I posted this on the zone too but figured I post here as well both as a favor to the folks at Kalaoa and to give DJ a hard time...

This months topic should stir some interesting conversation.....seems like we all tend to have our favorites....

I was lucky enough to win last months free paddle giveaway at Kalaoa Paddle Company...mostly because DJ didn't enter...thanks DJ....I'm not sure if it would have been the dolphin, the cop hat, or the condom that would have clinched it for you....

Anyway..this months topic is "Who makes the best standup boards"?

To enter go to the blog here...[s]broke://www.kalaoapaddle.com/blog/[/s]

To see why I'm so stoked ( i picked the "fish") http://www.kalaoapaddle.com/

Good luck. I should get mine in a couple of weeks.

I'll be very interested in the performance too. I do enjoy a nice wood paddle but I've come to love my werner for what it lets me do and the beatings its taken. It repaired easily too when I finally did manage to break it.

I haven't tried any narrower blades yet so I'm anxious to check it out. Carbon definitely has some advantages over wood and I agree. I've fallen on my spanker and if it was wood the shaft would have snapped for sure. Wood has soul though...you don't get that from carbon. Performance wise though I think they can be very comparable and wood offers some relief to aching shoulders.

I think the name thing is just happenstance. I understand where you're coming from but I don't think it was done intentionally. When you go to Hawaii there are lots of businesses that have names that sound the same but they only sound the same in english. Translated one might be Flying dog caterers and the other Lazy bastard caterers.... Kalaoa happens to be the area on the kona coast where the guy that started the company lives.

I'll definitely give a report on the paddle when I get it.