I am beginner paddler looking to buy a paddle. Does anyone have a preference out of the following or have a similar suggestion for roughly the same prices.

werner desperado, werner amigo, AT 4 E play, AT 4 E River

If it helps in the past I have paddled with an H2O 188 and do a little river running and playboating.

Thanks

Don't know too much about it but i used the werner recreation paddles a few times..
FIrst of all the Amigo and Desperado are very different in Blade size! Don't know how big or strong you are but the amigo is tiny! The one i paddled was the werner rio. Nice paddle, not very heavy. But: The blade is still small. (same size of the desperado) There was no power and rolling and bracing felt weird. .. If i think about it might be helpful for getting more hipwork but thats another discussion.
The rio is only plastic and parts of the blade very thin.. But the desperado seems to be a bit tougher.

What i could recommend is "Lendal" if you get those in your country. The kinetic XTi is a nice paddle.. Good power and control! Not very expensive if you choose the nylon blades. What i like is that the paddles take a lot and you would have a paddle for more advanced paddling.

Tom

Hi! Sorry the rios are reinforced with fiberglas.. still very bendy though

And i should add that i am not very experienced...Í'm probably more or less your type of user..

I've got three different ones. AT4 River C, AT3 and a Werner Powerhouse. The AT paddles are bent shaft but the Werner is a straight shaft. I like the bent shafts a whole lot better.

Check them out here:

www.atpaddle.com/WhitewaterProducts/AT4River.html

and

www.atpaddle.com/WhitewaterProducts/AT3Edge.html

and

wernerpaddles.com/paddles/powerhouse.html

CheersB)

How big/tall/strong are you? And what type of boating do you intend do most? Have you bought a play boat and intend playing? No use buying a nice big blade like the Werner Powerhouse if you're in a play boat... Then you'll be better of with a different blade design and less surface area. Werner Powerhouse is an awesome paddle if you're going the creeking way..

I have been using a set of AT2 Flexi for everything holding up very well including surfing, creeking etc. A friend has been using their AT4 for the last 4 years again holding up well and great value for money.

First thanks for the input so far

seconed adrian;

I am a female 5'8 and 130lbs and do olympic type weight training regularly, I've got a jackson 2fun so not to much creeking if any more of the river running and playboating.

Also looking at some sale prices what are the opinions on the werner side kick and werner player both straight shaft.

The Side Kick is a big blade. Try either the Player:
www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/player.html

or even the Twist:
www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/twist.html

Or Sherpa even:
www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/sherpa.html

Those are both fibreglass blades & shafts. Great value. I would say go for a neutral bent shaft, but that is a personal preference. But if you're paddling extremely rocky rivers then I would recommend some carbon blades as they'll last longer. Some friends of mine have got the fibreglass blades and while they are bomb proof, they reduce in size (a lot) over the period of 1 to 2 years of weekend paddling on low volume rivers. (And that's not every weekend..)

Don't go too large on blade size, you'll just make life difficult for yourself. For your body weight definately not the large, in my opinion, unless you're really powerful for your size and can bench press 150/190 lbs. Go for a mid size blade, possibly even a small. That is also a personal preference. Combinations to try are a small blade on a longer shaft or a shorter shaft and larger blades. So many choices... Good luck!

The robson green or red might be a good paddle may be get the mediaum length good for starting of on riverrunning and bit of playboating

If it's any help, I am a 130lb 5'9" female (so fairly similar build I am guessing, minus the olympic weight lifting ) and I own the Werner Twist, bent shaft. I have it in the small shaft. Even though my hands are strong from climbing and my job, I prefer the small shaft and the smaller blade. I find I have more control and, through that, more power. I've tried larger blades and they just felt unwieldy and made it difficult to maneuver. With larger shafts, as well, I was getting a lot of pain/discomfort at the base of my thumb--the smaller shaft has taken care of that. I do mostly river running and am learning to play, so the paddle has proved perfect for my needs, which sound similar to yours. It is hard finding just the right one--it's a large chunk of change to shell out for something that may not, in the end, suit your needs. Good luck!

i would suggest you to try a select demo paddle, i had in the past a galasport brute, robson, werner and this year a w1 sport select paddle and like a lot, in two or three year i will be able to tell more about the durability of the blade, after a month of paddling the blade are hoding very well the abuse.

wath i like about the paddle it's light and make each stroke 100% performance, it cut the water

select-kayaks.com/en/paddles/kayak/