Some comments, read if you want. No TL;DR I hope... I fixed a few typos:
(a) AT Eddy 200 cm for sale on Kijiji, here:
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-water-sport/ottawa/ops-at-eddy-whitewater-kayak-paddle/1223424264?enableSearchNavigationFlag=trueThat is what I use, I'm at #2 now, first one I cracked the blade but it is still useable, and used actually by someone, just not strong enough for creeking. Great paddle, around 330$ brand new (I paid 270$ for my green one brand new on sale), the seller's 320$ price is too high.
(b) Paddle length:
A function of shoulder width, arm length and overall strength, so bear this in mind when listening to anybody's recommendation. That said, a few people I know recently switched to longer paddles (around 200 cm) and larger blade areas, and really like the increased propulsion power and the increased purchase on water when rolling and bracing that the longer shaft affords. But the folks in question also have strong upper bodies.
(c) Straight vs bent shaft, durability:
Straight paddles are both lighter and more robust, as there is no particular spot along the shaft that will get damaged. Bent shafts on the other hand will likely get scratched right at the 'bends' if the paddle is thrown on rocks etc. That will be where they eventually break, as lighweight composite materials are somewhat sensitive to the state of the surface: scratches act as weak points. One way to solve the problem is by extending the rubber wrapping over the bends areas, allowing to monitor wear. Great stuff: plumber's 'Magic Wrap' from Canadian Tire. Has no glue but sticks to itself when stretched: read the instructions!
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/magic-wrap-0670300p.html (d) Straight vs bent shaft, safety:
Straight paddles will cause, for some, a painful bump on the metacarpal/proximal phalange thumb joints. Also, without aggressive indexing, it is very difficult to know the orientation of a straight shaft when wearing gloves or mitts. I find that a bit unnerving and clearly unsafe. Others don't mind, including many old paddlers. Bent shafts, on the other hand, give constant feedback as to their orientation, even underwater or with thick gloves. Especially with Magic Tape! As for wrist angles, the difference isn't as huge as one might think.
(e) Twist or feathering:
Complex issue here. Basically it comes down to personal preference. But some things need to be stated. Let me speak in parables...
--Ever heard the one about the young wife cutting off a part of the turkey/roast/whatever before cooking it in the oven? She got it from her mother, who got it from her mother... They 'knew' it had something to do with making the thing tastier/juicer/drier/whatever. The punch line: old great-grandmother laughing as she recalls that the only pan she had was too small to hold a complete roast so she had to cut off a bit of it. A funny illustration of 'post hoc rationalization'. Many sports-related (and others) concepts seem to be related to that.
--Racing bicycle frame makers were still insisting, into the 1990s, on putting horizontal dropouts in their frames, fully three decades after the invention of the derailleur made these obsolete. See image below. Before the invention of the derailleur, with 2 or 3 gears, the axle needed to be moved back and forth when changing gear. Many would defend these as a component of a 'classic' racing frame, some sort of necessity or performance enhancer, there for a currently good reason. Despite no actual evidence of effectiveness. This argument sounds like a 'post hoc rationalization' of a vestigial feature. It took the relatively young mountain biking community to question the 'common knowledge' of a very conservative racing bike community and nowadays racing bikes no longer come with horizontal dropouts.
--Same thing about negative angle stems. See 2nd image below. In a situation where every gram saved is worth it, why the extra material required, compared to a positive angle stem, stayed there for so long is a mystery...
Let's be careful here. The market for whitewater paddles is a lot smaller than for bicycles, for instance. A few manufacturers can have a big influence, because the average paddler needs to buy a commercially available paddle. When somebody famous/owner of a big company/whoever says he/she likes/sells more paddles having a certain amount of twist, you have a self-reinforcing situation. Many would defend that as some sort of performance enhancer. Despite zero actual evidence of effectiveness whatsoever. This reminds me--if you can get a few charismatic/popular athletes to start wearing some kind of silly colourful tape, you can bet amateurs will buy the stuff en masse and you will have a commercial success. Many would defend that as some sort of performance enhancer. Despite no actual evidence of effectiveness.
One more thing: as far as I know, there is no evidence supporting the statemtent that the wrist rotations required by a feathered paddle are desireable at all. This argument sounds like another 'post hoc rationalization' of a vestigial feature.
As far as can be seen, humans are left-right symmetrical. And there is no prevalence of left- or right-direction features on rivers and man-made courses. We're not talking about Indianapolis racing, where right turns are unheard of. The argument made by some slalom paddlers that a certain amount of twist is useful to clear gates fails. Because whatever advantage there could be on one side is a disadvantage on the other side. This also sounds like a 'post hoc rationalization' of a vestigial feature. And in whitewater, the wind is not an issue so 90 degree paddles? Hmmm....
In all fairness, there is however a very small advantage in having a so-called 'right-twist' (the majority of paddle commercially available): if your roll is the so-called 'offside' sweep roll, during which the left hand does the arc, the paddle twist makes it easier for the blade to have a climbing angle. But since most folks roll on the other side, well, you get the point.
It seems to me that the situation for paddle twist is analoguous to the racing bicycles: It took the relatively young whitewater paddling community to question the 'common knowledge' of a very conservative sea kayak and slalom community, but nowadays one thing is clear: the amount of twist in commercially available whitewater paddles has steadily declined over the years from 90 degrees down to essentially zero. Unfortunately, some manufacturers still insist on NOT offering a zero twist option. We'll see what the market will do, but I do not have much hope since the whitewater market is not the bicycle market.
Anyway, it comes down to personal preference and commercial availability. I use a bright green 200 cm AT Eddy that I bought on sale for around 300$, tax included. It has supposedly around 12 degrees of twist, but because of its design peculiarity, that twist feels more like 5 degrees. I would like to have an expensive zero degree carbon paddle from a 'premium' manufacturer. I even once asked for a quote (3 years ago). I am still waiting... That said, paying 584$ + tax ~ 660$ for a Werner Double Diamond Bent Shaft paddle that I might break or lose (it is black, after all) seems like a silly option.
About that peculiarity... I took me a while to understand the manufacturer's answer to the question that was asked of them by some paddlers a while ago, as to why they do not offer a zero offset option. It turns out that AT paddles bent shafts are a bit peculiar: the two halves of the paddles are not simply mirror images of each others, they have different amounts of angular offset between the bent 'handle' part and the blade. So they could not be re-glued to have zero offset. as to other manufacturers, I might be wrong here, but I believe that the two halves of Werner paddles are in fact mirror images of each others, so could be re-glued/assembled as zero offset.
Have fun shopping!
--C.
