Bent
My doctor recently told me I was no longer 20. I knew that but was hesitant to acknowledge it. My sore joints, particularly wrists and shoulders, are forcing me to face reality.
I currently use a Werner Camano, straight shaft, but its causing me grief. Gerard was kind enough to lend me a couple of bent shaft paddles, an Athena and an Ikelos.
I first tried the Athena (low angle, touring) but found it under-powered, for me, compared to the Camano. The Athena has a 550 sq cm paddle face area compared to the Comano's 650.
Spoons
Next, I took the Ikelos (high angle touring) with its gigantic spoon sized face at 710 sq cms. Lots of power to get moving fast in a hurry but I thought at the end of a long day of paddling I'd be exhausted.
But it wasn't so much about the power face, it was about the bent shaft allowing the wrists to open up a bit.
Combo
To get a better feel for the difference between the bent and straight shafts, and the difference in power, I joined one end of the Athena with the Camano.
Even a GP
I even tried Sean' Greenland paddle for a bit.
The consensus? The bent shaft I think is the solution to my paddle woes. So, its off to the outfitter to buy bent shaft Camano. More kayaking money flying out the window *lol* but its easy to justify. And, its approved by the Minister of Finance, my wife Sherry.
Glad to hear you have found a solution... I wonder if Sean can make you a bent shaft GP?????
ReplyDeleteSomething you may want to consider when going with a bent paddle is the fact that it locks your hands in one place. This makes it harder to move your hands about the paddle shaft and, as they say, a change is as good as rest!!
ReplyDeleteI have, perhaps, the world's "crunchiest" shoulders (ask for an audio demo next time we meet - you'll be amazed (and disgusted) at the noises they make) and many times, for no reason, I can't raise my arms above shoulder height. Still I can manage to paddle, with relatively no pain, with my Greenland. Put a Euro in my hands, and the strain on my shoulders is evident right from the start. And don't get me going on the pain that bracing and rolling induce with the Euro.
I've stopped pushing the GP on people as they need to make their own choice but I still think it's a solution that should be very seriously considered - and I'm not looking for your business : ) There's too much anecdotal evidence about the GP and it's stress reduction for it to be just some passing fad.
Just my 5 cents worth!!!
p.s Dean - We've all made "propeller" paddles at one point early in our building careers. But that is something we strive to overcome!!
Thanks for your comments guys. There's no question that you guys have really taken to and mastered the GP.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of the joint issues I'm currently dealing with are self inflicted. I didn't have any issues until last year when I went all to hell with paddling, I just way overdid it. The bent shaft may give me a chance to still do some decent paddling while recovering.
I'm not totally discounting the GP. Part of it may be a reluctance on my part to have to re-learn all the things I've learned to do instinctively with the Euro blade, with the GP.
Tony -)