If you could wish a paddle into existence...

[swmn]

what features would you want that you can't seem to find in stores?

I am about to make one of my own, I want one tool that I can use both to pole off gravel bars and use to paddle in deeper water.

I am planning on a fairly standard length, I think I'll start with the Ottertail type blade profile, but I am going to run the round center shaft all the way down and a bit past the tip of the blade so I can put a cap on it like a regular canoe pole.

I motor mostly anyway, and most often use my (third this summer and already cracked) paddle to push off gravel bars anyway.

What I don't want is both a pole and a paddle taking up room in the boat.

How about you?

 

[Amigo Will]

I like this Marty Brown with its bend.
http://dri-kiwoodworking.com/id1.html

 

[pipercub]

If you plan on pushing off quite a bit with a paddle, you should line or wrap the bottom 2-3" with a thin Kevlar or fiberglass weave, install it with a good marine epoxy. You can get quite a few seasons out of good long wood paddle that way....

 

[cristancanoe]

I got to design my dream paddle a few years ago when I cracked my beautiful wooden bent shaft during a race. I worked with a paddle designer in New York over the phone (ZRE). I told him what I wanted it to feel like and he built me the perfect paddle. Granted this is a carbon fiber racing design, totally different purpose than what you are looking for!

These were my requests:
Specifically I wanted a light weight paddle that responded like a wooden paddle does in the water. I like the feel of the catch then a spring like response as you pull on the paddle against the water. I wanted the blade to enter and exit the water smoothly, this calls for a rounder style blade. And I wanted a reinforced blade so I wouldn't worry about breaking it on rocks.
I have always been a fan of the palm style grips.

My custom paddle weighs in at 11 oz.

 

[agp]

I like to use bent shaft paddles but miss the easy maneuverability of the straight shaft. I am also a believer that lighter is better and prefer wood to composites. Check out Whiskeyjack Paddles. They are a thing of beauty but $$$!

 

[BluNosDav]

I'd like to be able to get Carlisle Guide paddles in plain black color, or even green. The bright yellow/blue is too bright & flashy! They offer black and green in some of their other, less rugged paddles, but, not in the long, HD, Guide series. Don't know why they think everyone wants to look like a neon clown troup paddling down the river?

 

[mainer_in_ak]

I'm currently working with some paddle makers back home, "wishing a paddle BACK into existance". The Cree would find fire-killed spruce to build a big standing paddle. The wood was stronger. Bushrat built me a push-pole from a fire killed spruce, it sure was strong, so I can see first-hand why the Cree chose them along the Hudson Bay region. Sometimes with the bigger freighters, it's better to stand to pole n paddle. My dream paddle is one built of white ash (hence having an old co-worker build them back home), with a blade that comes to a thick-spined point. I dream of a paddle that you can push with, a paddle that once had a common place with Cree, Maliseet, Ojibway, Oji-cree, Metis, and Mi'qmaq. I'm wanting this paddle to come along as standard-fare with my canoes, because I hate oars, and I think they look stupid on a canoe. The paddle should be as tall, or a bit taller as the person who uses it. I mostly paddle while standing this season, I could see further over the banks, judge the creeks n rivers better but the paddle wasn't long enough, or tough enough.

The plan is to get my design shipped to AK unfinshed, and wrap the blade in either 6 oz/sq yd or 8 oz/sq yd cloth with the same epoxy that I've chosen for my boats. It won't be a paddle for flat water, nor for the faint-hearted, but it will be a paddle the will muscle a big canoe quietly down a river during a hunt loaded with camp or not.

 

[BluNosDav]

Wonder if any of the extra-long paddles that are used on Stand Up Paddle-boards (SUP's) might work?
SUP's are getting kinda popular in warmer locales.

 

[nobaddaysinak]

If you could wish a paddle into existence...

There are tons of sup paddles and most under a couple hundred dollars. You can get a carbon paddle and put something on the blade for pushing off bottom to protect it. They are plenty strong