Below are some comparative shots of several solid wood paddles on the market today and discussed above. From left to right:
- Bending Branches Catalyst straight-shaft. 56in total length; blade 19 x 8.1in (118 sq in); 24oz
- Badger Tripper. 57in; blade 28.5 x 5.5 (124.75 sq in); 25oz in cherry
- Bruce Smith Classic. 57in; blade 26.75 x 5.25; 25.6oz in curly maple with cherry shaft laminate. (I ordered a 58" from Bruce, but it was a custom paddle and came in a little short for some reason - maybe the curly maple he could get).
- Badger Sliver. 60in; blade 29.5 x 4.75 (113 sq in); 25oz in cherry
- Fishell Modified Otter. 62in; blade 28 x 5.5in; 34oz in cherry.
- Old Town (probably Porter-made, bought off Craigslist) with guide grip. 59in; blade 27.5 x 6.5. 29.5oz in ash.
The Bending Branches Catalyst is just there for comparison, but I'd put it in a different class from the solid wood paddles. I love the super durability of the BB with it's glassed blade and rockguard edge, and the sustainability of the Catalyst model in particular. I got that for shallow water rock gardens and swamp stumping. I'll say it actually works decently for an underwater return stroke given it's shape.
The Fishell is definitely the beefiest of all the solid woods, as shown by the weight. The shaft and blade edges are all much thicker, and I'm very comfortable punting with it, but I tend to leave it home since it is so heavy (doesn't help that I bought it first, and it's really too long for me to use effectively in solo paddling). I think my favs are the Bruce Smith and Badger Tripper. The Sliver is nice for sunset toodling, but feels under-powered at times, and can have slight flutter on an underwater return if not pitched right. The Old Town, despite being heavier in both beefiness and wood choice, actually paddles really very nicely, and I'm comfortable using it across a range of conditions including shallow water, especially since it already had some abuse when I got it, including a crack I patched before recoating the varnish. I do really like the guide grip on it. The Badgers and Bruce Smith blades are wonderfully thin at the edge compared to the Fishell, which is great for underwater returns. The tip of Bruce's swells notably for protection against splitting against rocks....but it's so pretty I refuse to touch anything but water with it so far. Bruce says he build them for tripping though. Unlike some really cheap wood paddles I've seen, all of these quality paddle blades are thinnest about two thirds of the way down and swell a bit at the tip for reducing cracking risk.
I tried to get some comparative blade thickness shots, but it's tough to get two blades exactly straight on to the camera and in focus at the same time. Fishell vs Bruce Smith.
Badger Tripper vs Bruce Smith
Old Town vs Bruce Smith
Catalyst vs Bruce Smith
Grips are so personal I won't comment, but you can see the variation. Interestingly my two Badgers should have had the same grip style, but are noticeably different, with the Sliver being a bit more bulbous. You can tell each paddle is made by a person, not a robot (true for all these makers). I'll also note that the Badgers have darkened noticeably since purchase (only a couple years); the Fishell, which is varnished not oiled, has kept more of the redness of color in the cherry over 5 yrs - I guess varnish has better UV protection than oil.
Setting aside the harder to procure ash paddles (though I'll be looking into both the BarkCanoe.com and Porter options since I like the Old Town so much), I think the Badgers are a nice buy for the money. In the States you can order them from Rutabaga (WI) or Collinsville Canoe & Kayak (CT). Bruce's paddles are really works of art. The Fishells are also gorgeous but beefier than my taste these days, especially for deep-water paddling.