My wife will join me canoeing this year so I'd like to get her her own paddle. I 'm looking at a BB traveler 51". This seems like a good paddle for her to start with. We'll be using it on calm rivers and small lakes with her in the bow of our tandem. Does anyone have a favorite paddle they can recommend that's moderatly priced, lightweight and reasonably durable that I should look at.

Pretty sure that’s the wood straight that I carry. It’s a nice paddle and fits your criteria. Even with my Zaveral in the canoe there are times I enjoy switching to my BB. It just feels nice in my hands.

The Loon is a nice low priced paddle. Good on rivers and other shallow water. Also the Beavertail is nice but not so well suited to rivers.

you probably know this, get it properly fitted for her so she can be comfortable with it and paddle happily for many years. i see so many couples where the paddle is too long for the woman, or man. it's just too hard on the body.

I'm using the sizing info on the BB site. She's short so the 51"looks like the size she'll need. She looked really awkward using my paddle last time out. I think mine are 56". I'd like to get her set up with one that fits her, and Is lightweight that she can call her own. Any other quality brands I should look at besides BB.

I've had good experiences with Bending Branches paddles and I think your choice of the a Traveller is a good one. I might have also suggested the Loon but for an extra $10 I'd go for the Traveller since it has a symmetric grip.

I think the Grey Owl Scout is a fine low cost paddle too. My wife loves hers and won't use anything else. The Scout has a longer blade so you'd need a 54.

There's always some risk in ordering a wood paddle since wood paddles have some variability but overall I think the Traveller or Scout would work well for your wife.

Given your planned use, any paddle will be plenty durable.

bwcasolo: "you probably know this, get it properly fitted for her so she can be comfortable with it and paddle happily for many years. i see so many couples where the paddle is too long for the woman, or man. it's just too hard on the body."

This is the best resource I've seen for sizing paddles- works really well if you can test the paddles out. I try to make a new paddle for someone each year, and this gets me the best fit. Better than the sizing charts-

THEGrandRapids: "

bwcasolo: "you probably know this, get it properly fitted for her so she can be comfortable with it and paddle happily for many years. i see so many couples where the paddle is too long for the woman, or man. it's just too hard on the body."

This is the best resource I've seen for sizing paddles- works really well if you can test the paddles out. I try to make a new paddle for someone each year, and this gets me the best fit. Better than the sizing charts-



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yep, that's a good method.

I agree that this is the best way to measure a paddle. The "Hold them up" method takes away the length of the paddle blade in the calculation and zero in the shaft length.

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I'll have to get out a paddle and try out the badger method. Thanks for the tip.