i am a guide in the Adirondack park. I paddle daily for work.
This is my favorite paddle.
Beautiful. Efficient. Tough.
I was recommended fishell by a friend, after my 2nd bending branches (now called by local guides ‘breaking branches’) paddle broke apart for the season. My friend, showed me the beautiful Ash blade he purchased from fishell , as a solution to the forever issue of cheaply made paddles splintering then shattering with a mere scrape of a rock or glance off the bottom of a pond.
I now use this elegant wood blade in all canoe environments from pushing off the bottom (essentially poling) on water to shallow to paddle and too deep to walk, glass calm ponds, to technical class 3 whitewater.
Construction: Fishell’s paddles are cut from a single piece of top quality hardwood and thus are sturdy like a club with no weak points, unlike the many weakness found in a laminated sorftwood paddle. You can choose from 3 basic hardwoods. I prefer maple, for durability and some heft ( i prefer heft.) the cherry paddle i ordered is light like composite material, and stronger. The cherry compared to other blades is not a compromise like most assume about wood paddles. As for my friends white ash blade, it’s a good compromise between the cherry and the maple. Light and tough.
Beauty: Unbeatable. You can choose from 3 basic hardwoods or request specialty woods depending on availability. I just ordered a walnut paddle, it’s stunning. I order my girlfriend a cherry paddle. It’s sort dark red, and i swear i see it glowing once in a while, when the light hits it just right.
Performance: I ordered the ray special and i have not tried the quill or modified special. The ray special is made with an deep understanding of how a canoe actually works. The long blade allows for a deep, smooth and sturdy catch. The length also allows the majority of the power phase to happen beneath the paddler’s center of weight as it cuts in and under the canoe. Best of all, the narrow and long blade makes for a comfortable and efficient release/correction phase. The length provides leverage and ample surface area during the correction phase, so that paddlers can afford a subtly as it only takes very little pressure and angle to keep the canoe tracking straight. This is made even easy and more efficient by a power phase being inline with the paddlers center of weight, as very little correction is needed in the first place.
Not everyone is going to take this blade into whitewater, and to my want to keep around a cheap plastic blade as sacrifice from paddling through rocks and rapids. IF you take it into rapids, like any blade you do run the risk of damaging your gorgeous hardwood canoe paddle. BUT, if you do want to paddle a rapid with this blade then, it’s tough enough to handle a few runs. The most damage my maple paddle has taken is a wearing down of the varnish and the tip of the blade. It shallow water to will be mostly pushing with the paddle rather than paddling, this is when the paddle it most likely to break. In deep water rapids, this paddle provides a surprising amount of control and therefore confidence. Don’t kid yourself though, this is not whitewater kayak paddle meant for hucking yourself through wave trains and booking off drops. It’s a reliable sturdy wood canoe paddle that offers control on class 2 sometimes 3 rapids. But hey it’s canoeing so you shouldnt be launching through waves anyway, rather we canoeists will know that a slower more controlled approach works.
NOTICE, you will need to learn a bit about canoe technique to enjoy all the paddle has to offer. For example, if you simply put the blade in the water and pull straight back with the blade at a totally flat angle, you will not get enough power. However, if you are practicing a proper and smooth J stroke, while setting a roughly 10-15 degree cavitation, it will naturally direct you into an efficient powerful stroke.
Comfort: I recommend the leather wrap. It provides great grip and cuts down on blisters and hot spots. I choose the oil finish for the pommel. It feels great on my top hand and again rolls smoothly in my palm and cuts down on blisters. Also, it just feels right. Second, i chose maple ( the heaviest of the options) with proper technique the weight is negligible. Keeping the paddle’s pivot point sliding along the gunwals, I didn’t notice the weight, as the canoe essentially bore the weight for me as i refined my technique to accommodate a more elegant blade shape. I will say that the designer smartly tipped the balance of weight towards the blade side of the paddle. This means that all i really had to do during the catch phase was allow for the blade to drop into the water and really do the work for me. Also because the valence pulls the blade side down and the pommel side up, the blade naturally tracks straight through the water and guides you along it’s preferred path through the stroke. Simply beautiful.
Finally, the hardwood construction offers some flex. While stiffness = power transfer and flex= power loss, stiffness also equals shoulder pain and potential overuse injury if you dont have the shoulders of a NFL line backer. The slight flex as taken a lot of stress off my joints and tendons. However, if you a stiffer blade with a quicker power transfer try the cherry, its the best composite material match/alternative.
Conclusion: this is a great paddle, dont judge it too quickly, try one out at least once. If you order one customize it and make it your own. The performance matches the beauty, and it was more beautiful it person than i had hoped for when ordering.
Well done.
