-- Last Updated: Sep-28-12 7:23 PM EST --
..... nothing feels as comfortable and natural in my hands as wood .
I have a paddle that I re-engineered from an old fir paddle , one of those old 60" straight jobs . It got a new Cherry shaft built deep into the blade , an Ipe tip gaurd , some blade thinning , water base powder staining , epoxy and cloth coated with varnish top coats . Used it's old palm grip halves fitted to new shaft . It's now 58" and very light weight , feels great in the hands and paddles great too .
That's just one example of what can be done with an old wood paddle . I like my cheap Carlisle Beavertails also , and all my other wood paddles too , the expensive ones and the cheap ones .
Just for the mentioning , you can take most any ol wood paddle (old , new , cheap ect.) and customize it , tweak it to your liking and shazaam , sweet !!
I'm happy in the 18-21 oz. range straight shaft wooden canoe paddle . They all feel different , but all feel good .