þūhte mē þæt ic gesāwe syllicre trēow…

When I’m teaching I’m always really bummed out when students come to the class with a new paddle or even kayak that is totally wrong for them  that they purchased based on a magazine, a club guru’s suggestion or what’s worse, a guy at a trade show. Product reps, especially for good brands, should know better!! Recently I had one student who is just building up her gear collection. No kayak yet, but her own paddle, pfd, and jacket. Nice. The fly in the ointment was that paddle. A 220 bent shaft. Nice enough paddle but given her size she looked a bit like a knight at the battle of Hastings with that thing beside her. In the water as you would guess, she was showing all the signs of trying to paddle with a shaft as long as an 11th century lance; Arms flailing up in the air, trouble keeping  the shaft vertical with draws, etc., all things we see with new students anyway, but magnified by a paddle shaft much too long for the student or the boat.

For the sake of a good learning experience we took time out to experiment with paddle lengths. That meant that I tried different sizes as well and opened some discussion while being as non-committal in my own opinions as much as possible to let her find her own way around. In time it was plain to both of us that her comfort and control improved drastically in that 210-205 range. (Yeah, I would have guessed it would be…) Once in that range and now understanding how paddle length affected her personal experience, it will now be up to her to refine a choice. I suggested she wait to choose a kayak before she contemplate  re-investing  in another paddle. I also pointed out that she could keep her icon of Norman conquest as a “necessary” spare so she didn’t feel totally ah.. shafted.

Which by the way, brings me back to that trade show guy… How did you divine that a short woman with small hands, who’s yet to purchase a kayak, talks about paddling the great lakes, and still in the “dreaming of kayaking” stage should purchase an expensive 220, standard diameter, bent shaft, low profile paddle? While some of these options may be right in the end, a few questions would suggest that it may be too soon for someone to drop cash for a high end paddle based on sales reps guesses. Even if the potential customer is crazy to give away money… 220?

Lance… Meet Arthur Conan Doyle.

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Of course, that’ s just my silly take on it…

Related Posts:

1. Shaft Roll
2. the paddle test
3. the bump
4. Shafted Again. . .
5. Everybody Pogie!