All,

I just purchased a Composite Paddle, now the next question.
I am looking for a lightweight spare paddle as well, but cannot fork out the bucks for another Composite paddle. I am looking for a lightweight spare paddle in the -100 dollar range that is 16 ounces or less.

Is there anything out there that fits my specs? I am willing to go with a smaller size to save weight. (I know some here may not agree).

What do you use for a spare paddle?

"-100 dollar range that is 16 ounces or less."

You may be in for a search, or used.
Foxworks Roka is about as close as I know for new.

butthead

16 oz or less for $100 I think is going to be tough to find.

I'm selling a selling a Sanborn Nessmuk if that might work for you for a spare. It's 13.75 oz. I'll go $100 even for it.

quote UphillHarry: "I'm selling a selling a Sanborn Nessmuk if that might work for you for a spare. It's 13.75 oz. I'll go $100 even for it."

Awesome, I'll take it.
Email me if you can to work out the details. I'm trying to get my Email loaded into this new site.

My wife will likely fall in love with it when we go together. I think 52" is her size.

This new site doesn't want to allow my Email to be shown, here it is.
Klindy1@hotmail.com

quote LindenTree3: "

quote UphillHarry: "I'm selling a selling a Sanborn Nessmuk if that might work for you for a spare. It's 13.75 oz. I'll go $100 even for it."

Awesome, I'll take it.
Email me if you can to work out the details. I'm trying to get my Email loaded into this new site.


My wife will likely fall in love with it when we go together. I think 52" is her size.

This new site doesn't want to allow my Email to be shown, here it is.
Klindy1@hotmail.com"

Great price on a beauty! Congrats!!

I love this site.......... you ask and you shall receive :)

I use my bending branches expresso for my backup. I like the extra beefy paddle for pushing off in tight spots.

Years ago I bought one of these and liked it so much that I eventually bought two more. I thought that durability would be an issue but after many trips with the first one, it is still strong. Being basswood, it is lighter than most wood paddles. I can weigh one if you are serious.

Piragis sells their used Wenonah Graphite paddles at the end of the season. $125 each.

quote PortageKeeper: "Years ago I bought one of these and liked it so much that I eventually bought two more. I thought that durability would be an issue but after many trips with the first one, it is still strong. Being basswood, it is lighter than most wood paddles. I can weigh one if you are serious."

I am curious what weighs, but I already got a spare from a BWCA.com member. Weighs 13 OZ.
Now I am waiting on my ZRE primary paddle to come back from Campmor.

quote LindenTree3: "

quote PortageKeeper: "Years ago I bought one of these and liked it so much that I eventually bought two more. I thought that durability would be an issue but after many trips with the first one, it is still strong. Being basswood, it is lighter than most wood paddles. I can weigh one if you are serious."

I am curious what weighs, but I already got a spare from a BWCA.com member. Weighs 13 OZ.
Now I am waiting on my ZRE primary paddle to come back from Campmor."

57" 23 ounce, 54" 20 ounce. The 54" paddle comes in at only 1 ounce more than this one in a straight blade. Not that they otherwise compare, but for the price it makes a good spare.

I use a zre 7.5 ounce for a spare, I paddle with a bb navigator kayak paddle which is 28 ounces, when I tandem the front person uses the ZRE. Not a cheap spare but saves weight on a solo.

Thanks all,
Now I am in search of a lightweight primary paddle. (Uphillharry sold me a 13oz secondary paddle)
Campmor cannot get me the ZRE Powersurge paddle I wanted. All their uncut paddles are less than 52" when the handle is inserted it is still under 54".
I was hoping to be around 55" total.
I'm 6' tall and solo an Old Town Pack. The paddle I lost was 54" and wanted to have the option to go longer if I wanted to.

Not sure what to do. Most companys charge 50 bucks for shipping to Ak. That is why I went with campmor/free shipping.
Maybe I'll just buy a cheap primary paddle up here, and get a ZRE when I return to MN in a year or so when I retire and move back to MN where I can use it in the BW.

My spare paddle is just as good as my tripping paddle. If my regular paddle breaks, why would I want a paddle of lesser quality? It's like the donut wheels cars use for spares.

quote egknuti: "My spare paddle is just as good as my tripping paddle. If my regular paddle breaks, why would I want a paddle of lesser quality? It's like the donut wheels cars use for spares. "

Good point.
I left my donut spare tire in Mn and bought a real rim and tire when I moved to AK.
I don't want to be out in the sticks and tireless up here. I also carry 4 way tire iron and all the fixings to patch a tire up here.

Still looking for a primary paddle, been using the one I got from Uphillharry as my primary paddle, but it's a little short for me.

You've got a nice lightweight bent shaft now. I think your other paddle should be a carbon straight. Then you've got one of each depending on the situation. Get a factory second Zav Rec model. Think hard about upgrading to the carbon grip. I got one in plastic and it was smaller than the carbon grip, too small for me. Other people say the plastic grip is the same size though so maybe call and ask them.

I'm surprised the 52" bent feels too short. I'd find it much too long (I prefer 49-50). How are you using it? Short bents are meant to be paddled with short strokes and a fast cadence. If you're using a longer stroke with correction at the end you might as well save some money and stick to a straight blade. I'm convinced that for the vast majority of people the efficiency benefits of a bent shaft don't come from the angled blade but rather the shorter length and lighter weight.

