The new standard
3 common profiles left to right: The new standard, the old standard (flat/spooned powerface), bi-facial dihedral
I'm very excited about the newest addition to the Shade Tree paddle quiver. There were several things about this new paddle that caught my attention:
1: It's a new blade design, yet to be named (use the comments below for suggestions). It's a modified version of a perennial favorite from Shade Tree, the Original Gangster blade.* The OG has a nice big symmetrical round blade. Most people have it in very long (204cm) lengths for cruising in Greenboats. I personally found the blade to be a little too big for my taste, and its wide shoulders would contact the deck of the boat (at least for me; I'm also practicing keeping my paddle more vertical for more power). I've been searching for more power, so I wanted to modify the Original Gangster blade to be asymmetric along its upper and lower edges but with a nice round symmetrical tip.
2: The powerface has a new profile-- also not sure what to call it. It's a dihedral for the first 1/3 of the spoon, then continues on to become a flat powerface all the way to the tip.
The new paddle is 202cm long and 40 degree offset. It felt amazing, pulled through the water as smoothly as a bi-facial dihedral and also delivered more power than a normal flat spooned powerface. It sliced through the water like a dream and delivered more power than the older, larger and longer versions of the paddle. I could make wobble-free vertical strokes, and nice broad sweep strokes. It moved my boat so much faster that I had to change my timing because I was moving so fast.
My wife tried it and loved it. She uses a paddle that I made for her in 2012; it's a 196cm Bat-leth blade design. It has a flat, spooned powerface. She tried my paddle that was a full 6 cm longer and commented that even though it was longer, it felt significantly better than hers. Her rotator cuff was feeling a little tweaked that day from a previous injury, and she remarked that my new paddle was noticeably easier on her shoulder. The middle paddle in the photo is her paddle. You can see how much longer the first blade is.
It is somewhat hard to describe, but the power from this new paddle is very subtle. In the past, when using a flat-faced spooned blade, I noticed that the catch in the water was very jarring in the first part of the stroke. With this new profile, it felt deceptively smooth. More back-to-back testing and more days on the water might give me some more design insights, but for now, this dihedral spoon profile is the new standard for someone interested in power and speed. I can't say definitively that this is the best shape for every paddler: in my limited testing, I still prefer bi-facial dihedrals for playing and surfing around the river. However, for those desiring increased speed and efficiency with a gentler torque on the shoulder, this new blade seems incredibly promising.
*It should be noted that a certain kayak company has a boat called the Gangsta, and now they have a new design called the Original Gangsta. I would like to firmly state that I have been building a paddle called the Original Gangster for a very long time, possibly longer than a certain kayak company has been in existence. I'm not complaining-- I'm flattered that they want to use my product names for their boats. However, I feel that I deserve some type of compensation for the emotional duress they have caused by stealing my name. They should probably send me a boat. I'd accept a Gangsta in exchange for damages incurred. Evan, you can email me at Shadetreepaddles - at - gmail.com for shipping arrangements.