TOPIC:

Help with paddle length 17 years 3 months ago #21189

Will_ing
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I'm in the market for a new paddle, at the moment I've been borrowing a paddle which seems to be a little short when paddling a creek boat, I think its around 192-194cm, I am 5ft 8 which seems to be right between a 194 and 197 from most recomendations I can find on the net. I'm leaning towards a 197 but I 'd be interested to know what other people of similar height paddling creek boats are using. I'm getting a straight shaft by the way

cheers

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Re:Help with paddle length 17 years 3 months ago #21192

Urge Offline Platinum Member Posts: 760 Thank you received: 0	This is very personal preferance, I am about the same size as you and use either my Water stick Zen cranks 173 (which works fine for me, mainly for surf but also rocky ditches) or normally a 191 AT2 Flexi. A friend of mine has gone for a longer paddle for extra reach but I find them too long and akward
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Re:Help with paddle length 17 years 3 months ago #21197

AdrianTregoning
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I'm 6 foot. I play boat with a 194cm paddle and creek with a 197cm. I find I just don't have the same power with a shorter paddle while creeking. It's a personal choice. Corran Addision seems to paddle with very short paddles while creeking and he seems to sit pretty low in his boats. All these things are about what feels good to you. I used to creek with a very raised seat but now I'm down to a low seat which seems to work for most stuff, although I sometimes miss the high seat. Many people play with really short paddles. Go for whatever feels right to you, then it probably will be right. Just make sure your hands are in the 'correct' position. :cheer:

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Re:Help with paddle length 17 years 3 months ago #21231

michielv
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I recently found out why my own paddle is so much different from all other paddles I've tried: it's not the length, it's the feather.

My paddle (a shortened, heavily repaired Double Dutch Rodeo Kinetic, currently re-marketed as the Proton) has a feather of about 40-ish degrees, not the more standard 45. That makes a really big difference in feel!

By sheer coincidence I read on the JimiStyx website that squirt guru Jim Snyder also uses 40 degrees feather for his paddles and after reading some of his articles a lot of things I noticed when trying out other new paddles (because my blades are falling apart

) fell into place.

So it's not just length, feather is also really important to suit your personal preferences

HTH,

Cheers,

Michiel

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Re:Help with paddle length 17 years 3 months ago #21248

daverice Offline Junior Member Posts: 11 Thank you received: 0	blade shape and size also come into it - a larger surface area will have more 'pull' etc...
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Re:Help with paddle length 17 years 3 months ago #21251

daverice Offline Junior Member Posts: 11 Thank you received: 0	blade shape and size also come into it - a larger surface area will have more 'pull' etc...
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