I am looking at getting werner powerhouses for mosly river running and a bit of playboating
I was wondering would they be ok for this and also wether it is worth the extra money to go for the carbon ones?

Does any one have any idea if there would be a better set of blades for the job?

All coments appreciated

Thanks

Kevin

Hey Kevin,

I have 2 paddles. A Werner Powerhouse and a Werner Double Diamond. I use the powerhouse with my creekboat, and the double diamond for play boating. In my opinion the powerhouse is a bad choice for a play boating paddle. The blade is very big, and I love it for creeking. But I think if you were to use it repeatedly for play boating you'd end up damaging your shoulders.

If your mainly river running with some playboating on the side, maybe step down to the Sherpa which is a mid sized blade (The Powerhouse being a large size blade).

If you're doing a lot of play boating, maybe look at one of their larger play paddles.

Werner have a good interactive fit guide which can pick out a paddle for you, have a look: www.wernerpaddles.com/fit_guide/index.php - It's not 100% accurate, but good to use as a guide.

ok thanks

I have the Sherpa and it is very good. Carbon fibber is good because it is a lot lighter but if you swim as they are black they are hard to see so put sone electrical tape around the shaft

I was told by a kayaker once that he prefers the fiberglass shaft werners because they are stronger and paddles get lost often anyway so its not really worth the extra $$$. That said i cant remember who it was or if he had any evidance to back that up, might be worth a thought though.

Hey Kevin, your profile says you're from Ireland, so that means low volume, rocky rivers. I wouldn't go for the carbon ones as hitting all those rocks really jar the body (and joints), trust me I know I live in the 30th driest country on earth.. A carbon shaft (and blades of course) are really stiff and on big volume stuff it's great but the teeth chattering feeling of knocking into rocks is not that great. Some people will also not like the feeling and prefer some flex, saying it makes their muscles less tired and their body too. I've paddled a full carbon Powerhouse crank for a while and personally wouldn't buy another unless I only paddled rivers with very few rocks to hit. I now paddle a Sawyer Sidewinder which is a wooden paddle sheathed in carbon. While not as flexible as a straight up wooden paddle it gives a little more and feels great. I don't think the extra bucks are going to be worth it to be honest, given your location. But that's just my opinion. The Powerhouse is not good for playboating and the blade is very large, and not ideally shaped for playing. I think their Sherpa might be a better option if it is Werner you're dead set on. Otherwise there are a large number of other options paddle to look into - Sawyer, H20, Core (they are new, but Google them), Select, Robson, etc. Any questions, just ask away.

Or would a sidekick or a player be a better option ?

There are a fair few people in my club using players for river running
but i have tried them and felt that i didnt feel like i could get any
real power out of them to move the boat around on the river like
ferries or if i have to make an eddie .like at the moment i am
using pretty big plastic blades on a metal shaft for everything and
even in my playboat . I tried the powerhouses in a pretty big flow
in my playbat and thought they felt reasonably similar power wise
but just on a whole different level when it comes to control I didnt
get a chane to try any tricks because the local feature wasn't
running .I will try to get a go of somebodys sherpas too during the
week and maybe another go at the players too .

We are limited enough when it comes to paddle makes over here .
There is a lot of Werner going arround and after that there is
some Rough Stuff ,
and then i've only seen like 1 Mitchels, and h2o's too seem rare
enough But i know a shop stocking them and will try to demo a set .
I've seen the AT's in one of the shops but they felt
very heavy in comparison to everything else
but didnt get to paddlle with them .
And I think they have stopped stocking select too.

I am slow enough to buy a paddle without trying it like .

Thanks

Kevin

See if you can try other people's paddles, as many as possible. Only you can decide what feels good for you. I've tried the Player and also felt it too small, for me. Everyone is different I have a friend who creeks with a Player, but granted he weighs around 60kg. Try before you buy. I would be wary of buying a Powerhouse if you're going to use it a lot for playing, but that's just my opinion. Good luck mate.

I wouldn´t recommend the Powerhouse for creeking.

What about Ophion? I haven´t tried them, but they look good.

www.ophionpaddles.com/store/product.php?id_product=10

kojak wrote:

I wouldn´t recommend the Powerhouse for creeking.

Why not? Although I use another brand now I had a lot of joy out of my Powerhouse when I used it and could not fault it. It is an excellent design and super strong.

Outside voted it as best creeking paddle:
outside-blog.away.com/blog/2010/04/the-b...rner-powerhouse.html

So much for multi tasking

What I meant to say was that I wouldn´t recommend the Powerhouse for playboating.

I´ve got one one myself - and it´s ace for river running and creeking. Was forced to buy it in Norway since the airline somehow managed to split my to AT´s completely in half.

Do NOT buy stuff in Norway unless your behind is full of money

kojak wrote:

So much for multi tasking

What I meant to say was that I wouldn´t recommend the Powerhouse for playboating.

LOL I thought that quite a weird statement for you, that's why I asked

Sorry to hear about your paddles. Not good

I have a set of full carbon players and I use them for everything. Iv used them 4 times on the liffey decent with a wavehopper. I use them for playing, surfing and creeking. they are 192cm so fairly long but im a tall guy. they do hinder me slightly whilst playing but not to a massive amount and only on cartwheeling and cross bow stuff. but I tried all the werners before hand and the player felt the best and I thought a playboating paddle would be better at creeking then a creeking paddle for playboating. I would put some sort of tape on the full carbons tho. Got pinned after a waterfall and dropped them, run down the river frantically looking and they just happend to pop up vertically. I did actually order the fibreglass blades but they sent the carbon ones so I got them at fibreglass price! If money is a bother id go with fibreglass. Out club has ones about 8years old worn down to half their original size, and thats club blades!
But as Adrian said, choose what feels the best for you.

Kevin,

Judging by your feelings about power, I strong recommend the Aqua-Bound Shred Hybrid. It’s the perfect mix of a lightweight and flexible carbon shaft and strong shred blade. Whether you’re going through rough rivers or just playboating, you need a durable yet lightweight paddle so you can actually go for hours.

Plus, the Werner Player is $240-$320 and the Werner Side Kick is $280-$400, where as the Aqua-Bound Shred Hyrbid is $140. Must better value and easily as durable. Check it out…

www.austinkayak.com/products/453/AquaBou...itewater-Paddle.html

Hope this helps.