Need a Bigger Shaft

I’ve been dealing with Trigger Finger, which makes it hard to grip smaller circumference items. Is there a custom shaft diameter, or a diameter option paddle out there?

Surgery might be in the future but not this year, by golly gosh darn.

Thanks
Tony

I think they make pills for that.

Alan

Your best bet is to make one

Black_Fly said:

Is there a custom shaft diameter, or a diameter option paddle out there?

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I suspect that some foam pool noodles and / or duct tape could probably solve this issue. Good luck,

Benson

A pool noodle would be too soft.
I think a string wrapped around the paddle shaft would work better.
To make the string more stable, I would coat it with epoxy resin and then sand it smooth.

Leave your paddle alone. Wear a glove. And go from there.
And relax your grip. Take it easy.

Somewhere on myccr HOOP_ shows how to wrap a shaft with rope so it makes a firm grip with larger dimension.

From Hoop_ on myccr:
The classic way of wrapping a lower paddle shaft is using the whipping cord technique. The cord is smooth and bump-free since there are no knots. The whip is wrapped and pulled very tight, so it feels good in the hands and does not impede any sliding, and it won’t slip. It completely protects the shaft in the wear area (about 4-6 inches). I used 2mm climbing accessory cord.

Paddle wrap thread

The above might give you more ideas. I can’t find the instructional post he made.

Seems like some self-adhering rubber tape? Maybe peelable?

Odyssey said:

Leave your paddle alone. Wear a glove. And go from there.
And relax your grip. Take it easy.

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Got more gloves than Jimmy Carter has pills.

I've been thinking of wrapping my paddle shaft because my main solo boat has aluminum gunnels and I want to reduce noise. I haven't done it yet but found a couple videos. They focus on the rub area but I don't see why you couldn't extend it higher up the shaft to where you grip it.

That looks like something I could accomplish before my hands got all jacked. I’ll give the cordage one a shot. How far up should it extend?

Alan Gage said:

I think they make pills for that.

Alan

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I have problems with trigger thumbs. I had the left one operated on a few years ago, and was scheduled to have my right one done last week but had to cancel. The right thumb had been swollen, sore and immobile (locked up) since early summer and I was looking forward to the surgery.
Mid December I was in the drivers seat of my car and reached around to the back seat to grab a bag of smoked kielbossi and did something to my shoulder (kielbossi shoulder?) I thought it was really messed up because of the pain and weakness. This shoulder has been a problem since a wrestling injury in high school so this has happened before but never so bad.

I have a script for an anti inflammatory that the doc gave me for neck pain a couple years ago. It's called diclofenac sod ec 75mg. Anyway I took it for my shoulder, only two pills twelve hours apart and it "cured" my shoulder. A few days later I also noticed that the swelling in my thumb and related pain and stiffness had subsided to a level that I can live with. So after suffering with thumb pain for six months and having three shots of steroids in that thumb I can only conclude that the diclofenac really helped. It's probably been about a month and the thumb is still doing well.

I'd recommend this anti inflammatory. It doesn't work like Advil or other more common ones. It supposedly works with hormones. My wife has also had good results with it and so has a friend who got a script from his doc. It's not good for your liver but in my experience it doesn't take many pills to get relief. I still have the original bottle from two years ago. I only have a few pills left and should order more to keep on hand. They would be a good thing to take on a trip.

Theoretically a wider shaft may help because you won't have to bend your finger as much. With my thumbs I just figured out how to grab the paddle without using them. If it can be done without thumbs surely you can hold the paddle with one less finger.

My trigger is my dominant (R) middle finger. Makes gripping anything painful. Opening jars is crazy hard. I figure if the shaft is wider, my fingers can deal better with the stress. Gonna try the cord wrap and see how that works. That’s if I can grip the cordage enough to get it tight. I’ll post a picture when it’s done.

Secure the cord and rotate the paddle to wrap it, would that be easier?
Jim

Outside the box -

How about some gymnastics high bar / rings grips? The roll in them forms a pocket so the fingers bear almost no weight - you could paddle without much, if any, finger flexion or grip force required.

I was thinking of some handlebar tape. Securing the live end might be challenging.

Find an old Clements paddle, the type Bill Mason used. They were made from spruce with oversized shafts to beef up the softwood's strength. I still have one somewhere, it's a unique paddle, not terribly heavy either as it is all softwood.

You could experiment with some wrap. Simple solution.
maybe some thin foam covered with quality tape.

Black_Fly said:

My trigger is my dominant (R) middle finger. Makes gripping anything painful. Opening jars is crazy hard. I figure if the shaft is wider, my fingers can deal better with the stress. Gonna try the cord wrap and see how that works. That’s if I can grip the cordage enough to get it tight. I’ll post a picture when it’s done.

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I hear ya on the pain thing, I couldn't even turn a door knob before I took those pills a few weeks ago. The key to minimizing pain is not to bend it. I don't think you need that finger to hold a paddle, even though it is the dominant finger on your dominant hand. You may want to think about taping it up so it doesn't bend.

The recovery from the surgery wasn't bad. The doc that did my first one said I could return to "normal" activities in three days. He said the only restriction was not being able to do dishes for two weeks. It almost sounded worth it just for that. When I went back to get the stitches removed I told him that I was unable to split wood or paddle in the wind. He said "those aren't normal activities. The doc that was scheduled to the other thumb said I couldn't do anything for a month. I think that is a little too conservative.

A while ago I made paddles for a while. My particular idea was to make them ergonomic. Even 20 years later, virtually all the commercial paddles I've seen have a single size shaft and grip, and us paddlers have hands from XS to XXL, with different ratios of length to width. My dad would say, "one size fits all... poorly!"