I make ski/kayak paddles and have a potential customer wanting a double ended paddle (which will be scoop/propellor style incidentally) , Has anyone already got such a thing and if yes how long is it ? I am considering overall length of 3 m 20 cm (10 ft 6in for imperial lovers)
ps customer is 184 cm and using a plastic Nalu hybrid ? SUP
he showed me this website with videos http://www.carbonerro.com/products/el-doble
Unless you really want the job of making it for him I suggest you tell him to try one before he goes to the expense of making something that's not quite what it's cracked up to be.. It's been discussed over on the zone and 99% think its a joke.. even those that have used it.. In anything but calm conditions waving that 10' long paddle through the air catches a lot wind and most of us like to paddle a few strokes on one side and then swap sides.. That's some of the attraction of stand up paddling.. Plus there's the weight of the thing.. Not worth it IMO.. But if he goes ahead with it make sure he lets us know what he thinks.
1) I don't think he can try one as it likely does not exist 2) he mostly paddles in flat Moreton bay 3)i imagine his craft will track straighter with thrust applied each side all the time 4) I will let him spend his money however he wants 5) We are thinking there will be feather angle so the blade in the air slices sideways 6)If he proceeds I will post photos 7) It will be convertible to a shorter length also
When I made my first sup paddle I just bought a very cheap second hand (ex rental) kayak paddle and cut one blade off and put a T handle on.. and soon realized it was way too short.. Anyway.. I was thinking he could buy two cheap kayak paddles.. cut a blade off each.. and join the two shafts.. That should not cost much.. Stand up kayaking has been around a lot longer than sup.. I wonder why it never took off.. The recent breakthrough in stand up kayaking was when they invented rotating handles so your top hand rotates to a typical sup position (T grip) ..
I've got one. It's a carlile taboo. It converts from 2 ended paddle to 1 ended stand up type paddle. Got it when i first started paddling cos it seemed like a good idea at the time but i only used it once---too heavy and what do you do with the 2nd end if you want to take both?
as dj says, it's been done, and like i found out, the good idea that it appears to be doesn't translate to anything ground breaking, even on a race board
SUP is about using a single bladed paddle not a double bladed paddle. That is for other sports. People can use what they want to paddle with but unless it is a single bladed paddle it is not SUPping. If you doubt me then ask the Hawaiians. ET.
