Wondering peoples thought on a kayak paddle (240cm) verses a regular canoe paddle. I have solo canoed twice and have used only the kayak paddle. I see alot of people talk about their straight?bent shaft paddles. I think the Kayak paddle is easier to maintain a straight line and overall less work, plus you don't have to switch sides.

Just curious.

I use a kayak paddle where I might need to low brace instantly on opposite sides..there is less likelihood of going over during a paddle side transition. Such as a Great Lake with waves reflecting off a cliff.

If your double blade forward stroke technique starts as far toward the front of the boat as possible and ends at your hips and no further back you will minimize yaw. Yaw is the curse of the double blade. Its very easy to double blade..not so well and incredibly hard to do it well.

If you are primarily a sitting single blader, a bent has the best angle for you..the grail is vertical entry and exit. If you kneel the straight single blade has the optimum angle.

The fastest speed over the longest distance will be obtained by a single blade in the ten oz range..lighter for racers. Just holding the weight of a typical double blade is work. Sit and switch with practice and a footbrace will outrun a double blade. Thats why racers use a bent and sit..they can brace their feet. There is no yaw induced by the vertical plant of a bent shaft paddle if it is not far off the centerline.

Yellowcanoe has it right. From a practical standpoint, i.e. my experience, I don't think I would use anything but a yak paddle. I do bring a single blade bungied in as a spare, but I've never used it. Recent posts have said that a longer than normal yak paddle is the way to go in order to keep water out of the canoe. Not sure how long mine is, but I do get water in the canoe, so I should someday get a longer one. Been using a yak paddle since around 2002, with yearly trips.

My canoe is set up with the seat moved back towards the stern, ala the "Sawbill Mod". It is a Wenonah Prism Kevlar - good boat.

TomW

The stern is where you get the most sweep effect alas. In order to minimize yaw go with the shortest paddle you can.

I use a 230 but my paddling station is 23-26 inches wide. Drip rings on the double blade ensure that I do not give myself a shower. I don't happen to get any water in the boat and use a low angle stroke. My upper hand stays below my nose.

Its your trip and use what you feel most comfortable with. There are no canoe police.

I find a kayak paddle useless in some situations..ie twisty alder lined creeks that just grab a double. And I can place my boat far more precisely on the water with a single blade.

I have tried Yak paddles, took one with me to WCPP last trip. I used some the first day and never after that. I just like my Sawyer Ottertail Paddle. I will take a bent shaft as a backup next time and leave the Yak Paddle at home. I like the feel, ease, and paddlin with a real paddle. Plus the yak paddles weigh more and use different muscles for sure.
SunCatcher

the kayak/canoe paddle debate reminds me of the straight/bent debate decades ago, we know how that that turned out.

and then there are poles

rather than argue which is best, try to master them all

I haven't mastered the pole yet. That in itself is a full time art. There are schools of thought on poling too..traditional and modern.


There really is no argument about straight vs bent. Bents are better for sitting paddlers and straights for kneeling. Catch and exit angles are vertical in both cases.

Both are legit.

I'm an unabashed believer that canoes are to be paddled with a canoe paddle.

If pure speed is all you are interested in use the yak paddle.

You do NOT have to switch sides to keep a solo canoe going straight. There are many correcting strokes that work just fine. My favorite for solo paddling is the Canadian. Not easy to master but it feels like poetry on water when you do.

There is a good bit of history that recreational canoes were first paddled with double blades.

Now field canoes of course single as if you broke a paddle you could make one out of a small tree trunk.

I happen to like dedicated solos that allow me to sit and switch and single blade on one side and also use a double blade. My current ride is 23 inches wide and 14.5 feet long and 14 inches deep with substantial speed and 2.5 inches rocker fore and aft. It has allowed me to really perfect my sit and switch so I can peg that bow wake which aids in tracking.

And heeled over one way or the other, it spins on a dime.

Canadian Style is pushes and pulls.. It is easy to master some maneuvers but not so easy on others..the stern pinwheel is torture. However its meant for bigger boats and long skinny paddles. I play with CS at home but don't take a wide boat on trips.

To each their own.

Sit and switch is unquestionably the fastest method to get around. Very handy going upwind. Its been the "forgotten child" in the ACA curriculum. Now we make sure every beginner gets a grouding in it as that technique literally could save someone. It also reinforces the need for proper biomechanics and posture.Then we move on to more complicated strokes and manuvers.

