NSW
4 posts
Length of paddle ?
Hi everyone, I'm new to SUP and need advise to set my paddle handle.
What length should my paddle be? (I,ve heard anywhere from 4" to 8" above head hight) NB I'm using it in the surf.
Whats the best way to fix it? (liquid nails? arildite? )
Thanks
VIC
5126 posts
To get to the starting point:
- Stand with your arm stretched up comfortably straight above your head. Don't over stretch or anything.
- The handle should sit neatly in the palm of your hand with your hand closed over it.
- Tape it in place with duct tape. Run a few winds of tape in a figure 8 pattern over the handle and around the shaft. Don't worry about getting a few wrinkles in the tape, that makes it stronger. Finish off with a few winds around the shaft.
Paddle with it this way for several weeks up to about 3 months. There's a bit of a learning curve in paddling so don't get too excited about changing your paddle.
After you get through the beginning stages you might want to shorten it by 2" at a time.
The end position is up to you. I'm 185 cm and have 8" longer than me and I might go a little shorter, but not much.
The duct tape fixing works fine and there's no real need to use anything else.
5 minute Araldite is good for a permanent attachment and can be softened with boiling water or a heat gun.
QLD
2819 posts
It really comes down to comfort and the board you are surfing. I believe a safe length to start with in the surf would be 8" over as you can always go shorter - and probably will if you are surfing only. The thing that might change this perhaps is if you were surfing a very thick board, say something like a naish 11.6 or a kalama 11.6 or similar board that was around the 5inch thickness then because you would be sitting much higher out of the water you may want to start with your paddle a little longer. My surf paddle is 6 1/4" over which seems ok for most boards I surf and also for flat water on a smaller boards but it's a tad long for my baby surf sup which sits quite low in the water - but I can't be bothered or afford to run two paddles so I just make do with what I got.
