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I was the original proponent of 45 degree feather paddles, beginning around 1981. Up until then 90' feathers were pretty much the only available
commercial feather based on old European theories about the upper blade slicing through the wind better and lasting slalom requirements that the upper blade have the minimal possible lateral profile- for tight
perimeters while clearing gates. Original Inuit paddles were very short, had 0' feather and narrow blades- so they dealt with the wind factor in an entirely different way.For many years only squirt paddlers
used 45' feather paddles in the S.O. Terrik shape. They preferred the faster reaction time of the lesser feather. I found my way to this reduced feather angle by trying several feathers above 45' (like 75' and 60
degree feathers). My complaint was that the higher feathers made the wrist on the upper (pushing) hand twist so far back that there was essentially very poor bone alignment to the actual pushing portion of this
hand- the base of the fingers. This over-flexation left the work to be done by the tendons and ligaments of the wrist. This would cause fatigue during a long hard day. When I tried the 45' feather in
1981, I found that there was good bone alignment to the pushing pad of the hand and also there was enhanced reaction time due to the lesser work and rotation of the upper wrist involved. The concepts were pretty
simple and correct and in time (approximately 15 years) they took hold in the market. Now 45' feathers are popular and offered by most manufacturers, meaning the feather has been used in many thousands of
paddles. I quit searching through feather alternatives after finding that 45' worked fine for my needs and was basically "better" than the standard offerings in the old days. Recently many other
paddlemakers have come to experiment with other small feather angles- from 30' down to 0 degree feather. The basic reasoning was pretty much the same- less wrist twist (enhanced reaction time) and
"better" feel. Some claim the "symmetry" of the 0' feather makes for no "off side" in braces and rolls. These challenges to the "new" paradigm of 45' feathers inspired
me to rethink and re-search for what I would consider the "optimal" feather. I had never searched for "optimal" before. I felt I had found and was content with what was
"better". I soon turned away from 0' feathers because I felt they necessitated pushing the paddle with a much lower portion of the hand- virtually the crotch of the thumb. I found it hard to get
ANY bone alignment with this altered pushing area. But, in review, I found the 45' feather was still more twist than my old wrists were perfectly "happy" with. I noticed at times my left blade
would go though the water canted forward about 5 degrees- especially if I was concentrating on letting my upper wrist be "happy". "Happy" meant still getting significant connection between bone
and wood but with minimal forced flexation. I found a natural feathering of the ergonomics of how my body wanted to apply to the work being done on each side of my boat. I finally committed to testing the
new feather of 40 degrees and found it delightful. My wrists had homed in on their "happy spots" even when paddling very hard. This feather still allowed a strong connection between the paddle and
the "pushing pad" at the base of my fingers. It felt "tweaked" and right. I believe 40' feather on paddles is the most ergonomically correct for paddling kayaks. It allows a
LOT of work to get transferred effortlessly. I consider 40' to be the "optimal" feather, and so that's what I offer as "standard" on all Jimistyx kayak paddles. |
