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10 Solo canoe paddles (Read 7196 times)
Solus
Inukshuk
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Location: Northern Minnesota
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Re: Solo canoe paddles
Reply #10 - Sep 19th, 2019 at 12:24am
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If the double blade works for you then you should use the double. Do your body a favor and spend for a carbon fiber paddle. Use what works and use it proudly.

I would consider the ZRE Power Surge Light to be the single best gear purchase I've ever made. The load it takes off during the course of a day of travel is immeasurable. The feedback it provides has made me a far more efficient and skilled paddler. Cannot say enough.

I've always paddled solo hit and switch with a bent. With the ZRE I often go 6/7 strokes before switching. When paddling stern with a tandem I switch sides at will  rather than J or rudder. So many years of paddling solo means a switch and stroke takes about the same amount of time as a stroke.
  
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solotripper
Inukshuk
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Location: clarkston MI
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Re: Solo canoe paddles
Reply #11 - Sep 19th, 2019 at 1:03am
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Use what works and use it proudly.


  That's great advice for all things paddling Solus, Thanks Cool
  
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Jim J Solo
Inukshuk
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Location: Fort Wayne, IN
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Re: Solo canoe paddles
Reply #12 - Sep 20th, 2019 at 5:55pm
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I think most people that don’t like the hit and switch style are using a paddle too long and heavy.
  
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db
Web-lackey
Inukshuk
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Location: Just off the beaten path.
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Re: Solo canoe paddles
Reply #13 - Sep 20th, 2019 at 6:19pm
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All I know for sure is the hut - hut - hut tandem was flying. I can paddle all day on the right, solo. Maybe because I have long arms and a paddle that's a bit too long but it's what I know. I paddle lefty sometimes depending on conditions.

Bottom line, there is mass and force and an optimal speed for the craft and conditions?
  
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alanfine
Inukshuk
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Location: denver
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Re: Solo canoe paddles
Reply #14 - Sep 24th, 2019 at 6:35pm
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Thanks everyone for the input! Lots of solo paddling experience out there and many good ideas. Guess I'll have to try and see what works best for me, but as  an old paddler, am inclined to start with my standard bent shaft.
Alan
  
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azalea
Inukshuk
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Joined: Jan 13th, 2004
Re: Solo canoe paddles
Reply #15 - Oct 9th, 2019 at 6:57pm
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the fastest I've ever seen a canoe move was on Jean Lk. ...  That canoe looked like it had a motor on the back.


My first trip to Q we went in through PP.  After a day of paddling, when we pull into camp, we discover somebody had forgotten to bring along the "kitchen" pack.  I and another were considered to be the strongest paddlers so we set off to retrieve it, hopefully to be able to return before dark.

Well se setoff and were back quickly.  As we rounded a bend to where we could be seen, we switched to a racing rythem, I think 5 strokes per side then switch.  We sped down that last stretch and everyone was amazed at how fast we had covered all that distance. 

And suspicious.  We final revealed the secret.  We had run into a motorboat on the way back and got towed a good portion of the way. Instead of "a motor on the back", we had a motor on the front.
  
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