If you're still set on getting a bent I say save your money and don't get the power surge. There just isn't going to be a noticeable difference for tripping. I've put many miles on both racing and tripping. I can't tell when I switch back and forth.

Used Zavs pop up fairly regularly at rivermiles.com.

Alan

quote nctry: "I use my bending branches expresso for my backup. I like the extra beefy paddle for pushing off in tight spots."

Indeed.......I to have a Bending Branches (Expedition) straight shaft paddle as my back up.....it is not especially lightweight but that is by design. My Zav blows off my gunnel when I set it down to make a cast.

I had to apologize to my BB paddle when I turned it into a glorified walking stick while going through the Knox Bog Trot. The only time it seen use on my last trip......but it was much needed for that particular task.

quote mastertangler: "I to have a Bending Branches (Expedition) straight shaft paddle as my back up.....it is not especially lightweight but that is by design. "

I bought an Expedition Plus and brought along on my last trip since I knew there would be a lot of rapids. I was not impressed at all. My lightweight Zavs have stood up to more abuse than it took to split the wood blade on the Expedition Plus. That was the first wood paddle I've used in years and it will be the last.

Alan

quote Alan Gage: "

quote mastertangler: "I to have a Bending Branches (Expedition) straight shaft paddle as my back up.....it is not especially lightweight but that is by design. "

I bought an Expedition Plus and brought along on my last trip since I knew there would be a lot of rapids. I was not impressed at all. My lightweight Zavs have stood up to more abuse than it took to split the wood blade on the Expedition Plus. That was the first wood paddle I've used in years and it will be the last.


Alan"

Your a better man than I Alan.......I don't do "rapids". I would like to but the whole damaging my boat or losing my stuff miles from anywhere always wins out. So I suppose I don't worry so much about breaking a paddle. But for the furtherance of the discussion I am curious as to what happened with the Expedition paddle, if you don't mind me asking?

I know very little about the durability of a carbon fiber paddle either even though I own one. All I know is I wouldn't want to step on a bent shaft carbon paddle and guard against that. I can't help but wonder how carbon fiber paddles get broke.......I have never heard of it happening but undoubtedly it does happen. Nice to learn from others experiences ;-)

quote mastertangler: "But for the furtherance of the discussion I am curious as to what happened with the Expedition paddle, if you don't mind me asking?

I should note this wasn't the 'Expedition' paddle but rather the 'Expedition Plus'. I bought the heavy duty one just to be on the safe side.

I'm not quite sure what happened to it. I was paddling my way up a rapid in somewhat shallow water and heard that crunching sound when wood fibers are breaking. The paddle contacted rocks on that stroke, probably getting partially wedged between two of them and then twisting, causing the split.

I say I'm not quite sure because I was very surprised to hear that crunching noise as I didn't think the paddle should have seen much stress on that stroke. I couldn't stop to inspect it at the time so I gave two hard strokes and everything felt and sounded fine. I figured I was just hearing things and it wasn't until the next day that I saw the split. Thankfully the blade is fiberglassed on both sides to it held together the rest of the trip. But because of the split I didn't use it much.

There have been many times with my carbon paddles where I've done the same and expected to pull up a broken blade but they've always survived. They've gone through more stress and never been an issue. I'd only used the wood paddle a few times when it split.

Tip wear is one place where the wood paddle has the lightweight Zavs beat. I've had to repair tips on many of my Zavs and the ones I use for long distance trips are wrapped with one or two layers of dynel at the tips for abrasion resistance. This is a big help as I don't baby my carbon paddles and they do a lot of rock banging and scraping when paddling upstream in shallow rocky water. For more "normal" trips I've used my carbon paddles without dynel and had no problems.

From now on I'll either use a heavy duty carbon whitewater paddle or beef up a standard straight blade Zav to use as my moving water paddle. Or maybe I'll build my own this winter.

Alan

quote Alan Gage:
I'm surprised the 52" bent feels too short. I'd find it much too long (I prefer 49-50). How are you using it? Short bents are meant to be paddled with short strokes and a fast cadence. If you're using a longer stroke with correction at the end you might as well save some money and stick to a straight blade. I'm convinced that for the vast majority of people the efficiency benefits of a bent shaft don't come from the angled blade but rather the shorter length and lighter weight.
Alan
"

Good thoughts, I do a long stroke with sort of a C stroke and actually go under my canoe a little, the whole stroke is sort of my correction.
I will see about shortening up my stroke to see how big feels.
I am borrowing a straight paddle also now, and am not a fan of it.
I will mess around with the straight some more.
Any thoughts on my C stroke? Good, bad, any suggestions?
I paddle an OldTown Pack, with the seat moved about a foot to the stern. I use balast in the bow so I do not paddle in circles.
Linden

Just got a call from a Ranger at the take out where I figured I had lost my paddle.
They have it, I lost it over the 4th of July.
Great news since my wife bought it for me on my 50th B-Day.
It was sentimental.

quote LindenTree3: "Just got a call from a Ranger at the take out where I figured I had lost my paddle.
They have it, I lost it over the 4th of July.
Great news since my wife bought it for me on my 50th B-Day.
It was sentimental."

Good to hear! I left one of my favorite paddles at a takeout a few years ago, never to be seen again. I was back in about 20 minutes, but someone out there was dishonest enough to not mind keeping a paddle with my name on the amber blade.