I recently carved and started using a Greenland paddle and I'd like to make a few comments and provide a few links.

I find the Greenland paddle a lot wetter and a bit slower, but better in every other respect.

It's far easier to roll with, moving through the water more quickly, providing a bit of buoyancy, being easier to control underwater, being completely symetrical, providing a better grip, being easier to orient, and having a natural tendency to stay at the water line instead of diving.

When paddling, it's far less fatiguing. The technique keeps the arms lower, giving a lower centre of gravity and making me feel more stable in a chop, allowing me to sit more comfortably for longer periods of time. It's quick and natural to slide it into an extended position where it provides more power more quickly for steering or correcting strokes. It offers much less wind resistance. The variety of strokes makes paddling less monotonous. The movement of the hands keeps them more limber.

It looks cool, it has some history to it, and it's nice to use a paddle I made myself.

And (labour discounted) it's so very inexpensive.

It took me two tries to make a good paddle, though, because of confusion over the loom. Tell me if the following makes any sense. (Read the articles I'm providing links to first, if you're interested in pursuing this.)

Articles suggest a paddle can be made from a 2" x 4", but... If one wants an oval or rectangular grip (far preferable) the loom ends up thicker than the 2" x 4" (unless you're able to get one that is actually a full 2" thick). No problem, one might say, I'll use a round or square grip. The problem is the grip becomes so large there is no room left for a shoulder, unless you want a paddle with no taper at all from the shoulders to the tips, which is kind of blech, to me.

The highlighted link below (Greenland paddle plans) gives an excellent, detailed explanation of how to make a paddle, except I would disregard the suggested loom size unless you have very tiny paws. Unstead, I would use thicker wood (I cut a piece from a 4" x 4") and use the loom measures suggested in the articl "Lolly Sticks and Shavings" found at http://user.itl.net/~kmansell/articles/lollysticks.html as an approximate guide.

If you want to actually use a 2" x 4", it's pretty hard to find one with the grain going the right way (see articles). But you could get two paddles out of a 4" x 4" by making a paddle withought shoulders. The article "Greenland Paddle" at http://seacanoe.org/grnpadle.htm#THE GREENLAND PADDLE gives and directions for making that style, and arguments for its superiority.

Other comments I would make are that I used cedar for light weight, made the paddle a bit thick for maximum buoyancy when rolling, made the paddle about 5" longer than the traditional measure to compensate for the wider beam of my Chesapeake 17', and an article by John Heath in Sea Kayaker magazine suggests drawing a line one blade-width from the tip of the blade, and ending the blade taper there, instead of at the end.

If this sounds incoherent, sorry. Hopefully it will make more sense if you read the articles I've linked to. Let me know if you think this sounds like malarkey.