My family and Me included have raced canoes for over a decade, and when in comes to paddles there are two options that will make your long journeys heaven. Levas or Zav. you can buy the lightest possible model and unless your pounding rocks in strong current they arent gonna break. for deep water paddling that isnt a concern. Lavas is canadian made and hard to get ahold of..(made in a basement somewheres in Quebec) Zav is much easier to find. only difference in my opinion is grip style. Levas is slightly bigger. I hope this can help anyone looking to find a light paddle. If you want more info just ask, i didnt want to ramble to much!