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What length paddle?
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What length paddle? 18 years 3 months ago #18041

  • Kelli
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I have a Werner Sherpa Bent Shaft 194 that I love, but as I'm playboating more, it feels like the length is getting in the way. I'm thinking of getting a second paddle for playboating. I'll probably go with the Player or the Twist. I'm wondering what length people would suggest. How much shorter can I go? I'm 5'6\".

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Re:What length paddle? 18 years 3 months ago #18057

You can go as short as you want to go. Check out Werner's website they usually tell you the range of size.

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Re:What length paddle? 18 years 3 months ago #18059

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Yeah, I guess I was looking for more first hand experience. I've been to the Werner website and the local shop. The shortest paddle they had was a 191 and I know I'd like to go shorter then that. Anyone close to my size have any suggestions on what's worked for you?

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Re:What length paddle? 18 years 3 months ago #18062

the smallest i have paddled was a 185 worked great and i am 5'9\" if that helps at all.

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Re:What length paddle? 18 years 3 months ago #18087

  • si
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I'm 6'2\" and use a 195cm paddle for river running and a 185cm paddle for playboating. You can go as small as you want. Best to try first if you can get your hands on some. I know Lendal do a paddle that allows you to alter the lenghth and feather you could see if you could find one to play with to help you work out what lenght you prefer. :D

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Re:What length paddle? 18 years 2 months ago #18089

I am 6'2\" and my paddle length is 194.

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Re:What length paddle? 18 years 2 months ago #18119

I'm about 5'8\" and I use a 191 bent shaft and reckon I will go shorter for my next paddle.
Hope this helped.

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Re:What length paddle? 18 years 2 months ago #18125

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Thanks for all the replies, I found a gal that has a 181, so I'm going to try that and see if that works.

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Re:What length paddle? 17 years 11 months ago #19715

hey Kelli,

i am six foot and i use a rough stuff black magic 180, mainly for surfing but it does for playboating and smaller rivers.

i have a decent roll but i find with the small shaft i am sculling and missing my roll first time quite often but it is definitly worth going for the shorter shaft.

regards
Andy

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Re:What length paddle? 17 years 11 months ago #19718

i would rather have more power than a shorter length. I think EJ uses a 200cm paddle. I am 5'6 and I wouldn't use anything less than 194cm. I mainly use 196-198. The stroke rate doesn't do much unless you have the power to go with it.

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Re:What length paddle? 17 years 11 months ago #19723

Paddle length is not everything: what counts for me is the length of the shaft compared to the length of the blades.

My paddles (various versions of the DD /Mega Kinetic/Proton) are 1.93-ish but feel a lot shorter because the blades are long.

I used to own a RoughStuff Black Magic (1,96) that felt like a 2+ meter paddle to me because the shaft was a lot longer (blades were short).

EJ uses AT paddles afaik and those blades are pretty big too so chances are that the shaft is fairly short. And I would not be surprised if he has multiple paddles in different lengths that he uses in different circumstances.

Just my 2 cents,

Cheers,

Michiel

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