Inflatable Kayak Paddles

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Choosing the right kayak paddle

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Although more expensive paddles are widely available, we feel our selection provides exceptional value. To get a paddle with hand made glass lay-up blades in a take apart version, you have to spend double to triple what our better ones cost. Spending three times as much will generally get you a better balanced paddle that weighs 6 to 8 ounces less, but the vast majority of our customers are not looking to spend $600+ on two paddles for their $950 kayak.

Hardshell kayak shops often over-emphasize weights to justify high paddle prices, but unless you plan on circumnavigating the Baja peninsula or the Gulf of Alaska a small difference between two similar models won't make much difference. Most burn you feel in your arms at the day's end has to do with the effort you put out to propel your boat, not whether you are hefting 32 ounces or 36. Properly designed blades decrease wrist, forearm, and shoulder strain no matter what type of water you enjoy. Going the other direction, you can make more work for yourself by gripping the shaft too far toward the center, decreasing leverage. Hold the paddle more out toward the blades, and push forward with your high arm. Many of the paddles found in this section have asymetric dihedral blades (where the lower edge is shaved away) for decreased flutter and the associated wrist fatigue. Inexpensive polycarbonate blades used on the low-end Carlisle and Caviness products are often as strong as what you find on many $300 paddles, but they are not be designed for efficient paddling and are far heavier.

Oval or contoured grip areas on the shaft assist with blade control, and are very helpful for learning to paddle in the offset position. Knowing how to brace will keep you right side up on the river, and bracing is easier if your paddle blades are feathered with the "dry" blade more parallel to the water. If you suddenly upset to the opposite side, you can sweep this blade across the surface and push up on the shaft at the same time. This is the basic form of low-bracing. Paddling into the wind is also more efficient with your out-of-water blade cutting the air rather than pushing into it. Round shaft paddles can be "ovaled" by creating a grip area for one or both hands. Just take a 6 to 8" long strip of foam (1/4" thick by 1/2" wide window weather seal), soft rope, or something similar, place it on the shaft under your middle knuckles while holding the paddle as you would in a boat, and wrap around it with bicycle handle bar tape, bicycle inner tube scraps, or better yet large diameter shrink tubing if you can find any.

What about overall length? Just how long should your paddle be? Is there a convenient formula like hardshell kayakers use? Most inflatable kayak designed for whitewater require a length in the 88" to 92" range because most of the river i.k.'s are at least three feet wide. For a handful of very portly models like the AIRE Outfitter - especially the tandems - you may want to go close to eight feet, or in the 240cm to 245cm range, Narrower inflatable kayaks designed for touring with widths of 30 to 33" should use a paddles ranging from 220cm to 230cm. The exact size for a touring i.k. may depend on whether you plan to paddle it by yourself a lot, or always with a second person. It also depends on how big the blade's surface is.

Choosing the right touring paddle.