So I’ve got a buddy that is about to retire from our fire dept and he’s a big kayaker. I was surfing around trying to find something to get him as a retirement gift and as I’ve gotten into woodworking this past year I came across this paddle and it immediately caught my interest. You mentioned the 2x4x8 cedar, which is the wood I wanted to use, my question is do I keep the paddle about that long or do I trim it down to what’s in the video? It looks like it’s about 5 ft? And would you suggest a bit of a wider blade contour for river kayaking?

Hej! Jeśli .asz wiosło grenlandzkie to czy nadają się one do spływania rzekami, w płytkiej wodzie z kamienistym dnem i licznymi przewalonymi drzewami? Czy ich węższa forma nie wplywa na m iejszą wydajność? Nie chodzi mi nawet o białął wodę co o taki trud ienszy odcinek nizinny z przeszkodami.

This is what I experienced too when I first tried the GP.. and I felt more tired in the beginning as I was using it all wrong. Now it’s a joy to use the GP and it’s my primary paddle!

I’m going to get my first paddle this weekend. I’m 6’ with 35” sleeve…think 230 cm… are you close on dimensions?

Yup. Now that the water is warmed up, I'm going to have to do a rolling session with them. I love how the Greenland slices through the water when messing around with draws and braces... very cool!

Love my Gram Greenland paddle, easy to keep up with Euros if you use proper form/technique. As an older paddler, I have many fewer issues with elbow, shoulder and even hand pain when using my GP, strongly recommend switching over!

OMG, I would really like to review that kayak. We have a local 3-day whitewater run that would be a perfect testing ground too. Gotta get my hands on one!

Cool to hear! Thanks for sharing.

Nice! I'm heading out on a multi-day sea kayaking trip next week, and will be bringing my IPIK.

If your brace isn't working with the Greenland, try adding a slight sweeping or sculling motion to gain extra support. Most Greenland paddles work better when the blade is moving through the water. Also: the traditional paddle is the Greenland paddle; Euros are a recent introduction.

@@NathanBonselaar thanks. I figured my problem was technique and not the paddle. I’m still figuring it out. This is my first year of kayaking after 51 years of canoes. 😉

Every stroke includes a low brace of sorts.

A Greenland paddle blade should be sized so that you can grasp the blade near the end with the fingers on one side and the thumb on the other. This allows you to extend the paddle by putting both hands on one blade or one hand on the blade and one on the loom. This gives much more support to braces (and more powerful sweep strokes). When extended the blade in your hands isn't available if you lose your balance to that side. Practice extending and unextending the paddle to make those maneuvers fluid and reliable. This will add more capabilities to your use of the Greenland paddle.

Yes, after months in the pool over the winter failing at rolling attempts with a euro paddle, I nailed it the first time trying with a GP! Since then, I’ve added sculling for support and balance braces to the mix and love it. So much to learn!

yes, the rule of thumb is to be able to curve your fingers over the top of the blade when standing -- to be adjusted for personal preferences, the width of your boat... 2 other dimensions to consider are: -- the width of the blade: you should be able to grab it in you hand when you fully extend the paddle to one side or the other when doing sweeps, rolls, etc. and -- the width of the loom, the section between your hands: if the paddles has no shoulder, just a gentle slope between the loom and the blade, not so critical, but if there is a marked shoulder, that's what you would grab it with your index finger and thumb. If this is not roughly the width of your shoulders, so your arms are somewhat straight, the paddle will be less comfortable (on longer distances -- it still works fine. :-)

@@DominiqueB thank you 😊

Install a reflective sticker and done.

With other models, you can buy tips of different colors, which help locate the paddle if it floats away, and do add a touch of style.

