The point I was hoping to make is that if you have tried a GP and couldn't figure out what all the fuss is about, just be advised that it takes longer for some than others to get the hang of it. Good and interesting comments are being made all the same, though....

In the first of the "This Is The Sea" series of videos (which every sea kayak enthusiast ought to see) Greg Stamer, a Greenland Championships champ, says he hears people talking about "converting" to this or that like it was some sort of religion, whereas he recommends keeping an open mind and using all of it. I couldn't agree more, and have have making Euro paddles on my list of things to do because Uncle Nick's look so blazingly cool. The main thing for me is to make my own stuff because I simply can't afford to buy nice commercial equipment -- heck, that's exactly what got me into building my own boats in the first place.

: I went to opposite direction. I love the GP when I first picked it
: up, did a 560-mile expedition with one, paddled all over with
: one. Then I got stick of the way it felt, and I switched back to
: a Euro paddle. I went full-on carbonfiber, but now I'm leaning
: back towards wood.