Blade shape
Basically, short fat blades are good for acceleration and power, while thin long blades are good for cruising. Touring paddles for distance paddling will be longer and thinner, for example the Grey Owl Chieftain (pictured below).
The Grey Owl Chieftain
Short fat blades offer a lot of initial catch to the water and are, therefore, able to pull a lot of water. This is more of an aggressive white water style of blade shape and so paddles of this style will tend to be thicker, see the picture of a white water paddle below.
The Grey Owl
Voyageur
A general purpose 'all-round' shape is somewhere in between these two.
The merits of different materials
Most people feel that wood looks the best for open boat paddles, and it is certainly the most traditional look. Wood is not the best material for doing battle with rock and many of the white water paddles are thick wood with a resin tip ( see the resin tip on the Voyageur above). High quality white water paddles will be made of good quality glass fiber which is both durable and light, but costly. The flat water touring paddles are generally made of beautiful cherry and are delicately thin, light and a real pleasure to use on the water. General purpose plastic paddles are available and will be pretty durable but lack the finesse and aesthetic appeal of a good wooden paddle.
Length
There is a detailed process by which to exactly measure the correct length of open canoe paddle for you. This method measures the length of the loom (shaft) of the paddle against your torso and you will need to come in to the shop for us to demonstrate this to you. It is the length of the loom which is important rather than the overall length, as the length of the blade part of the paddle will vary with the style of paddle you are choosing.
It tends to work out that you can roughly judge the length of paddle best for you from your height. Below is a rough example height vs paddle length comparison.
| 5' - 5'4" | 5'2" - 5'6" | 5'6" - 5'10 | 5'9" - 6'2" | 6' - 6'4" | |
| touring | 52" | 55" | 58" | 61" | 64" |
| general purpose | 51" | 54" | 57" | 60" | 63" |
| white water | 50" | 53" | 56" | 59" | 62" |
I am 5'8" and feel most comfortable using a 57" or a 60" general purpose paddle (fascinating eh?). There is probably a margin for preference of a couple of inches either side of those recommended in the chart above. Paddles are also traditionally constructed in 51", 54", 57, 60" and 63" so it is likely you will have to conform to one of these lengths, especially for the wooden paddles. Please come in to the shop if you have questions.