Island, tear drop, or racing shape paddles. That is unavoidable, given the narrow tip of the blade. You just have to get used to that fact and concentrate on the smooth pull of the fully submerged blade.

As a solo male paddler who likes a strong-ish pull, I wouldn't use an ottertail or beavertail paddle for whitewater paddling, outrigger paddling, flatwater freestyle paddling, or any sort of racing. The ottertail is good for low cadence, long distance lake paddling, or for certain kinds of Canadian "style" paddling in tandem canoes.

 

[Alasgun]

I‘ve had a chance to use those 4 carbon paddles i built last winter, two are a yawn and quickly gifted, one is a keeper and for dip-ship work (off road/ 4wheel drive stuff) that carbon paddle surprised me.
BUT when working with my parade boat the Sassafras otter-tail is my favorite. You guys know how little i actually know about all this; you taught me most of it or at least put the ideas in my head. On a scale of 1-10 the Sassafras is a 12 and the rest of them run between 6-8! Any future purchased wood paddles, regardless of style will be Sassafras.

 

[memaquay]

I used to be an animal tail paddler exclusively, but gave them up many years ago. I believe the ottertail you have is very similar to the pattern from Gidmark's Canoe Paddle book. I built a few of them, and the blades were fairly substantial in size. I might look for my book today and try to find a nice piece of aspen, I think a nice ottertail might suit my paddling style again.

 

[lowangle al]

With the extra catch and power I think I get just as much or more boat movement as I get from my 57” beaver tail, and being three inches shorter it is easier for hit and switch style paddling. It was great for heeled over paddling amidship and power paddling switching from th

After doing a side by side comparison, the new otter tail did not have as much power or volume as my beaver tail, so it should be easier on my shoulders.

Mem, I find it to be a very pleasing paddle to use and so does my wife, who rarely has an opinion on such things.

 

[Halpc]

I agree with Al re the Badger paddles. I bought a “Sliver” which is a type of Ottertail and really enjoy lake paddling, mainly Canadian style with underwater recovery, with it. The workmanship and design are beautiful. It has become my go to paddle over the past two years. I also like looking at it when it is not in use in shallow water.

 

[Tsuga8]

I've been on a bit of an otter/beavertail paddle deep-dive the last few years, and now have a grossly delightful excess of solid wood otter- and beavertails. Note I'm doing a lot of slow-cadence flatwater paddling with underwater recoveries. Out of the solid-wood options I have (Fishell, Bruce Smith, Badger, Old Town/Porter-style, and Tremolo), the Badgers might be my all-round favorites when factoring in a combination of price, durability, and feel, though I could detail the niceties of each make, as they all have their pros and cons.

When Rutabaga had sassafras Badgers in stock last month I jumped on it, despite really not needing more paddles. The sassafras is really lovely.

Contrary to Al's description of stroke mechanics, I still find it useful to push with the upper-hand while pulling with the lower. I've been trying to ensure I get some shoulder/torso rotation in without imparting strong steerage that requires correction. But I'm paddling solo and I think Al's usually tandem. And I'm sure it depends on numerous other factors as well, particularly how you learned.

By and large I think the Badger Tripper and Woodland are comparable (though not exactly equal) to a beavertail in power; the Sliver really does have less oomph, for better and worse. Some days I really like the Sliver with my bum shoulder - but I find it more prone to cavitation and shuddering if you're not on top of your pitch. As for beavertails, total width matters as much as shape - Friday I had my Old Town out for the first time in a while. It's the widest of my animal tail paddles at 6.5" and I felt like I really could feel the extra power. Some days I think the differences are primarily in my head. They all get me where I'm going sooner or later!