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~~~~~~~JIM~~~~~~~

                   Jim Kinney photo

One Bladed Paddles

Kayak Paddles

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What's New in Ruth Bell?

Here’s the story of my recent trip to Japan.

Feather Study

Don’t miss the sweet
Gift Veneers
by Taiki Sugawara
of Sapporo, Japan!

Hey! I’m All About
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Logo Story...

yeah...  wood is good!

You’re going to love the               Warranty!

Stew Caldwell
testing on Gorilla

Green River, NC

Glossary

Feather Study

OK-  Here’s the dealio.  I had the opportunity to study the relative geometry of forearms as it pertains to different feather paddles. If you’ve read my page you know I am a proponent of 40’ feather paddles and really don’t prefer anything under 30’ feathers.  And I wanted to explore why.

My main premise is based on the geometry of the upper (pushing) arm of any particular stroke- but specifically on the off handed side.  That would be a left side stroke for a right handed feather and visa versa.  I prefer and need to have my upper hand push with the bony base of my fingers.  It’s like a karate tenet where you are trying to focus a lot of power through a small hard area.

  My objection to 0 ‘ feather paddles is that they make this impossible-  which they do.  The only way your upper hand can push a 0’ feather paddle - on either side- is with the soft fleshy palm of the hand or the skin between your first finger and thumb-  not tough stuff.

Here’s a couple photos showing the exact problem I have with the pushing hand of a 0’ feather paddle stroking on both sides.  There’s NO WAY I can get the bones at the base of my fingers to push against the paddle. My knuckles are forced to slip over the top of the shaft.

Here’s a shot of what I am talking about.  This is the pushing hand of an off side stroke with a 40’ feather. See how I can drive with the actual bones in my hand?  This means the work is translating through my bone structure- not my fleshy palms.

It’s the same on my right side stroke- I can relax my hand and just drive with the bone structure.    40’ feather

A lower (30’ feather still allows me to drive with my bones- but not as much.

To study the relative forearm geometry, I took a series of photos like this:

And I made careful measurements of the relative angles between the forearms for forward strokes.  I was trying for some science-  but frankly- I don’t think I got anywhere.  Non-the-less ~here’s the relative angles I found. I can’t make any sense of it at all.

FEATHER                    RELATIVE FOREARM ANGLES                      

0’                       left stroke    30’         right stroke  38’

30’                        “     “         33’           “     “        40’

40’                        “     “         46’           “     “        32’

My conclusion is that, for me, a great feeling stroke is based on being able to push the shaft with the bones of my hand directly. I want my paddle feather to enable that- not restrict it.  A 40’ feather paddle does that- other feathers do to.  I’ve never studied for the optimal angle because I like 40’ feathers so much. There might be a better feather- but it would land between 30 and 40’ in my opinion.

  Granted- pushing your paddle is old fashioned- even a racing concept (oh dread).  But it’ what really FEELS BEST to me and it’s what I can work hard with all day long.  Maybe someday people will push their paddles again and this will make sense to others.

   Keep in mind every year I paddle the whole length of the Cheat River in two 70 mile, 15+ hour days on the water.  At the end of a 15 hr. day you are really in a unique position to assess what works for you or not.

nuff said...