: I'm with Kurt. Haven't had to use the second paddle yet because of
: the loss of the first one, but I have found the desire to
: "switch gears" and try the other paddle (one's shorter
: than the other by about 3").

: I should note that so far, my biggest "threat" on the
: falt river water I paddle in has been some large displacement
: vessels making a few waves (weeeee!!!) and an errant
: thunderstorm or two driving me to cover. I doubt I'll lose my
: paddle in those boat wakes. If the T-storm hits me before I can
: get to safety... I won't be worrying about the second paddle.
: Downstream, however, there are several power dams, plus the
: ninety foot high Cohoes Falls (
:
: ). I don't want to be rescued by any powerboaters, and I
: certainly do not want to test the navigability of the dams and
: the Falls. Nuh uh.

: I've got a longer kayak (16' or thereabouts), so a 84" paddle
: fits well under the rigging. If I had a shorter 'yak, I'd carve
: up a storm paddle instead.

Noel: As my longest ‘yak is only 13' I will use the single-blade paddle as my backup, but if I get a LPB one day I can try out a storm paddle . . .

Dave: I only paddle flat water, no current and few rocks, my biggest threat so far is getting splashed by trout in the spawning season when I venture into the streams. A leash in windy conditions would be a sensible precaution; would there be an entrapment risk if it were attached to the boat?

Bill: I don’t have a bent paddle; I became aware of those after I decided to leave the dark side and quit regular canoeing; I have a couple of home-built solo “lost-pond” style canoes but those are for double-bladed paddles.