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Area10 said..
Nice.
C'mon then, what's the story with the bent shaft paddle?
Kialoa have been making double bend OC1 paddles for years and their more recent design with a kink towards the handle works so much better than the common s bend like many others (and Kialoa also still make) because the s bend only allowes for a very small sweet spot for the lower hand.. I was really keen to buy a Werner double bend paddle a few years ago and lucky for me I tryed one before buying.. It felt pretty bad IMO.. One nice thing about it was a comfee ergo lower had possition.. but everything else was bad.. Way too thick in the shaft.. felt clombersome changing sides.. Plus it felt way too stiff like paddling with a piece of 2 by 4..
When I first heard about the new Kialoa double bend paddle (at least 6 months ago) I had seen a picture of Gerry Lopez using one.. and I had heard that he said it was the best paddle that he'd ever used.. He loved it.. I was keen to buy one for myself.. I asked about it and after a few months of waiting I was thinking they'd given up on putting them into production.. Anyway.. a couple of weeks ago I was buying myself two new surf paddles.. The new Pipes 2 and the new Gerry Lopez Surf Wahine.. and at the same time I asked one more time about the double bend race/downwind paddle.. Dave Chun from Kialoa replied to me saying that it is definatlly going into production.. Still a few months away.. But would try a let me buy one early so they can be shipped together with my other surf paddles.. Well Dave came through and it arrived recently.. I assumed the shape was an ergo thing like the Werner.. and the added blade angle was to bring back any reach lost from the bend in the shaft.. I asked Dave Chun and this was his reply..
"Why a double bend? The double bend allows the paddler to bend the elbow of the top arm. More bend in the elbow, keeps the shoulder joint in a more ergonomic position. Paddling with a straight top arm, puts pressure on the rotator cuff. Which is bad." and he said the extra angle on the blade is not so much for reach but to put the blade in a more virticle angle in the water during the power part of the stroke..
Even though this paddle feels very different to any paddle I've used before I loved it.. Even though it was the same 'Hulu Small' blade size that I'm used to it felt more powerful and smoother through the water.. I was surprised at how quickly it felt normal.. I'll probably swap between the straight shaft Hulu and double bend Hulu for a while and see what I end up using the most.. I'm guessing the double bend..
DavidJohn
> 9 months ago, 22 Jul 2015
