John Fereira wrote:

I don't think I've ever seen anyone complain choosing a better, more
expensive paddle than a cheap one. Over the years that this group has been
"in business" there have been lots of people coming here asking for
reccommendations on a paddle and the advice has always been not to scrimp on
buying a paddle and there is a good reason for that.

That said, I don't believe that a $400 super light carbon fiber paddle is
for everyone. While many of the experience paddlers here would hardly blink
about spending that kind of money on equipment for their passion, that's a
significant commitment for someone just entering the sport and still not
sure how into the sport they're going to get.

I've gone from the heavy Schlegel paddles to Spiderpaddles (prepreg
glass blades with a double thickness carbon/kevlar bent shaft) about six
years ago. Those paddles take several years of abuse (rock bashing on
low level streams) and gradually wear down the blades.

The one I have now (for the past two years) cost about 175 US$, the
previous one cost about 140 US$ at that time. Decent price for a good
paddle. I can't justify anything like 400 US$ on a paddle, no matter how
nice it is. Boats tend to outlast my paddles by a factor of at least
two, even though I haven't broken a paddle in maybe six or seven years,
that's just too much money for my taste.

--
Wilko van den Bergh wilkoa t)dse(d o tnl
Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---
http://kayaker.nl/