Storm

In the past year I’ve been on an odyssey regarding Lendal paddles. I first purchased a Lendal Cadence X . Liked the paddle and used it several times. The paddle had an unusual squeak in the shaft. Sent the Cadence X back to the retailer.I was informed he had no time to check my paddle. After two weeks he sent me my money back. With that money I purchased the Cadence. Thought that a smaller bladed paddle would be different from the larger blades that I used. Liked the lightness of that paddle. I managed to use the Cadence from August(2022)to January (2023). On a New Year day paddle I let a friend use the Cadence. She loved the paddle so much I reluctantly sold the Cadence to her. With that money I purchased the Lendal Storm. What a great paddle. I love every aspect of this paddle. Smooth. Light. Great shaft. Strong. Wonderful catch. Purchase. If a paddler wants a great paddle, then by all means purchase this paddle. Finally, I recommend purchasing Lendal products from SeaKayak Connecticut. Dave is knowledgeable, friendly, and will take care of your purchasing needs.

I have been paddling for 34 years. In that time frame and the numerous paddles I’ve used over the years the Lendal Storm paddle is the best paddle I have used. I have been fortunate to own the Cadence and Cadence X. They re good efficient light paddles. I sold both in order to get a Storm. There are not enough superlatives to describe this paddle . But I do grab the Storm on every paddle—I do 85+ paddles a year—I go out on and leave my other carbon paddles in the car. Serious paddles should give series attention to purchasing a Storm.

When Lendal described the Storm on their website, and after consulting with their excellent customer service team, I knew it was the Storm was for me. While paddling the Florida Circumnavigational Saltwater Paddling Trail (FL CT) every forward stroke counts. The Storm delivers, from catch recovery! Highly recommend! AND its made in the USA!!

This is my 10th paddle. I have even made a couple trying to find what works best for me. The Lendal Storm Bent-shaft is that paddle. I am an senior kayaker, averaging 300-400 miles a year. Living in the Northeast cuts into the available time to get more mileage. I have used straight shaft paddles for many years and found I would develop many "hotspots" on my palms. Additionally, arthritis in my wrists is starting to limit what I can do. This paddle is light, a 220 cm is only 22 oz. Strong, its all carbon-fiber. Fully adjustable for off-set up to 90 degrees and length up to 5 cm extra. It has just the right amount of flex and dips in and out of the water like a champ. The slight oval shape fits in your palm like it was custom made. It is , admittedly, a bit pricey, but when paddling for a week of 10-15 miles days you will appreciate having paid the extra. If there is a better paddle out there, I have yet to find it.

I can't tell you how impressed I am with my new Lendal storm paddle. The Storm was a replacement for a busted carbon paddle from another company that should have been an easy warranty repair, but they refused to fix. Until receiving my Lendal, it was the first time I'd ever held a Lendal, let alone use one. I just don't see many around the Great Lakes.

I had heard many good things about the latest rendition of the Storm from an acquaintance that I thought I'd bite and purchase from the "older in name," but newer kid on the block with the NA re-launch. I had heard they had a few quality issues the first couple of years of the re-launch, but the fit and finish on my paddle was excellent and no noticeable flaws. I was able to also utilize the ACA Pro discount which brought the overall cost in line and a touch under similar high end paddles. At full price, this blade would probably be out of my range.

My first impressions are how well balanced and the relative lack of any swing weight. Yes, it's carbon and supposed to be light, but it's impressive how effortless the blade moves through the water and sets up for the next stroke. I can link all the strokes I want with ease. In the interim while I was carbon paddle shopping I was using a blade from another higher end company and it turned out to be a battle axe. The paddle was a few oz. heavier than the Lendal, but the swing weight was all off and the paddle was nowhere near as balanced.

The 215 cm length is spot on my expectations. The MCS shaft hand holds are slightly wider than my old paddle and I'm adjusting easily. Love the slight oval to the shaft and the paddle nestles perfectly in the crook of my palm. Almost so perfectly I barely need to grip the paddle shaft. As advertised, the paddlok system is spot on and until you see and use it, do you realize the benefit. I'm not sure why anyone would want a larger blade surface than provided by the storm. I'm a bigger, broad shouldered guy and I'd not want to push a bigger blade around all day. I have a pretty fast boat in the NDK Greenlander Pro and I feel like I'm leaving speed on the table with the Lendal. The paddle wants more than the boat can give. I'm pushing the boat's hull speed to the max, and on sprints I top out the hull speed.

The only thing I was surprised about was the sticker ID for the offset and it's accuracy. I set-up the paddle for my normal offset and it wasn't working, so I had to play around with the angle until I felt comfortable. I know other companies have moved away from the sticker. This is minor, but thought I'd mention it, especially for a blade in this price range.

When selecting a MCS shaft you have to select right or left hand drive. This paddle isn't adjustable for L or R, like similar paddles. I didn't switch often with my other paddle, but it was nice to be able to change if I wanted to.

Visually striking, the build quality is excellent with a very smooth finish and few visible deformities. The model that Lendal was kind enough to lend used a previous year's shaft. We also had a Cadence to test that utilized a newer shaft that retained the same overall shape but seems to have a slightly larger diameter and may be a bit lighter. This same shaft is used in the current Storm. Both of these shafts have a pronounced triangular feel in the hand leaving absolutely no doubt as to non-visual orientation of the blade.

On land holding the paddle with a relaxed handgrip would result in the paddle's sloughing into a low brace position without a firmer grip. Left me wondering if I would need to "muscle" it more in use than my Werner.

