Recommend bent shaft? Absolutely!
Posted by: Glenn_MacGrady
on Nov-04-12 8:21 PM (EST)
I certainly recommend bent shafts for lake paddling, no matter whether you are a sitting paddler or kneeling paddler. I think they are the superior instrument for straight ahead distance paddling, and have been using them since getting my first flatwater solo canoe in 1984.
I recently have gone all ZRE carbon for my tripping/portaging paddles -- a 48.5" bent shaft that I've had for several years, and a 57" straight shaft that I just got this season. This combo takes me through anything from swamps to lakes to real whitewater, for a total weight of 25 oz.
I kneel in my CanAm canoes about 95% of the time. On a recent six day paddle and portage trip through the Adirondacks, I found myself using the bent shaft about 90% of the time and the balance with the straight shaft, usually on the twisty side streams or trying to counteract stiff winds with big sweep strokes or rudders.