CANI E-zine 12th May 2020

So, lets start of with some intentional good-natured hackle raising.  

Those of us that know, know that the only style of canoeing for development of maximum skills is open canoeing.  Every style of boat has is pros and cons, but the open boat would have been Da Vinci’s choice.  The open canoe is the realm of the paddlesport polymath.  What other style offers us the opportunities to develop such a wide range of paddle strokes and combination, our utilisation of knowledge of trim and edge, our need to pick and choose the route to avoid the worst of prevailing weather, the chance to run churning white water (within reason), to pole our way upstream, or snub our way down, to carry the kitchen sink when we go camping, to sail solo or in rafts, to understand and manage long portages in back country (with that kitchen sink!), to expand all of this to include another in the boat, and to do all this on small streams, river, lake and sea.

The intention of this short article, other than to annoy the non open boaters, is to raise some points for thoughts and discussion on canoe poles.  In this instance I’d like to focus on one area, the obvious one of materials.  This is not about selling anything so brand/makes/ retailers is not relevant.

Materials.  In short we have the commercially available options of aluminium/alloy, Carbon fibre and wood.  Each with its own benefits and failings.  These fall into feel, flex and durability. 

• How the material feels in your hand is significant and in our climate the key tends to be how cold it is.  
• Flex is a debateable one and worthy of discussion.  Too much flex and the pole has no power, too little flex and it is sore on the body.  A little flex also provides a nice bit of spring.  
• Durability.  Traditional wooden poles were always seen as short-term investments – often cut when needed and discarded afterwards in a countryside with loads of trees.  The life of a pole clearly hangs partially on the skill of the owner and the ability to quick release when it is trapped.   Most poles die with their tip trapped between rocks and a heavy canoe refusing to obey the polers directions to stop.

Alloy poles are cold on your hands and feel hard to the touch, they have little flex so bend under serious strain.  They are the cheapest and usually come as splits at 12ft and around £65-70.   They float because the ends are bunged and they have air inside.

Carbon poles are warmer on your hands and have a softer feel than alloy, they flex a little but can be prone to snapping when trapped.  They are the most expensive and usually come as splits at 12ft and around £90-105. They float because the ends are bunged and they have air inside.

Wooden poles are the warmest on your hands, a softer feel than Carbon and have the most flex, and are less prone to snapping when trapped.   However, wooden poles in the UK are rare, are invariably one piece long and therefore, for postal reasons, tend to be 10ft.  You can get a wooden pole for around £70.  Wooden poles float.

As a traditionalist in paddle sports it would not come as a surprise that I personally use a wooden pole.  I have two, both of which have seen a good deal of service over the ten years I have had them, and one or the other of them goes with me on every open canoe paddle trip.

Please see the full report here.

Many thanks to John Wilkinson for providing this fantastic report!

NISF partners 2into3 are hosting a series of Webinars, each one will be a deep dive into a selected Fundraising method.  They will take place on the dates below.