Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
By:ancient kayaker
Date: 10/27/2011, 3:57 pm
In Response To: Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle (Al Edie)

: Others can chime in if they think I am full of hot air, but here is
: my reading.

: One important purpose of the curved blade (or to be more precise,
: of the combination of the curve and where it is located relative
: to the shaft axis) in good commercial paddles is to place the
: center of resistance of the blade behind the shaft of the paddle
: during the normal forward stroke. This causes the paddle to
: automatically orient with the blade squared to the direction of
: the stroke. Of course you also need to balance the area of the
: blade on either side of the shaft axis for this to work. If the
: paddle is properly shaped, you can pull hard and the blade will
: orient correctly even if you hold the shaft loosely enough to
: let it rotate freely in your hands. This characteristic saves
: significant effort on a long paddle, particularly in rougher
: water where boat and water movement otherwise interferes with
: one's stroke. It means that your grip on the paddle shaft can
: remain more relaxed than it could without this geometry . . .

: Allan Edie

I use both a flat and a curved blade paddle, with a relaxed grip (necessary due to Arthritis) in both cases. I haven't noticed the self-orienting characteristic that you describe is any more pronounced than with the flat bladed paddle. The curved blade one is much nicer to use, but it is about 40% lighter - and was a lot more expensive . . .

Messages In This Thread

Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Scott Shurlow -- 10/24/2011, 7:48 am
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Bill Hamm -- 10/25/2011, 2:20 am
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Scott Shurlow -- 10/25/2011, 8:25 am
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Bill Hamm -- 10/25/2011, 11:42 am
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Scott Shurlow -- 10/25/2011, 5:37 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Etienne Muller -- 10/25/2011, 1:34 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Les Cheeseman -- 10/27/2011, 4:40 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Etienne Muller -- 10/27/2011, 4:56 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Les Cheeseman -- 10/28/2011, 3:03 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Bill Hamm -- 10/27/2011, 6:29 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Reg Lake -- 10/25/2011, 2:59 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
ancient kayaker -- 10/25/2011, 7:02 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Etienne Muller -- 10/26/2011, 4:54 am
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Jay Babina -- 10/27/2011, 9:40 am
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Al Edie -- 10/27/2011, 1:22 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
ancient kayaker -- 10/27/2011, 3:57 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Bill Hamm -- 10/27/2011, 4:41 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
ancient kayaker -- 10/28/2011, 12:16 am
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
StephenHJ -- 10/28/2011, 2:53 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Bill Hamm -- 10/28/2011, 3:27 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Etienne Muller -- 10/28/2011, 5:03 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Bill Hamm -- 10/28/2011, 5:10 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
ancient kayaker -- 10/28/2011, 5:48 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
StephenHJ -- 10/28/2011, 5:51 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Etienne Muller -- 10/28/2011, 6:20 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
ancient kayaker -- 10/28/2011, 11:22 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle *PIC*
Etienne Muller -- 10/29/2011, 5:44 am
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
ancient kayaker -- 10/30/2011, 4:33 pm
Re: Paddle: curve on a spoon paddle
Bill Hamm -- 10/29/2011, 12:33 pm