I am looking for some input on fixed paddles. I bought the adjustable Naish Makani 8.0" which is fine, but my wife is going to use it and I will be buying another for myself. On the weekend, I tried a friends fixed paddle that had a wider shaft and found that it was much sturdier and felt like I was able to get more out of each stroke. I am unsure of the type or brand of my friend's paddle (and so is he) other than that it had a carbon shaft and was about the same weight as the Makani give or take.

Below is a picture of me out on the board I got from Leroy, turns out that standing up on flat water was not an issue at all! Should have listened and gone to the Barwon river in the first place.

Anyway, I included the pic so you could get an idea of my size and that maybe it would direct the opinions of which kind of paddle to look at. I don't want to break the bank and I'm not overly concerned with weight. I would like something that is good for flatwater and surfing, something that I can get powerful strokes and speed with. I know that some of that comes down to technique and board type, but would like to start off with quality gear. Also, it needs to be tall as I am 6'4. I don't know if weight comes in to play, but currently I am 113 kg.

When you say wider shaft do you mean wider blade or thicker shaft?

I recommend you choose between one of the new Naish, Starboard or Fanatic paddles..

Or better still you can choose between Kialoa, Quick Blade or KaNalu.

DJ

Hey, you're a freakin Adonis!!! I betcha if you go out in smaller waves ie: Cosy Corner or Fisho's you'll have far less difficulty now. You have the proportions of an extremely fit normal human except upsized!!! I've got the Okay to start flat water next week, but already went two days ago. To be truthful my main problem is not getting to cocky because even though I didn't fall in, I hurt the next day around my lower back, quads and core because I was subconsciously protecting my mending hip!

Rob I recently purchased a Coreban adjustable and it is excellent. My fixed blade is a Kialoha Methane also excellent, at your size you could probably use a bulldozers bucket!!! All of what DJ said. I think Ke Nalu's are a great option due to size and quality. I'll ring you soon and try and arrange a paddle with you down at Torquay if you want, or the Barwon River and then after that, OG or Raffs for a surf for you. I'll just watch from the water unless I am confident of no pain. It works out well because if I dislocate my hip you've got a medical background!!

Hey DJ the sweet spot for me on the Jav MC was about 18 inches from where I was standing on my first Downwinder and in staggered stance, it made a huge difference. I went in for my op the next day and don't want to tell you how dosed up on Pain Killers I was when I went out with you guys. The result is that the 12'6" Naish is a fantastic board for me in Flat water. I reckon if I want to seriously start doing Downwinders a 14ft Glide or similar would be the go due to my size. When I'm teaching again its almost impossible to do Downwinders because if the conditions are OK I'll probably be down the coast but, I might have a few more tries on the 12'6".

Rob I'll talk to you soon. Check the for sale on 'Seabreeze', but if I were you I'd buy new again and get advice from the shop or better yet explain what you want the paddle for and ask them to cut it to size. Good luck and have fun!!!

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DavidJohn said..

When you say wider shaft do you mean wider blade or thicker shaft?

I recommend you choose between one of the new Naish, Starboard or Fanatic paddles..

Or better still you can choose between Kialoa, Quick Blade or KaNalu.

DJ

DJ,

Yes, I was talking about the shaft being thicker. Not sure about the blade. It just had less give to it when paddling, I believe that is called flex?

Will look into those paddles you mentioned. Is there generally a size that goes with certain styles? Such as a wider blade for surf to help with quick bursts, or a narrow blade for FW to ease pressure on the shoulders?

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Leroy13 said..

Hey, you're a freakin Adonis!!! I betcha if you go out in smaller waves ie: Cosy Corner or Fisho's you'll have far less difficulty now. You have the proportions of an extremely fit normal human except upsized!!! I've got the Okay to start flat water next week, but already went two days ago. To be truthful my main problem is not getting to cocky because even though I didn't fall in, I hurt the next day around my lower back, quads and core because I was subconsciously protecting my mending hip!

