Excellent points. Betsie Bay Kayaks and local paddling guru Doug VanDoren advocate a vertical paddle plant, and their paddles are designed for that, not the angled plant that was written about Maligiaq Padilla in recent years in Sea Kayaker magazine. The BBK paddles have a loom that has a rectangular cross-section, about 3/4" high X 1-1/2" deep, laminated from hard and soft wood. It gives a very solid orientation of the blade, which is nice for rolling, but doesn't facilitate the foreward-canted paddle plant.

Superior Kayaks, Eric Schade, and others use a round loom about 1-3/4" in diameter, which is a little more comfortable on the hands (any ergonomist will tell you that a round or oval shaft is ideal), and requires a bit of finger overlap on the ends of the paddle blades for blade orientation.

Dean