AMY'S WHITE WATER PADDLE

 General: This paddle is fashioned from Redwood.  The outer edges of the blade are yellow thanks to the sap wood.  Every part of this asymmetric paddle is custom designed.  55" Long and a very light 32 Oz.  This paddle will " Tear a mean hole in the water"

Blade:  The blade is cupped to provide an excellent catch and a dihedral is sculpted on the face to eliminate flutter. 

Shaft and grips:  The oversized grips and shaft were designed to relieve arthritic hands.  The shaft is relieved to avoid rubbing the thumb joint while the upper grip has a thumb notch for steering control.  The shaft will be built to suit your needs.

Reinforcement:  The entire blade, shaft, and most of the upper grip is enveloped in fiberglass.  The edge of the blade has a substantial build up of epoxy and fiber glass for rock protection.

Marquetry:  The marquetry is maple.  The symbol is the Celtic Tree Of Life and her initials were taken from her actual signature.

$300

What we have learned:  After a couple of seasons of abuse, this paddle has shown it's strengths and weaknesses.  Please understand that this paddle is being developed for a pro guide that uses it roughly, well, brutally.  This paddle sees rocky streams three to four times every week!  Let's face it,  under these conditions  you can only be careful with a beautiful paddle for so long before it is just another piece of equipment to be consumed by the never ending gear eating machine.  You have two qualities fighting each other in a custom paddle:  strength, and lightness.  Where you draw the line between these poles is up to you.  A very strong paddle will sacrifice weight, while a very light paddle will sacrifice durability.  I've seen a strong maple paddle with a small blade snapped in open water by a frustrated paddler.  A laminated ultra light shaft with glass on one side of a large blade is not the tool for a class five rapid where a broken paddle may cost you your life.

 Shaft-  The shaft which was designed for a left handed paddler works very well. It was perfectly relieved and her hands no longer ache.  The soft wood chosen for lightness proves susceptible to crushing, possibly from being hit or smashed under lots of gear.  A crushing impact leaves a small mark when the glass pulls inside the epoxy but the damage has no real effect on the strength.  Amy constantly uses "prying" strokes which grind against the gunnels.  This has done nothing but wear the varnish and a new coat of varnish completely erases the wear.  4oz glass seems strong enough to handle the paddling loads but 6oz glass while unnecessary may fend off abuse better.

Blade-  Hydro dynamically speaking this blade performs exceptionally well.  This blade bites very well, it is comparable to any high performance blade on the market.  The edge has four layers of glass but it will split between the layers when subjected to a hard jab on a hidden sharp rock during a panic stricken stroke.  I believe this happens on normal fiberglass blades but it is invisible beneath colored epoxy.  This split is an easy fix but annoying.  A possible solution may be to shrink the blade dimensions by one inch around the entire blade perimeter and put several layers of carbon in it's place.  The blade slices nicely but can be thinned even more for better sculling performance.

All of our paddles are under constant development,  your ideas and opinions are greatly appreciated.  How many manufacturers tell you anything but how great their products are?  As an engineer I believe that nothing is perfect,  anything can be improved.