Rob I recently purchased a Coreban adjustable and it is excellent. My fixed blade is a Kialoha Methane also excellent, at your size you could probably use a bulldozers bucket!!! All of what DJ said. I think Ke Nalu's are a great option due to size and quality. I'll ring you soon and try and arrange a paddle with you down at Torquay if you want, or the Barwon River and then after that, OG or Raffs for a surf for you. I'll just watch from the water unless I am confident of no pain. It works out well because if I dislocate my hip you've got a medical background!!

Hey DJ the sweet spot for me on the Jav MC was about 18 inches from where I was standing on my first Downwinder and in staggered stance, it made a huge difference. I went in for my op the next day and don't want to tell you how dosed up on Pain Killers I was when I went out with you guys. The result is that the 12'6" Naish is a fantastic board for me in Flat water. I reckon if I want to seriously start doing Downwinders a 14ft Glide or similar would be the go due to my size. When I'm teaching again its almost impossible to do Downwinders because if the conditions are OK I'll probably be down the coast but, I might have a few more tries on the 12'6".

Rob I'll talk to you soon. Check the for sale on 'Seabreeze', but if I were you I'd buy new again and get advice from the shop or better yet explain what you want the paddle for and ask them to cut it to size. Good luck and have fun!!!

Leroy,

You are too kind! The wetsuit hides a lot, especially in the belly department. Let me know when you are up for a paddle, I am happy to go anytime I am not at work. Good news and great job on healing enough to be out in the water already. It's great to have an exercise goal to aim for, it will aid in your recovery. I am happy to try out wherever you recommend. I have found a few guys who are into SUP's also, all conscientious on the water as well who would most likely be up for a group outing.

I will check out the paddles you and DJ have recommended as well. There doesn't seem to be much on Google that I could find. Every time I search for paddles in relation to paddle boards, 99% of the finds are for SUP's. Now that I have some names, I will search for them individually. I will also have a chat to the Melbourne shops as Strapper only has a few different paddles in stock; the Naish Makani and a Starboard paddle (not sure which model).

Give me a call whenever you are free.

Rob

Skinny is better.. IMO.. Even for bigger guys with big hands.. btw I'm 6'4" with huge hands and paddle shafts have got skinnier over the years.. You probably liked it because it was different.. and because it was stiffer.. The Naish skinny shaft adjustables have a lot of flex.. Try a fixed length quallity Naish paddle and you'll be surprised at how much stiffer they are.. Where are you?.. Try a shops like RPS.. The Zu.. and SHQ and see if they have any demo paddles you can try.. You'll be surprised at how different they all feel.. IMO you should be looking for a blade size around the 8-81/2" width.

DJ

Hey Rob did you get my PM? Come up to the RPS Fanatic Demo Day and we'll do a tour of the SUP outlets! DJ is about the same size as you but fairly skinny. I'm about the same weight but hugely muscular not!

I will be coming down to the Fanatic demo day for sure! Leroy, I will give you a call this evening and see if we can arrange to meet up on the day. Yes, I got your pm and appr eciate your advice. I can be very impatient! I have found that this sport is not only fun, but is something my wife and I can do to keep our fitness up together. Since she has taken a liking to it as well, I will be looking at picking up another board very soon and have been considering the starboard avanti. I am also really interested to check out the SUP outlets in melbourne and to check out/demo the fanatic fly models.

DJ, I am in Geelong. I will look at the naish fixed paddles as well. I think what I liked most about the fixed paddle was how solid it felt when paddling.

You'll love my Kialoha then as it has a rectangular shaft that makes it very stiff and extremely sturdy feeling. The facts are that with round shafts is that they all flex unless really heavily designed. Talk to you tonight, i'd ring you now but I'm taking my 14 year old to Victorian Hockey team training. Talk soon cheers Leroy. (You'd snap a fibreglass paddle like a twig BTW)