After hearing about the new Naish paddle I decided to buy myself one for a couple of reasons.. I was interested to see what they're like and I thought it would be good to have a cheap paddle to lend friends that want to have a go at SUP'ing and I would not have to lend them one of my good Kialoa's because they always push off rocks and whack the rail of the board.. and also because they're a bargain price.

One of my favorite Kialoa paddles is the Methane and it's about the same size.. Today I took some pictures down at the beach and gave it its first test paddle.



It's also a very similar shape looking at the outline of the blade.



The T grip handle looks very similar from this angle.



But from this angle you can see a slight difference.



This is the cheaper white glass blade and I'm comparing it to the full carbon Kialoa.



The shaft is the RDS (reduced diameter shaft) and it feels nice and thin.



The blade has a little more angle but it must be only one or two degrees.



The carbon shaft has this cool pattern on it.



It's great to see Naish change from the big fat ergo shaped T grip to a nice light Tahitian style T grip handle.



Paddling it I was surprised at just how good it felt.. The weight difference compared to the Kialoa was only just noticeable.

At first I thought the narrow shaft would be very soft and flexy but it actually felt quite stiff and springy.



The slight dihedral helped the blade paddle straight with no flutter at all.



The blade felt nice and thin but not as thin as the Kialoa's but it did have a nice blunt edge where the Kialoa's can be a bit sharp for newbies.



When I tested the old Naish paddles I thought the blades were a bit big.. It's nice to see they now offer smaller blades..

This is the 8" blade and they also offer a 7" blade.



I also prefer the smaller T grip handle.. I think Naish have done the right thing here.



It's a great paddle.. IMO it's not as good as a Kialoa but for half the price it's a great entry level paddle.

I'm keen to try the new full carbon Naish paddle now..

DJ

thx's dj, i've been looking at that paddle for a new surf paddle. having a 14" above head dw paddle makes my 6" above head surf paddle seem so short i feel like a hunch back
cheers

aus301 said...

slightly off topic, but a new Methane... just for DJ

I'd love to get one of those new limited edition Kialoa Methanes.. .. I think only about 50 are coming to Oz.

I just bought my new Methane (for flat water) not long ago..

Maybe I could sell my old shorter Methane that I use in the surf and order one of the new ones..

Then maybe I can get matching boardies and hat.. .. Is that Blane?

DJ

Thanks.. I'll pop in tomorrow and check them out.. Are you DW'ing with us?

btw.. Out paddling the Jav today in the clearest water that I've ever seen down at St Kilda.. and fish everywhere.. Beautiful.. .. and soooo glassy.

DJ