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I’m one of the ones who enjoys using a double blade for canoe travel. I’ve done some pretty good GPS tests for speed and distance and find the double blade, in general, adds about 1/2 mile per hour to my speed and it balances the work between both sides of my body so I feel less tired at the end of the day. That easily adds another hour of paddling to each day, and I don’t have to take Ibuprofen as soon as I step out of the canoe.
IMHO the double blade is especially useful going upstream and going against the wind. I can apply full power and not have to worry about correction strokes. However, as soon as the whitewater starts I switch back to a single blade. Also, for silent running I much prefer the single blade. I find it all but impossible to keep a double blade silent on entry or exit. Always a “plop” on entry and a “splash” on exit. Sometimes that noise really gets to me and I know its time to single blade for a while until my nerves sooth out.
The double blade I used for a while is a Lendal carbon 250cm. I found that at 220cm it’s a perfect double blade but at 250cm it cavitates. I didn’t understand that until Patrick from Onno Paddles explained the dynamic of the longer shaft un-balancing the blade. Now I prefer the Werner Camano Carbon. It comes the closest I’ve found for silent strokes. I also have a Bending Branches Day Breeze 250cm. The single blade I prefer is a Werner Bandit carbon.
Not to start yet another “discussion” but there are, of course, a number of paddlers who feel single blade is the way it should be; for tradition I suppose. It’s surprising the single bladers who have jeered at my double blade as I breeze by them in their kevlar canoe and carbon bent shaft. Neither the kevlar or the bent shaft is very traditional IMHO, and certainly not as fast under most conditions as the double. I’m not challenging anyone, just sharing my experience. Okay, now I’ll stop rambling
@AndyB 60 wrote:
If you haven’t already, ‘Reading Rock Art’ by Rajnovich is a must.
Another excellent title is “Magic on the Rocks” by Michael Furtman.
