Another Wally World paddle

[jdupre']

Inspired by Piper's "quick and easy " thread , I bought two 5' Featherlite paddles with the intention of making a kayak paddle. Not wanting to cut the paddles and find out that they were " not quite" the right length, I came up with this idea for the trial fit.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10 ... clamps.jpg

( It took me a try or two but I got it to work.... Chuck.)

 

[islandpiper]

great idea. mine came out kind of long, so I'll have to build a wider boat, I guess. piper

 

[swamprat]

you dropped an [ there. very interesting!

 

[jdupre']

Thanks , Swamprat. I was going back and forth triying to figure where I went wrong. Here's another angle.

Man, can you flat fly with one of these jobbies?! It's like day and night. No J stroking --- just alternate strokes and she goes straight and fast. Best 20 bucks I ever spent.

Gotta put some kind of drip caps on the shafts. This baby WILL get you wet. I'll adjust the length until I find one I like and will post some more pics.

Later, Joey

 

[Kayak Jack]

Joey, until you get something better, try tying a length of cord around the paddle a few wraps. Tie it off in a slip know, and let the tail dangle down. Separate the wraps if you can, this traps water a bit better. The tail acts as a guide for the water to follow down.

I like these because they don't hang up on weeds and such when paddling through moose pasture.

 

[jdupre']

I'll try that idea, Jack. Now that you mention it , I saw that in a documentary about people doing research in the South American rain forest. They hung their hammocks and tied a string to the support ropes about a foot down from the tree and let the tail hang down to do the same thing.
Another opportunity for my wife to say " How do you KNOW ALL THAT STUFF?!".

 

[Kayak Jack]

...
Man, can you flat fly with one of these jobbies?! It's like day and night. No J stroking --- just alternate strokes and she goes straight and fast. Best 20 bucks I ever spent...

Welcome to the world of reality. The guy who invented the double ended paddle deserves at least as much credit as the guy who invented a wheel and axle. Double enders do it all - and better.

 

[oldsparkey]

They hung their hammocks and tied a string to the support ropes about a foot down from the tree and let the tail hang down to do the same thing.

Why do you think the woodsmen ( Dan Boon and the rest) had fringe on there shirts and slacks , it was not decoration. :wink:

Chuck.

 

[islandpiper]

Chuck, you have just connected the fringe on fancy drawers and paddling .........yup, them boy sprouts are getting an edumacation now, by golly.

piper

 

[Ozark]

On the sleeves I see. My Danail Boone never weared slacks I can't see that the wicks would help there.

 

[Kayak Jack]

Piper San, do the Scots have fringe on their kilts? (Try to remain both sober, serious, and sincere when you answer this. Oh, and not sulky or sexy either.)

 

[islandpiper]

jack, a real kilt has the selvedge edge on the bottom. Only the sheep have fringe.

piper

 

[Kayak Jack]

The fringe rubbed off on'em, ehh?

 

[jdupre']

Ozark, from what I've read, the fringe acted mostly as a wick to draw moisture out of the leather and then allow it to evaporate due to the fringe's increased surface area. The more fringe, the faster you dried out.

I think it's cool that so called " primitive savages " of the world learned how to solve everyday problems using the best method possible -- hundreds or thousands of years of hands-on experience. I've been interested in traditional archery most of my life. The simple longbow I shoot was perfected to the point that it could not be improved upon until fiberglass was invented in the 1940's. That's what 10,000 years of evolution will do.

 

[Ozark]

I agree on the evaporating effect of loose fabric and I think the fringe of leather does the same. What length of fringe would be most affective 2in or less?

 

[Kayak Jack]

Joey, have you ever heard of Genghis Khan? If you saw his bows you would drool. Composite bows, working reflex and recurve, short, 75-100 lb draw.

Even Fred Bear admired them. Check in with Dapper Al [email protected]

 

[jdupre']

It's a guess, but I would think the longer the better. I read an article by a modern day mountain man and he made his own buckskins and he would leave some of the fringe as long as 6 or 7 inches. He said it worked better and he had a ready supply of material to make repairs on the clothes, build snares , tie shelter supports, etc.

 

[jdupre']

Jack, I do know about the old boy. His people were bad a**. With fast horses and powerful long-range bows, they ruled the steppes of Asia for a long time. Your are right about the influence of those bows on Fred Bear. He almost single-handedly introduced the modern recurve to the world. Before Bear, there were very few people out there shooting recurve bows.

...........By the way, I can see how threads hear sometimes take a tangent or two and head off in other directions ----- double paddles to Genghis Khan. LOVE IT!

 

[Kayak Jack]

...........By the way, I can see how threads hear sometimes take a tangent or two and head off in other directions ----- double paddles to Genghis Khan. LOVE IT!

Active minds spark off of each other like flint and steel. As in the real world, sparks fly in a wide arc, not linearly. Also like the real world, embers are generated in several pieces of tinder.

Ideation - Imagineering - Brain Storming - Solution Generating - Subject Development - BS'ing .... they all apply.

I'm serious about you contacting Al Dasen. Tell him of your interests and that I sent you. He's a straight shooter.

 

[BEARS BUDDY]

In some circles it is called attention deficit disorder.