I really don't think it matters if you use a double blade, bent shaft, traditional paddle, pole, or what...as long as you like it and it works for you.
So to each there own.
SunCatcher

ditto suncatcher. Give options a good try and then select what you like. I sit and bought a straight paddle (I had underestimated the value of the light weight of the one I bought and can't go back to the "heavy" ones.) On my upcoming first solo, I'll take a yak paddle from outfitter and my straight shaft to see what I like better. Of course first I have to find out if I really like the solo experience.

I like using my bent shaft on smaller and calmer waters. But boy, when the wind is blowing on the bigger waters I like my yak paddle. Recently on a head wind on Brule (B Dub) I couldn't make any headway with the bent shaft and got just enough out of my yak paddle to get "there". I think personal preferences will very... I like em both.

I prefer a straight shaft beavertail paddle to a bent shaft or a doubleblade. I use a double blade when crossing big water, and if I need to catch up...you can really fly with a double blade.

So far I have just paddled my solo with a single-blade bent shaft, using a switch technique rather than correcting strokes. This varies from what I do in a tandem, where we don't switch sides - I do the J-stroke as a correcting stroke in the stern. But in the solo, a lot more correction is needed since there is no one paddling on the opposite side to counteract the tendency of the canoe to turn away from the side you are paddling on. For that reason, correction strokes are less efficient in the solo than in the tandem, so in the solo it seems better to me to switch sides instead of doing correction strokes. I really like this method of paddling. And it's worked well for me through some pretty big headwinds. Admittedly, I found it hard (not impossible) to keep up with a Minn III on a recent trip.

I personally don't like the motion of paddling with a double-blade paddle. I've been canoeing all my life, and kayaking only a bit, so paddling with a single blade seems right to me -- especially in a canoe. It seems "traditional" to me. Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind some day. I would say, though, that if you have been using a double blade exclusively in the past, you should give the single a try for a while, you might like it.

I have just gotten into a bent shaft paddle and love it, but will always have the yak paddle in the boat for open water and windy conditions. The double gets my pack and knees wet a little bit, but not enough to fret about. Gonna get a little wet just getting in and out of the boat anyway.

I don't think about going fast at all. Trying to make things last as long as possible...lol.

Bending Branches 240cm Impression

and also

BB Special Bent Shaft Canoe Paddle

quote nctry: "I like using my bent shaft on smaller and calmer waters. But boy, when the wind is blowing on the bigger waters I like my yak paddle. Recently on a head wind on Brule (B Dub) I couldn't make any headway with the bent shaft and got just enough out of my yak paddle to get "there". I think personal preferences will very... I like em both."

Identical to my experience. I like the bent shaft for cruising and trolling but grab the yak paddle in scary winds.

I have the same thing Brent has but at the suggestion of Ben aka nctry I got the 280cm 9ft. Have not really had a chance to use it yet. I will this year. Ben told me the 9ft is the way to go and I believe him he's got the the experience behind him.

JB

For years I was really against the idea of using a "kayak" paddle in a canoe - not traditional.

Then I got stuck on LIS trying to use a single blade paddle with a nasty quartering headwind and I knew I had to try something else.

I now have several double blade paddles, two older wood Klepper paddles, another beautiful wood paddle, and an aulminum and plastic cheapy from Spring Creek Outifitters.

Of course, the one I use all the time, the one that works best, is the aluminum cheapy.

All my double blade paddles are somewhere around 280(cm).

Just curious as to where to find a 280cm or close to paddle. Best I've seen is 240cm on a regular basis. Any suggestions??

The 280's are available at Red Rock Store, Spirit of the Wilderness, and Piragis and maybe a few more places in Ely. I also believe they have them at Spring Creek in Mt. Iron. I think I remember someone on BWCA.com bought a 280 in carbon tech. at Spring Creek. I think mine is fiberglass.

My 280 works great for me for paddling an SR17 backwards when soloing.

There was a guy on Moose River North last year standing up in his canoe using a 280 like a single blade paddling like a Venetian Gondolier!

I purchased a carbon shaft 280 from Spring Creek during Copia in 2011. Used it almost exclusively for 4 weeks in Quetico last summer on my solos in a Northwind. The prior summer to that I rented a basic yak paddle from La Tourells. The longer Spring Creek paddle kept most of the water out of the canoe and the shaft was so much lighter and more comfortable to hold onto. I still use traditional paddles as well, particluarly for fishing, but found the 280 excelled for speed, especially into significant winds. As mentioned previously, there is some added yaw with the yak paddle. Might bother some paddlers, but a bow yaw a couple inches back and forth was no big deal to me....the wake behind the canoe was a pleasant site when I wanted to cover water quickly.