: Lightning Paddles Inc. has an excellent discussion on paddles in the
: "Paddles 101" section of their web site. The link below will
: take you to their home page. From there click on the Paddles 101 button.

: Don

there are basicly tw extremes in paddle shapes... completly flat, like a classic canoe paddle, or a spoon paddle that accually curves all the way around making a small nike swoosh shape at the bottom of the blade. The extreme spoon blades are made to catch the most water possible for a given paddle size (per race reguations) a completly flat paddle is a cheap generic design that you can buy for 25 or 30 dollars... mohawk makes a line of flat blade paddles that alot of people use for spare paddles. to sum up the blade shape issue you could say that the more spoon, the more power you will get, and the less efficiant it will be. conversly the paddles that almost have an opposit spoon shape (dehidral) catch less water and thus require a higher cadence which makes the paddle produce less fatigue. thats the same with the long thin paddles. The produce less pull on the water. if you want a good wood paddle that is for touring go for the longer bladed bending branches paddle. if you expect to be surfing, nd need more paddle bending branches has a very nice paddle that has a larger power face. I am personaly impartial to bending branches simply because their designs are very nice. the blade shape is just as good as any of the high tech fibre paddles.and they are relativly light as well...

theres my two sence hope it helps

PS to really know what kind of paddle you need, go to your local shop and ask if you can take a couple paddles out to test them. Thats the ony way to really know what you want.