paddles

I have a few paddles.  Most of them live in a rack in my garage, all lined up and ready to party, if paddles can be said to do so.

The canoe paddles are all wood, save two carbon-fiber paddles, ultralight racing paddles that weigh a little more than a pound.  My traditional one-piece non-laminated paddles are mostly cherry, a dark, rich, durable and lightweight wood, but some are ash and Sitka spruce.  My laminated paddles are all over the wood map: black walnut, western red cedar, white cedar, hickory, black willow, Sitka, cherry, and basswood.

My kayak paddles are all carbon-fiber, save two wood paddles that are spruce, cherry, black walnut and cedar.  Never noticed it until recently, and I’m not sure why.  Maybe it’s because for me, canoeing is more aesthetic, like ballroom dancing, and kayaking for me tends to be a more lively activity.

26 canoe paddles may seem like a lot, but they are all different and all useful.  Some are useful by hanging on the wall (like the 150th Anniversary Shaw and Tenney Limited Edition (9/150) Birdseye Maple Guide).  That one will never see water, but it’s one of only a few paddles that are not used regularly.  It was a gift generously given, and I would like to pass it along to my grandson someday.  Thanks again, Steve.

A few of my paddles were made my companies no longer in business.  Those are still very much in use…they are for using.  Since I use the right paddle for the right conditions, the thin-bladed deep-water paddles are still in very good shape.  The whitewater paddles are beaters.  They will break someday.  That’s cool.

A few of my paddles are my own designs.  They are used too, regularly, so I can see if they can be improved.  Sometimes I come home from a paddle and get busy on a grip or blade or the transition from blade to shaft.

A few of my paddles were custom made for me.  They are wonderful, and the difference between these paddles and others is like comparing a custom-made Italian suit with a Jos. Banks three-piece.  The latter is certainly of good quality and can be very, very nice, but a custom-tailored suit…until you’ve experienced it, you’ll never know how good it feels to have something perfectly fitted.  A bad paddle is like a K-Mart polyester leisure suit.  Yes, the Caviness BP was made for “those interested in price alone.”  At least they admit it.

Paddles are the fundamental tool used to touch the water.  It’s the tool that connects you.  The best canoe in the world is worthless without a good paddle, so maybe that’s why I am just as obsessed about a good paddle as a good canoe.  I don’t call my paddles sticks.  Not my style.

Kayak paddles…that’s for another day.

Respectfully submitted,

Canoelover