Paddle shafts..

[Martijn]

Hi...

Just some paddle stuff...
I'm pretty convinced that I like the Double Dutch blades best..
But their shafts are too heavy.. In Holland a lot of players use the English shafts, and I think they are made by Lendal ...
These are very light and still strong.

Are those the lightest shafts around?
And what do they cost normally...
If I buy one at Felix in Holland, I have to pay about 75 Euro's and the ones from Double Dutch are quite a bit cheaper....

Any other light strong shafts??

[Unregistered]

...DB`s KGL shaft is ok...It is pretty light and quite flexible...


-The Fly

[Martijn]

I dont' now about you... but I think too much fexibility is a bad thing...
A shaft needs a certain amount of flexibility... otherwise it would break too easily.. but for paddling.. in my view it's the stiffer the better...

[jelle]

There are some dutch players who claim that shafts will lose their stifness in time, and becomme more flexible.
Therfor they put their 1 year old paddles in the closset, and buy new ones....
I don't know if shafts become more flexible in time, just by using them, but a fact is that those players like stif shafts, and I must say I agree with them.

[michielv]

Perhaps you could try the blue sky shafts (like the ones used by Werner WW paddles and Mega . They are medium weight, very strong, pretty stiff and affordable (around 68 euro's).

Furthermore Kanocentrum De Biesbosch has Czech-made shafts which are very nice as well (around 60 euro's). These shafts have a feel similar to the sky shafts, only made from glas/kevlar/carbon.

Anyway, shafts shouldn't be too light (IMO) as that will give the blades a heavier feel and it sort of feel clumsy to me. Like a Schlegel. I also prefer a slightly heavier paddle for goal keeping.

Just my thoughts,

Michiel

[Linton]

I bought a Lendal shaft for quite a reasonable price. It cost me £30 NEW.

[AsgerS]

After breaking both my paddles :bang: I am looking for a new shaft too. What I want is a shaft which has a premade grip, preferably in both sides. The goal is to get the same feel I had on my late Lettman.
I believe you can get a shaft with this feature from Duble Dutch, but my blades are 27mm in diameter, as opposed to (I believe) 25 mm at Double Dutch. So, does anyone know of other manufacturers who pre-make a grip in the fiberconstruction on a shaft with an approximat diameter of 27 mm on the inside?

Cheers, and happy New Year,

Asger, Skovshoved, Denmark.

[Djorre]

the reason your paddle broke is most likely due to the premade grip.

The grip is just a plastic piece between the two layers of the shaft, so where the grip is placed, there is no connection between the inner and the outer layer of the shaft, and the grip happens to be the place where the forces are the greatest.

For your wallet's sake, buy a straight shaft and put the grip on the outside (it even gives you a better grip too) I broke too many paddles myself before I figured out why they always snapped at the same spot.

for a hint: to my knowledge, the HPS shafts by Lendal (I think) are by far the strongest and lightest available that are flexible enough to absorb the shocks but stil are firm enough to sprint and they last a long time. I haven't found a better one yet, if anyone has, ... please let me know.

Greets,
Djorre.

[Roos]

I have tried a lot of shafts from flexible as a turnstar untill the stone ones. In different lengt whit different blades. On the end I wanted the Lendal, it might be a bit more expensive but I only need one or two a year. Yes I am one of the strange poloplayers that replaces his shaft every year because of the stifness. Most off the time that is the only shaft I need a year. I had the same experience as Michiel whit the havy blades and the light shaft but after a lot off trainingsessions it feels as one peace in my hand. I use the Dave Brown blades, Flow, and would really like them a bit lighter but the effort from the blades is exellent. Whit the stiff shaft I wil not lose power on short distance.
And that is all I have to say about that (quot : Forest (Allan) Gump) What do you think All?

Erwin

[Djorre]

It's a petty that Dave doesn't have the technology (I think) to make his blades lighter.
I tried the Flow in Essen and it's the best blade I've used yet.
For weight (entire paddle easily 900-950gr.) and ball handling I love the Kinetics, there's only one downside, the blade is just a little too small so it sometimes slips during sprints.
The Flow now has the same shape (or better a 'similar' shape, sorry Dave.. ;-) ), only an extra tip (+- 3cm) is added which gives the blade a tremendous grip in the water combined with the superb ball-feel of the Kinetics. Only downfall here, one Flow blade is about the same weight as a pair of Kinetic blades combined.
Maybe the Dutch and Brits should stick there heads together to make the ultimate blade?!?! I won't ask too much money for the idea ;-)

just some thoughts,
Djorre.

[AsgerS]

Thanks for the hints about the grip-section on the shafts, Djorre.
The grip is just a plastic piece between the two layers of the shaft, so where the grip is placed, there is no connection between the inner and the outer layer of the shaft, and the grip happens to be the place where the forces are the greatest.
the reason your paddle broke is most likely due to the premade grip. In my case, the Lettman broke after 3 years of parttime-goalkeeping, and the Brasca went flying with 120 kmt when the entire rack flew of a car...... Including 4 boats......
I believe the construction of the Lettman is by far the strongest on the market, but it is a little heavy, and it is impossible to controll the blocks with the backside of the blade, due to the reinforcement. The reason why I loved it was partly the premade oval shaft.
Now I know a little more than before.

Thanks, Asger.

[Djorre]

damn, sorry to hear 'bout the boats flying off the roof,
they didn't land on any car, did they?

[AsgerS]

Fortunately the entire rack landed on the side of the road :worship:

There was a lesson learned though! So listen up every-one: The kayaks where actually strapped perfectly, and the rack was a strong one from Thule but...... it was windy, and our (normally good) driver came very close to a truck comming against us. Since both cars where driving around 100 kmt, the sudden blow from the truck blew the entire thing off.

Thankfully we didn't injure anyone!!! We do not want people to pay attention to our sport because of someone being tackled on the road by a flying kayak.
But we where penalized for our stupidity though. The roofrack, a paddle and a boat was busted, and in the middle of a rainy decembernight, 3 people slept in open air (it was snowing in the morning) while the other 2 where trying to get a hold of another roofrack in the middle of nowhere in northern Germany.
It was a tired team that arrived, rather late, for the (great) turnament in Berlin.
The ONLY funny part of the storrie was that we where careless enough to have 3 flights on the same car. They had to go airborn...

So, remember this horible storie when strapping and driving, but please forget who told it. :stupid: :withstp: