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Interesting concept

First off ! Welcome to the Site !

That IS a new one to me ! Pretty Cool !

Looks like kneeling is the trick for stability ! If I was sitting, and slipped. I'd probably be Wet.

I see a trace of Graphite on the bottom of that little Koot. Good !

Are you using ordinary Ski Poles in this video ?

Jim
 
That is not me in the video, but he does state that he is using downhill ski poles with the straps removed. Thank you for the welcome.
 
Poling with double poles is nothing new, Upper Yukon first nation use to make skin or bark canoes that were use that way in shallow water sitting on the bottom of the shallow flat bottom canoe, they would pole using 2 short poles, similar to a action of double poling in xc skiing!
 
Been tried by kneeling paddlers.
It is a good way to overstress joints
About 25 years ago I first saw it but just a single short pole
i believe that rice gatherers tandem used this system but don’t have sources handy
 
Looks interesting indeed. And looks like a lot of work. I'd rather take my canoe for a walk upstream on ropes, even it means I'll get my feet wet.
 
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I don'T see any reason to blow a shoulder or stress joints more than xc skiing double poling....
 
I think I will throw in with Brad on this one....if I cant paddle that I am going to line or wade it.
 
I don'T see any reason to blow a shoulder or stress joints more than xc skiing double poling....
Biomechanics. When you are standing you can lever all our weight against the pole.
Newton’s third law is therefore not concentrated on any one joint

if you are a luger or ring gymnast you may have the musculature to hold the shoulder in place
 
When I was a teenager I fell in love with Nordic skiing. Most winters I'd see heavy snowstorms transforming the bleary and boring farmland into what I imagined to be Norway. You see, this guy had become my idol https://www.nfb.ca/film/jack_rabbit/. Gosh it was fun!! Bushwhacking at night under the stars was my favourite adventure, setting tracks through field and forest, carving my own trails as I went. A few years later I took my skiing passion to Jack Rabbit's adopted home of Quebec, where I discovered the zeal of groomed trails. Countless hours turned to seasons, and into years, of splendid skiing. I trained hard, often hitting the trails twice daily December through March to get my fix. It was such an addictive sport, all that fresh air and nature, exercise and Zen. There was always so much to practice and learn, and practice some more. One important principle was that of the efficiency of movement through technique, and not simply relying on strength to power propulsion. And good waxing was always important too of course. I was such a nerd about that, carrying a full kit of waxes and klisters, torch and scraper, stripper and rags, cork and sandwiches. Well, gear and lunch all had to go in the same small pack, right? Anyway, double poling was one more technique to utilize along with kicks and skating, to go the fastest, furthest, with the least effort. Pole placement and timing, body position and movement, all had to work in unison and with fluidity. I still remember how that would work out for me. It was often like loose wires, sometimes everything would fall into place and I'd have a few kilometers of a lifetime when all would be perfection, and then all of a sudden it would all come apart. A micro slip here and a caught edge there, and then nothing would work. I became a spastic skier, flailing and swearing my way along trying once again to find the fluid motions of Nordic nirvana. Ah well, practice makes perfect as they say, and I had a whole lotta practicing to do. But still, I did reasonably well, and had a whole lotta fun doing it.
I have no problem watching the canoe double poler in the video do his thing. As he explains, he does a body crunch leaning forward as he plants and drives his poles, and they appear to be almost properly placed inline with his shoulders, not too splayed out. But it's the almost part that concerns me. Having to clear the gunnels complicates things. Not his fault. Just those few inches makes a difference I think, despite sitting in the narrow station of a solo canoe. Losing some power of the lats and relying more on the delts might strain that all important rotator. I am not a doctor, and might be talking out of my hat, but I never want to go through that kind of physio ever again. I'm sure the guy in the vid knows what he's doing; all the power to him. I wish him well and no disrespect. But I would rather just get out, bridle the canoe, and take it for a nice wet walk upstream. Maybe I just don't know how to have fun anymore.
 
" Maybe I just don't know how to have fun anymore."

If you're not sure just ask Miranda.
 
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I know a few things a bout xc skiing and Biomechanics, I'm a certified NCCP Level III xc ski coach and ski tech, worked for 6 years for the Yukon ski team and did 6 Canadian Nationals and waxed for well over a 1000 races. Just this year at the Olympics 3 xc ski athletes on the Canadian team are from our team! Paralympic sit skiers are doing this exact technique w/o problems or should I say w/o any more problems than standing skiers. You will of course have more power and speed if you are standing, but with proper technique and conditioning, there should be no problems.
 
I know a few things a bout xc skiing and Biomechanics, I'm a certified NCCP Level III xc ski coach and ski tech, worked for 6 years for the Yukon ski team and did 6 Canadian Nationals and waxed for well over a 1000 races. Just this year at the Olympics 3 xc ski athletes on the Canadian team are from our team! Paralympic sit skiers are doing this exact technique w/o problems or should I say w/o any more problems than standing skiers. You will of course have more power and speed if you are standing, but with proper technique and conditioning, there should be no problems.

Wow. No need to be so defensive. Just an observation for the casual paddler that might not be so athletically inclined. I am approaching 75 and could not consider the technique.

No disrespect intended as I have a friend that trains for canoe races 3.5 hours a day. Not my style.
 
Hello all - my first post here. As the originator of the article that sparked this conversation, I'll throw in a few comments.

First of all, I was pretty certain that somebody must have used a double-poling technique before, but had never encountered it in many years of paddling. Thanks, Canotrouge, for the information about the Upper Yukon. It's almost inevitable that this technique has been developed independently in many places. My adopting of it is just one example of an independent origin.

As for the stresses on the body, my article acknowledges that upper body strength is a requirement. That said, it is also true that strength alone will not achieve good results. In fact, strength without technique probably is a good way to over-stress joints (memaquay & yellowcanoe). That applies to paddling as well as to poling. The use of the torso helps to keep the shoulders at a stable angle. Furthermore, my canoe is less than 30 inches wide at the maximum (a good reason not to stand too much!) so the poles are nearer to being in line with my shoulders than would be true in a wider craft. But I understand that this technique is not for everyone.

My article also acknowledges that the leverage achieved (your point, yellowcanoe) and the range of water depths in which this works are both smaller than when using a long pole while standing. If I were paddling a large, stable canoe, I would stow and use a long pole. Indeed, I was well on the way to doing this before realising that standing in a small, narrow vessel in rapids would probably be a bad idea. For those of us who like to paddle a small, light craft, which undoubtedly reduces the body stresses during carries, double poling offers an alternative tool in the toolbox of techniques. Yes, it's tiring, in the same way that wading over slippery cobbles is bruising to the feet, so having the option to pole for a while, then track for a while, can share the load on various parts of the body.

An answer to Jim Dodd:
Yes, regular alpine ski poles, quite large diameter for stiffness, baskets removed to reducing snagging, straps removed for quick release or return to paddling, large flanges on the grips to reduce the need to have a grip of death.

Thanks, all, for your interest. Keep the comments coming.
 

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Ottercreek has clarified well that his boat is narrow and tippy and that the technique is physically demanding. I concede that for this gentleman in that boat and in those conditions it may have been the best solution. I am always very happy that anyone has decided to make the effort to move from traditional paddling and going down stream and go against the current. Like Yellowcanoe I offer this as an opinion and not to challenge anothers, but it looks like it could be hazardous if adopted for other pushier situations, different boats or different individuals. I am an advanced canoe poling instructor for Paddle Canada. I only add this to give some (only some) credibility to my opinion. As well I was a serious Nordic skier in my youth. Here in Southern Ontario we do get snow, but there are always lots of thaws and if one is on an established trail it is more often than not icy. I double pole a lot. So my concern is with the pole angle when placed. When one double poles on skis there is forward momentum such that the plant may be approximately like our gentleman canoe double poler, but by the time the skier bears down they have moved forward and the pole angle is greater and it is a more direct push backwards. This canoe moves forward and is virtually stopped when the power poling begins. I believe that the first part of this technique would be closer to a pull. Not very efficient (though, as I said it may be the best shot for the individual, boat, river). Also, as mentioned... there is a lot of canoe width with most boats. Double poling on skis the arms are very tight to sides and the movement is parallel to the skis and direction of movement. I don't like the biomechanics either but I am just a guy who is just trying to keep his body safe and sound for future adventures. As far as the traditional poling aspect, I do know that little tippy canoes are certainly harder to pole without good technique practice. I do always question anyone who leads with tippy and canoe as it is often a matter of not having real experience with proper poling. This may not be a case of that but not that many people really pole, so. Here is my thought. Short poles have always existed to be used from a sitting position for one reason or another. The fact that the video shows some manoeuvring technique does not prove that it is efficient. That boat is moving and manoeuvring very slowly for the shown conditions. If anything goes wrong a pole is going under that boat with a loop around a wrist. There is no leverage with a pole that small and really with the width of the hands I think that it would involve a lot of muscles at play to stabilize the connecting struts of the arms from the body to the tops of the poles if one was trying to use body weight and crunch to move forward. I think one would be much farther ahead to use an eight foot pole from a sitting position at a 45 degree angle to the river bed and just climb the pole hand over hand and then pop it forward again. No wrist loops. Long lever to angle the boat and since one is working one side at a time one can more effectively edge the boat. My two cents worth.
 
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Oh and just because I am a poling booster and want to get people to quit getting out of their canoes except as a last resort I want to say that with two good days of practice and instruction one could do that stretch of river with no previous poling experience as long as one didn't have a "tippy" canoe and they were in reasonable condition. One must always keep in mind that even with the best technique, if you are going against the current in a river you are going up hill and it is not going to be "easy"... it is just how well one is able to reduce the difficulty.... :)
 
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