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First off let me say that I love these side by side tests, and think that these are of great value to the forum to have available for future generations. Great setups and execution, I have really enjoyed reading these. This one also brings up another point worth mentioning, and that is that...

That is always a very real, maybe even likely, possibility 😂 I certainly can’t go back now and tell him he might have a point, he’s insufferable when he thinks he’s right. Thankfully that’s a trait he didn’t pass on (and if you hear my wife snorting in the background I assure you it’s...

Well, since we’re talking about folks using the bent shaft paddle incorrectly, I’ll throw out there that my father to this day, knowing full well how a bent shaft is supposed to be used, still says he prefers to use it the wrong way. To hear him tell it, he prefers the stronger “catch” phase he...

I had the opportunity to try one out about a month ago and while I was not expecting to like it, I was very impressed. Swift says it’s their most popular solo and I can see why. I ultimately chose a Phoenix because it turned easier and felt faster, but the gap was not as big between the two as...

I could be wrong but the photo looks more like a Morningstar set up solo or a Rockstar. The other “head on” pic looks narrow so leaning more Rockstar. The stems also look more angled, and it looks a touch longer than the Star to my eye as well. I think the attached Starfire info is from when...

I ordered a Werner bandito in June as part of Outdoor Play’s going out of business sale and shipping was free, FedEx. Last July I ordered a Sanborn Minnesota from their website and shipping was $33 with UPS ground, but the paddle was on sale so it was still a little bit of a deal. No insurance.

Ha! I was still typing when you posted and said basically the same things you did. Oh well I’ll leave it up, great minds think alike 😂

I’ll second that, Mora’s are awesome! And you cannot beat the price/value. I agree they are pretty ergonomic and comfortable to use. Not the prettiest, but unbelievably functional (which is aesthetically pleasing in its own way). A couple of things I’ll add as a knife nerd and metallurgist...

For lake use I believe you are correct. For rivers with shallow sections where the whole paddle blade can’t be fully submerged, the beaver tail has a pretty big advantage with the width carried further down the blade. Of course, an even shorter, wider, and ideally more gravel resistant paddle...

I may take freestyle class or two with it, but the one I recently got will primarily be a river runner and should be great for it. Super fun boat. There’s a Swift video on YouTube about one they built for a guy that puts float bags in his and uses it for everything from white water to salt...

Finally got to get out in the Starfire tonight for about 45 minutes. I had limited time so I put in on a local creek, fairly close to where it empties into the Mississippi. I don’t use it often because it has so little current it’s almost stagnant and it is not very pretty. But the slow water...

Yep. A lot of guys use weldwood contact cement for them, and that’s what I used for my knee pads. I wasn’t 100% decided on how I wanted my boat trimmed though, so I used an adjustable northwater saddle, long knee pads, and I made the ankle blocks adjustable with strips of 3M dual lock...

I have mentioned in some other threads how kneeling is difficult for me so I mainly do it only in my dedicated whitewater boat, although I do try to practice in my Polaris when I solo it. Both the ankles and knees are painful for me and about 20-30 minutes is all I can stand in the Polaris with...

I think Gumpus hit the nail on the head. I was apparently typing while he was so a lot of this says the same thing in a slightly different way. In general i think it does give you an idea of initial stability but it doesn’t tell the whole story. For truly flat bottomed boats it would probably...

I thought I would add my impressions of the Drafonfly 15 to this thread since I had the opportunity to get in one this past Friday. I wouldn’t call it a “test paddle” per se because I never really left the dock. I am primarily a sitter, and the seat was pretty high on this boat, so I’m sure...

Ok, so time for an update. It’s another long post, I apologize in advance. On Friday, I took off work, left at 5am, and drove up to Rutabaga to test paddle some boats: I did not test paddle the Pocket Canyon but I did sit in one, and I was surprised at how wide the paddling station felt. It...

Thank you, I appreciate the heads up! I actually saw this one a couple of days ago and reached out to him about it. He sent me some pics of the bottom and it was a little more worn than I was willing to make the 9.5 hr drive for. Not terrible, but worn through the vinyl in one of the stems...

I would really love to try out a Clipper in their duraflex layup, but they’re pretty far away unfortunately. The Caribou S or their P14 would both be worth a try I think but it would be a 16 hr drive to Winnipeg for me to get to a dealer. There was a dealer in St. Louis a couple of years ago...

I have seen a few Appalachians listed here and there, but I didn’t know there was a shorter/narrower version. It sounds like a sweet boat that would definitely be the type I’m after. I’ll keep an eye out for both and see if anything pops up, but it sounds like I’ll just have to get lucky on...

Haha thanks Glen, but if that video were on vhs I’d have worn it out over the last few months! I’ve watched and rewatched all of the HappyPaddlin’ YouTube videos on the Northstar solos to the point I can probably write out the scripts from memory 😆. It’s interesting that most of the folks he...