I broke my other Redwood paddle today. Snapped it right at the blade root, doing an extended roll. I suspected this would happen, after the other one cracked. I wanted to try pulling the storm paddle off the foredeck whilst underwater anyway, and that worked.

I'm tempted to shave 1/4" off the blank I have, and add 1/8" of fir to the outside of the redwood, for some added strength. With 4oz of glass between the laminations, it oughta add quite a bit. I think maybe it'll be "stiff enough to do chinups on"...