I’ve thought about adding drip rings to my GL Kalleq, because a con of using any paddle without rings is that more water ends up in your skirt/lap. But a real joy of the GL paddle is to have hands smoothly slide, changing the centre point of the paddle, to lengthen the paddle now on one side, now the other as needed, to make nuanced balance and steering adjustments. I Don’t often use my rudder now. Rings I think would only interfere with this varying hand positioning (and I suspect shoulders would, also). At first I missed having shoulders, but I wouldn’t go back to them now. The only time I resort to a Europaddle now is when the water is very cold, because yes, using a GP means wet hands if we are to get the full benefit of the paddle.

@@maryhenry3257 My wife uses hair bands as drip rings... helps if you just do low angle

Ha! Great question. It's worth a try. I've never heard or seen anyone try that.

There are adjustable Greenland paddles available but not from gear lab

Yes. Get more confident while sitting and edging. Then try kneeling on a pad or towel. Then stand. You might also try a SUP for practice. You could also use a wobble board if you cannot get on the water easily.

I feel for you lol. Stability on a kayak is more to do with your weight than center of gravity. The manufacturers claim weight capacity: 425lbs / 193kg on this kayak, after a while you realize thats bs. Its normally about 1/3 or 1/2 that. My only advice is to watch the weight and invest in outriggers. Its really hard to paddle with outriggers so make sure they fold away when not in use. There lots of videos to watch on youtube on this subject and take it from me, your not the only one falling in.

Lots of buoyancy in these paddles.

Relaxed low angle stroke with half of the paddle in the water at all time ...

paddle measurements typically use the more universal metric system. 219 centimeters ==> ~86.5 in.

I appreciate what you're saying, but it's not comparing apples to apples. It's like saying you can make a golf club for $20 from the hardware store. You can... but you get what you pay for!

​@@PaddleTV You sound like a dumb capitalist trying to justify buying the made in china molded kayak over a hand made sea worthy skin on frame kayak made by a Inuit in his spare time. a 10$ 2x4 makes a really light weight and strong paddle and it only takes basic tools. Whats why Greenland Inuit kayak enjoys make their own paddles and kayaks. I don't have the room in my apartment to make a kayak but I do for paddles and I get to say I made it myself and I am ready to bet it is lighter then you carbon fiber one. It's also custom made to my body. If I were to make you a paddle, I would charge you at least 100-200$ for my time and materials. I made my own 2x4 weightlifting safety cage I use to squat and bench press. Its about 25lbs and I can disassemble it and resemble it in in 1 min with out tools. Though I leave it fully built in a corner and when I want to use it with weights I pull it out of its corner so I dont hit the walls with the bar and if it were not for the wideness, I could do it with one hand. I can pack it and move it in one hand also. I trust this 50$ material worth contraption to hold at least 1000lbs of weight altough I wont go higher then 200lbs + 170lbs of my body weight cuz I don't want to train to be a beaf. To make a paddle all you need is a saw and something like a draw knife to shave away at the wood. so 10$ of wood, 40$ of tool investment and like 20$ for a bottle of linseed of danish oil to protect the wood from the water. Your carbon fiber paddle can be made diy for about 100$ of material, not counting the molding needed, How ever if I am not mistaken, glass fiber would be a better material and it turns out its lighter and cheaper.(lighter because it needs less resin and material then carbon fiber to archive the same strength) Also for your dumb ass analogy, I bet a 20$ hardware store store stuff made golf club can outperform you overly expensive gold clubs. In fact, you don't even need most of the clubs in your bag. It's just a sport for rich people to show off they waster thousands of dollars on sticks to hit a plastic ball down some vast fields that could house thousands or entertain thousands per week as a public park. Not to mention the tones of toxins dumped into the soil to have unrealistic grass. You know what, send me your fuck you money that you get to spew all your nonsence and I will make you a paddle or golf club that will put your expensive shit to shame with how cheap they can be made. I mean do you think your 1100$ Iphone is actualy worth 1100$. It cost them 200$ to produce, employee cost and material cost. the rest is pure profit. You can actualy go to china, bribe the factory manager and go home with a iphone for 200 USD and the dude will still make his money. How much you spend to make something means fuck all. Its how you do it.