Werner Paddles

By -
I think paddles are very specific to the person using them, but I can say that most people fall in love with the Werner Ikelos or the Werner Cyprus.  Both paddles have carbon shafts with foam core blades wrapped in carbon.  I like the neutral bent shaft as it provides a comfortable feel as you put on miles.  The Ikelos is my personal paddle and I have been using it for over 4 kayak seasons now. It is still in great shape.  The adjustable ferrule is great and can go left or right feather in 15 degree increments.



The Ikelos is a big blade with lots of surface area.  This can be quite a workout moving trough the water all day.  The Cyprus has less surface area and can be a bit easy on fatigue after kayaking all day.  

I find the  Ikelos is nice and smooth through the water.  It did take a bit for me to get use to, as the blade feels more buoyant due to the foam core center and while sculling I found it easier to use if I slow down my stroke.  In slowing down the sculling for support stroke I seem to be able to get feedback from the blade and can really start to feel the support it is providing.  This is a high angle paddle and is designed to provide efficent movement of single kayaks.  I have used other paddles in the past such as Lendal Kinetik.  But when I transitioned the Werner Ikelos, I have never purchased another paddle.  I have demoed plenty but none could replace my Ikelos.

Werner produces high quality paddles and are made in Washington State.  If you are at you local paddle shop and you see they stock Werner Paddles.  Take one out for a demo and you will see what I am talking about.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Astral Greenjacket Review

By -
Image
I have finally spent a bit more time in the Astral Greenjacket and I have decided it is time to go ahead with my finally review of the product. My previous jacket was a Stohlquist Brik .  Which is a side entry style jacket.  I was really happy with performance and fit.  I did have a zipper problem which was a not really taken care of by Stohlquist.  I was teaching a class and was performing a "Cowboy/Back Deck" rescue and the zipper broke.  When I contacted service dept to get it fixed they wanted me to pay shipping and charge for the repair of a new jacket.  I passed on the factory repair and did the best I could do. I do not recommend that.  Next issue I had was there is simply no storage on the vest.  Not that big of a deal since I try to not load myself with stuff.  Overall it was a good fit and a clean front making it snag free while messing about the deck of my sea kayak. On to the Greenjacket !   My use of the Greenjacket is for sea kayak guiding and personal kayaking
Read more

Morning Kayak Lessons

By -
Image
A good start to the day when you wake up and see the sun and having to get on the water to teach kayak lessons.  Though it was cold outside, I could tell it was going to warm nicely once the sun had time to do its work.  After a cup of coffee it was time to meet Lauren (my student for the class) and load the gear and get on the water.  The water was perfect, flat calm and good for learning the basics.  Lauren has taken classes before and it pretty up to speed on self rescue.  So we were out to work on kayak handling skills.  Mainly driving home proper edging, body movement and blade placement. After the lesson it was off to grab a bite to eat and get back outside.  I of course headed out to check in the Red Tailed Hawks (RTHs).  I ran into Monika again,  http://orcawatcher.blogspot.com/  , who once again got great images on the RTHs in flight. She got some images of the pair together.  I was able to locate the Rufous Morph further south. There was a visitor with me in town from London
Read more

Seward G3 Passat Kayak Review

By -
Image
Our good friends at Seward Kayaks on Vancouver Island build amazing kayaks with attention to detail.  As a Sea Kayak Guide for Discovery Sea Kayaks , I have been around the G3 Passat tandem kayak for over 5 years. Overall my preference is a single kayak but for tours, we put all clients in tandem kayaks.  So by default, I have had the chance to get to know the kayaks really well.   The first impression you get when you unwrap one of this kayak is WOW!  They are very pleasing to the eye with great lines and beautiful profile.  The finish of the kayak is great.  Typically really smooth without any pockets or imperfections in the gel coat.  There is no denying they are one of the best looking tandems you can buy. Specifications: Length: 22 feet Width: 26 inches Weight: 90 pounds Looking at the specs you can see that the long waterline combined with the narrow beam (width), for a tandem, that this is a fast kayak.  At first, we were a bit worried about the wid
Read more