Which Paddle?

A bazillion options. Okay, maybe not that many, but the variations are a lot to sort through.

I borrowed a 220cm Werner Shuna Performance from Great Outdoor Provision Company to try with a neighborhood lake trip. For kayak touring, they have 4 blade sizes, 4 blade material types, 2 shaft types, and 2 diameter sizes. This particular paddle is a fiberglass blade, the smaller of the two high angle sizes, straight shaft, and the normal diameter. It was perfect for a demo because I've realized I was (unconsciously) using a high-angle paddling technique with my low angle paddle. Now, I could see how it felt to paddle that way with a blade designed for it.

I took my own Aquabound 230cm Stingray and the Shuna and spent several hours on our lake. It was quite a lot more exertion with the Shuna since it catches a significantly larger amount of water. After using the Shuna for a significant chunk of the out portion of the trip, I swapped with my Stingray a couple times to compare & contrast the paddles with high & low angle styles. I learned the following:

• Paying attention to what I'm doing with my forward stroke makes a big difference.
• The low-angle blade shape suits a low-angle forward stroke better than the high-angle blade. Duh! Same with high matched with high.
• The low-angle blade seems to suit a high-angle style better than the high-angle blade with low-angle style.
  
• I am now looking to be a two paddle kinda guy eventually: one low-angle, one high-angle.
  
• Upgrade the low-angle paddle first: Camano or Kalliste
  
• I'd be looking at a 210cm length whenever the time comes to get the high-angle paddle.

I'm more comfortable with the straight shaft instead of a neutral bent shaft. Instead of feeling natural, the bent shafts have felt weird to me. And I think I'm more likely to revert to a clenching grip with the bent shaft versus a straight one.

So, I ordered a 220cm Kalliste. We'll get small diameter shaft for Kathleen. She'll use mine to decide between a Kalliste and an Athena. She'll also use mine to see whether she should go with the 215cm length or not. These are the Werner suggested lengths for us in boats less than 23" wide. We don't have boats this narrow yet, but it's all part of the broader upgrade plan.