My favorite EP is my Nigel Foster. It is bent in one plane only, along the length of the blade. It is dead flat across the blade. The blade is a little shorter and a little wider than the usual paddle. It works the best of all my EPs including my Werners so it is my 'go to' paddle.

However lately that means it is on the back deck as a spare while the paddle I actually use is a stick.

The local Filipino fishermen use plywood paddles made from cheapo, cheapo third world plywood. They are flat but the guys can work up a good deal of speed with them. They get a couple years of hard use out of them even though they do not seal them at all.

~Bob