Blade Orientation?
 

What did Einstein say?

Something like "The difference between genius and stupidity is
that genius has it's limits." ?


Coming from a wing paddle - where the larger half of the blade
goes upwards, I started orienting my first surf paddle
accordingly.

I suspect I have the white surf paddle in the attached link/photo
upside down.

Which paddle is oriented correctly - the one with black or blades
or the one with white blades?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48262653@N00/890740458/



--
PeteCresswell

Blade Orientation?
 

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote:

Which paddle is oriented correctly - the one with black or blades
or the one with white blades?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48262653@N00/890740458/

Both?

With asymmetric blades, it's the angle of the far end that matters.
The fact that the black paddle has a bump on the bottom, whereas
the white paddle has a bump on the top, is immaterial.

I'm not Werner from Sultan WA, but I believe the purpose of the
white paddle is to balance immediately upon immersion in the water.
The downside of this design is that it drips a lot. That's why I
prefer the non-downturned Powerhouse style blade.

I'm not sure about the purpose of the black paddle. Looks like a
sucky design. I bet it flutters in the water, because its sweet-spot
is high/far on the top, and low/near on the bottom.

Blade Orientation?
 

I'm going to stick my neck out and say most paddles I've seen are right side
up when their logo is right side up and facing you.
Having said that, whatever works for you.

--
Bob Noble
http://www.sonic.net/bnoble
"(PeteCresswell)" wrote in message
...
What did Einstein say?

Something like "The difference between genius and stupidity is
that genius has it's limits." ?


Coming from a wing paddle - where the larger half of the blade
goes upwards, I started orienting my first surf paddle
accordingly.

I suspect I have the white surf paddle in the attached link/photo
upside down.

Which paddle is oriented correctly - the one with black or blades
or the one with white blades?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48262653@N00/890740458/



--
PeteCresswell

Blade Orientation?
 

Per Bob Noble:
I'm going to stick my neck out and say most paddles I've seen are right side
up when their logo is right side up and facing you.
Having said that, whatever works for you.

Well, now I don't feel *quite* as dumb as I did when I made the
post.... -)
--
PeteCresswell

Blade Orientation?
 

Per Bill Tuthill:
I'm not sure about the purpose of the black paddle. Looks like a
sucky design. I bet it flutters in the water, because its sweet-spot
is high/far on the top, and low/near on the bottom.

They both work.

It's just that after a surf session with the white one, I always
come away with some sort of minor ding in one or both shoulders.

Werner's spiel for that one ("SideKick") talks about "...strong,
well conditioned..." users, so my assumption is that it's too
much paddle for Yours Truly - who paddles for hours at a time
against the clock with a wing paddle with no shoulder issues.

The black one ("Stkine") has less paddle area and is almost 3"
shorter (184 vs 191).

It's also foam construction - which makes balancing a surf ski
while sitting waiting for a wave in chop significantly easier...
you can just lay it in the water instead of having to constantly
scull to keep it on the surface.

In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, the shorter length and
floaty blade had as much weight in the decision to buy as the
shoulder issue - which could also just be a technique/surf
conditions thing.
--
PeteCresswell

Blade Orientation?
 

(PeteCresswell) wrote:
What did Einstein say?

Something like "The difference between genius and stupidity is
that genius has it's limits." ?


Coming from a wing paddle - where the larger half of the blade
goes upwards, I started orienting my first surf paddle
accordingly.

I suspect I have the white surf paddle in the attached link/photo
upside down.

Which paddle is oriented correctly - the one with black or blades
or the one with white blades?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48262653@N00/890740458/



From... http://www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/sidekick.html

"Down tipped blades enter the water sooner for immediate response during
quick play boating moves"

If you click through all the paddles you'll the orientation at the top
of each page.

Steve
"I may be wrong but I'm not uncertain" - Heinlein

Blade Orientation?
 

Per Steve Landis:
"Down tipped blades enter the water sooner for immediate response during
quick play boating moves"

If you click through all the paddles you'll the orientation at the top
of each page.

Yeah, I saw that... but I don't comprehend the meaning of
"down-tipped". Sounds obvious, but when I look at the blade
questions arise....

Seems logical to print "Left" and "Right" somewhere on one or
both blades.... OTOH, maybe they tried that and users felt their
intelligence was being questioned.... -)

--
PeteCresswell

Blade Orientation?
 

Per (PeteCresswell):
Which paddle is oriented correctly - the one with black or blades
or the one with white blades?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48262653@N00/890740458/

Beeeeg surprise.

I went to the mountain: Called Werner customer service and
flipped them the link.

BOTH paddles are oriented correctly.

Go figure... -)
--
PeteCresswell

Blade Orientation?
 

On Jul 25, 10:05 am, "(PeteCresswell)" wrote:
Per (PeteCresswell):

Which paddle is oriented correctly - the one with black or blades
or the one with white blades?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48262653@N00/890740458/

Beeeeg surprise.

I went to the mountain: Called Werner customer service and
flipped them the link.

BOTH paddles are oriented correctly.

Go figure... -)
--
PeteCresswell

Yup!

On an asymmetrical paddle blade, one side (*edge) has less area to
contact the water (the shorter side/edge), and this goes down. Reason
being because it equalizes the water contact area on either side
(edge) of the paddle blade, thereby reducing flutter.

Think about it. The top side.edge of the paddle blade is mostly or at
least partially out of the water, unless you submerge the entire blade
with every stroke. So a smaller/shorter lower blade having less area
equalizes this difference.

John Kuthe...

Blade Orientation?
 

"(PeteCresswell)" wrote:

The black one ("Stkine") has less paddle area and is almost 3"
shorter (184 vs 191). It's also foam construction...

For some reason, Werner Stikine paddles shown on the web
look better to me than in your picture. It has basically
the same blade shape as the Powerhouse, but smaller.

The Powerhouse is such a great paddle, it does what I want
without my even having to think. And no drip rings!

Stikine is a strange name for a paddle that purports to be a
"creek" paddle. Stikine is a huge river in BC. Rob Lesser was
on the team that first kayaked the Grand Canyon of the Stikine.

I would never buy a black creek paddle, that's just dumb.
I could paint it red, but that would hide the logo, then we
wouldn't know which side is up! ;-)