Best Paddles

hey, i was wondering which paddle is the best (weight, material, looks, strength, cost, where it is made) . and which paddles are not so good. do you have any ideas?

Best way to see this is to look at what the top guys use. eg

Daryl Bartho: Jantex
Clint Pretorius: Fenn IV
Katie Pocock: Gut
Dawid Mocke: Fenn IV
Tim Jacobs: Epic mid-wing
Michael Baker: Jantex
Hank McGregor: Gut
Kenny Wallace: Gut
Oscar Chalupsky: Epic Mid wing

Oscar once told me he prefers the lightest possible paddle; from my own experience glass blades are a false economy and chip and break very easily.

Eh Rob,

Should we blindly choose our car based on what the the top F-1 guys drive on the track too : ) ?

I submit that my ONNO wing paddles are the best in the world.

No, you guys might not have heard of them but that may just be because I cannot make them fast enough already and so cannot afford to give any away or sponsor one of the big name guys. Though I wish I could.

www.onnopaddles.com

Kicking sand @ the giants since 1994.

Aloha,
pog

Should we blindly choose our car based on what the the top F-1 guys drive on the track too : ) ?

OK, Ok, let me rephrase:

"One way to see this... "!

Will you be at Molokai? Will you have paddles there?

All the best, Rob

Hi Johnn
My take is that paddles can be pretty personal and there is no one blade shape that is best for all paddlers or conditions. Also, a more advanced paddler may want a different shaped blade to a beginner. I pass on teh advise I was given when changing to wing paddles and advise new paddlers to go for a parallel blade like the Lettman 1 shape. This blade is very predictable and can let you concentrate on other aspects of staying in your boat and going fast. Once you have more experience, you can move on to a more aggressive paddle. I still use my Lettman1 shape paddle on rough days because of the predictability of the catch.

Well I use the fenn 4 already. So I do have a some experience with the wing shape. Maybe the question should be best paddles close to the fenn 4 shape.

Sorry Rob, but looking at the pics from King of the H, it looks like Tim is using a Meek blade paddle.It si not an Epic. Meek being a local Aussie builder who is creating a great blad with added strength around the neck off the blade.. woops,hope tim doesnt get in trouble........

Yep I have to bite at this one as well. I think it is worth seeing what the best guys are doing but it may well be better to find out what they used when they were at the same level as you!

My coach (Jim Walker) has a great saying re which kayak to choose. He says the fastest kayak you can choose is the one that stays upright. If I chose my ski on what Tim Jacobs or Hank or Dawid used I would spend alot of my time upside down. My recent adventures with a Fenn XT convinced me that I need to consider a far more stable ski as towards the end of my week with the XT I was flying.

So back to paddles. I think it is likely to be the same. I has chosen a paddle as it was the one the great sprint kayakers used. All it did to me was blow my arm up as it was way to big for me. I am now considering the Epic Mid Wing as it is smaller and well made.

I think paddles are probably just as important and the expression is most likely 'the best paddle is the one you go fastest with' I think go a little smaller so you can build your strength and cadence until you get the confidence to go a bit bigger.

Don't buy what Mathew Bowman or Phillippe Boccara use as they are monsters! Get a paddle that someone your size is using. Hope that helps.

Ok Rob - so next time we meet you can try to feed me to sharks again! Thanks for the adventures

I use a paddle made by Scotty Paul on the Sunshine coast at Performance Paddles.He will make you what you want but will help you think about what you need :)He builds an ocean racing specific paddle as well as a surf racing paddle in both a tear drop shape and a parallel blade.A very passionate man when it comes to paddles and builds a nice paddle.And for the record Molokai was won this year with a Performance Paddle .

hcktpaddler1 wrote: hey, i was wondering which paddle is the best (weight, material, looks, strength, cost, where it is made) . and which paddles are not so good. do you have any ideas?

Shouldn't the question be 'which paddle is best for me?'
To me, finding the right paddle is as personal as how your backside likes/dislikes one bucket from another.
All of the top paddles mentioned in this thread are well made, plenty light, and have similar price points (for the most part). But they all "feel" a bit different, and to me, that is what you should be going on when selecting a paddle, which one feels right for you.
You can google paddles all day long and find out weights, where they're manufactured, see pictures to see how they look, costs, etc... but until you get them in your hands out on the water you won't know which one is best for you.
I have owned a number of paddles, and tried a few more including Swing Classic, Epic Mid Wing, Onno Small Mid, Select Kayaks Rush Racing, Brasca IV, Jantex Gamma Mid, Jantex Gamma Small. They are all different and I went thru several before trying the Jantex Gamma. In 5 minutes I was sold and haven't touched another paddle since. Likewise, I have friends who swear by their Epics, their Brascas, their Onnos, etc...
So, my advice is to start trying paddles until you find the one that is the best for you.