The paddle joint is Lendal's proven carbon padlock system. This joint is stable and has the plus of having non-corrosive parts. Downside? You need a tool on your vest to lock the joint...the Lendal Key...lose it and you now own a one piece paddle. The current Lendal wrenches also don't hold up very well to saltwater.

Notable is Lendal's large beautiful graphic on the back face of the blade and the power face sports a "Storm" graphic that doesn't quite live up to the Lendal name, but it’s just a sticker; so let's go paddle.

On Water:
First impression was that blade size and its 24 oz. weight made for very pleasurable all-day touring. It feels very "strong" despite its low weight and seems to have just enough flex. As for the balance issue I experienced with the shaft on land; it was simply nowhere in evidence once the blade was in the water. In forward strokes the stiffness of the shaft made for smooth power transfer with the blade catching smoothly and exiting quietly with no flutter at all.

Despite the lack of drip rings, the paddle was quite dry to use. The blade also gripped well through sweep strokes and draws...that nicely shaped shaft coming into play again allowing very precise control with little ventilation. The blade worked predictably and felt completely natural through a whole litany of strokes, except one. When using a blended stroke that involves slicing the blade forward from a vertical orientation, as in a sculling draw... I found that with the bottom of the blade oriented forward it would try to dive under my hull if I didn't open the blade aggressively.

Overall? None of the others I passed it to noticed it and it certainly wasn't any sort of deal breaker for me. The Storm is light enough yet durable enough to hold up under extremes.

A little background on my style of paddling; I'm Marshall Seddon, the full time Owner/Instructor of The River Connection, avid kayak racer that does better than OK in the race results, habitual high angle paddler that can also use a Greenland Stick, ACA certified instructor, whitewater, sea kayak and adaptive paddling backgrounds, 6' 190lbs, each of the paddles are 215cm long 2 piece configurations.

Specs:
$450 Straight Shaft 2 Piece Storm Paddle w/std. carbon spigots
24oz. Weight for 215cm Straight Shaft
$510 Modified Crank Shaft 2 Piece Storm Paddle w/std. carbon spigots
24oz. Weight for 215 Modified Crank Shaft
16"x7-9/16" Blade face (measured from tip to shoulder of paddle)
20"x7-9/16" Blade face (measured from tip to end of hozzle)

Mfg. Description:
The STORM is a high performance dihedral foil back paddle designed for every type of paddler; super light (640 grams),controllable in all conditions, predictable through the entire paddle stroke inspiring the paddler in whatever conditions they face.

The design team at Lendal was challenged to design and produce a high performance paddle that would be the perfect paddle for the beginner to the expert. After a year of iterations the STORM is the marriage of the XRANGE foil paddle Kinetik shape as the Kinetik shape has been a favorite for years, with a new dihedral face. It's ease of power delivery and control makes this paddle a 'must have' for anyone serious about performance in all manners of conditions.

Initial Observations:
I've only had the chance to play with the Storm at a trade show but noticed immediately the crispness of the blade's entry/exit to the water rivaled the feel of my Mitchell Black Magic and the weight was extremely close to a Werner Cyprus. The most noticeable difference was the attention to sculpting real meaningful indexing into the paddle shaft. This not only sat absolutely naturally in my hands but for rolling, sculling, prying, etc. the blade orientation was automatic as the direction could be felt in the shaft shape rather than feeling for the blade resistance. I'm looking forward to putting some miles on this paddle!

A Few Miles on Each Paddle:
Coming from having just been paddling with a FG Lendal Cadence my first reaction upon picking up the Lendal Storm Straight Shaft was noticing the lightness of the paddles. I know on paper it is only 2oz. but it is immediately noticeable in the hands.

First couple paddle strokes continued to differentiate the paddle from the Cadence and others. This paddle has BITE! Superior catch for a mid sized high angle paddle blade. Feels like the amount of purchase that you would get with a bigger blade like a Werner Ikelos. Really nice balance which I'll pester the designers for more details as to how they achieved that but I'm going to guess that it's from more of it's drop point sort of profile like a whitewater playboat paddle design.

The feel of the blades moving in and through the water is very, very nice. Quiet, minimal to no entrained air with the blade insertion. Just enough buoyancy to lift the blade on the exit. No blade flutter in low or high position regardless of the amount of power supplies. Super solid when sculling for support or propulsion in abeams, both sculling and prying draw strokes.

The length of 215cm felt spot on which I'll attribute to the fuller design leading to the throat of the blade compared to the Lendal Cadence.

There are no drip rings on the paddle. I'm right handed so with a 45 degree feather to the blades drippage would land on my foredeck near my feet. While it doesn't phase me typically paddling a P&H Cetus MV with sprayskirt other paddlers that are used to drip rings might want to add a set.

The Straight Shaft has a very solid feel with no discernible flex. The purchase of the blades is a very strong confident feel without so much resistance as to be fatiguing. There are no drip rings on the paddle. I'm right handed so with a 45 degree feather to the blades drippage would land on my foredeck near my feet. While it doesn't phase me typically paddling a P&H Cetus MV with sprayskirt other paddlers that are used to drip rings might want to add a set.

The Lendal Modified Crank Shaft (bent shaft) has the same blades as on the straight shaft. I'm not an overly enthusiastic fan of bent shaft paddles but I'm REALLY liking Lendal's Modified Crank Shaft. My hands seem to fall right in the sweet spot of the grip area. This makes for a similarly solid feel as on the straight shaft but with more of a sense that it just melds to my body's design. Really, really sweet! Hows that for subjective? I found myself paddling the 4 miles back to the Landing with this paddle and not wanting to switch back to the straight shafts.