Paddle Sizing

Posted by: Zak

Just as folks come in a  bountiful array of sizes and paddles come in assorted lengths there are countless varieties of techniques and tricks for sizing someone to a paddle.

I rate a good sizing system on two criteria.

#1: Does it measure someone to the shaft length?
Too often a paddle sizing technique will size someone based on height and say that you should have a “x” length bent shaft paddle. Okay let’s say this length is 50” for you - you buy two bent shafts at 50” - one has a 18” blade and the other a 28” blade. That would mean the shaft on the first one would be 10” longer than the other. Not good! You’re hands would probably be too close together on one and too far apart on the other - making neither paddle the correct length! So that’s why in evaluating a good paddle sizing technique I always look for one that measures shaft length and then it’s as simple as adding the blade length to that measurement.

#2: Is it simple? I get plenty of calls from folks wondering how to pick the correct paddle size. And it is plain to me that a simple sizing technique that is easy to understand is best. Believe me if you’re measuring your nostril circumference or factoring in your favorite sock color when someone is fitting you to a paddle size it’s not gonna work. And unless you are a professional dragon boar racer or marathon paddling champ just a simple paddle sizing technique will do just fine.

So with those two criteria in mind here is what I use to size a paddle ~

Directions:
1. Sit on a chair with your back straight.
2. Measure from the seat to the middle of your eyeballs.
3. For 10-14 degree bent shaft: Add the length of the blade.
For 5-10 degree bent shaft: Add length of blade plus 2-4”
For straight shaft: Add length of blade plus 4-6”

That’s it!

Note: No idea where this information originated, but a shout out to the folks up at Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply. Picked up this great paddle sizing technique when we were delivering some paddles to them last year.

Last Giveaway of the Year!

Have you enjoyed our Paddle Giveaways this year?

Well it's December and that means, sadly, that this is the last of our "Year of the Paddle" giveaways! Sign-up here ~ http://bit.ly/ef7PCD

A Bit More About Us

I updated our “About Us” Page this morning. It needed a bit of revision and addition. It hadn’t been updated in quite some time!


Excerpt:

SANBORN CANOE COMPANY is a paddling brand concerned with fine craftsmanship, aesthetics and above all else preserving & cultivating the great paddling heritage that has been born by many over the centuries. We handcraft canoe, kayak and stand up paddles from wood - offering many customizable options. And proudly utilize non-powered tools as much as possible. Block planes, spoke shaves, chisels (our Grandpa handed down to us), wood clamps and other hand tools litter our workshop. If you’d like to see what we do come on by the shop sometime—we’d love to show you around!

FOUNDED: MMIX

MISSION: Our mission as paddlers and craftsmen is to cultivate passion for the proud paddling heritage. To add what we can to that heritage: honoring past traditions - fostering new connections for the paddling community - and forging new horizons for paddlers.

HERITAGE: As long as there have been waterborne craft and tools to ply them there has been the need to adorn them with artistic symbols of our heritage and folklore — be it a mermaid lunging forward the bow of a great ship to the etching of one’s name to the oar continually strapped to his hands. This is held true in the pride of our craft that has always been instilled in paddlers, from the great whale hunting Inuit paddlers of centuries past right up to the modern couple that treks into the wilderness lakes of Canada with a map, a few changes of clothing and their paddling equipment. We, as paddlers, are all bonded together by that great paddling heritage.

OUR STORY: Sanborn, at its origins, was a summer hobby by a few guys to build a cedar-strip canoe with little more knowledge than what we had gleaned from a how-to book purchased at the local bookstore. By the end of that first summer we had a sturdy canoe and a keen interest in crafting a few paddles to ply it. Learning everything the hardest way possible, it seemed, by trial and error we succeeded in carving out a few paddles. Those first paddles led to the desire to learn more and then more about paddle making until we had made more paddles than we could ever use. And curiously to us some folks liked them. Maybe not the first ones we made, although everyone was always gracious with us!

From that all-too-clichéd “business in our buddies garage” we earnestly set out to carve out our niche in the paddling community. This was familiar territory for us having paddled and extensively backcountry canoe camped throughout canoe country—for some of us since our early childhood. And that heritage had been bred in the early years of the 1900s(and most certainly earlier than that) through past generations of our families’ paddling in northern Minnesota and beyond. So through our history and eagerness to learn we quickly grew as a paddling brand. Honing our craft and eventually expanding to allow for us to offer our paddles to retail locations and other online ventures.

We are always searching for new ways to contribute to the paddling community through new designs, techniques and aesthetics. As well as supporting paddlers in their adventures whenever we can—be it sponsoring a couple guys paddling nearly across our country to raise support for orphans and pastors to lending our knowledge to a newbie paddle maker looking for a few pointers. Always Sanborn will be a paddling brand concerned with fine craftsmanship, aesthetics and ways to throw our hat into the fray that is our great paddling heritage.

More Little Jo Options!

Don’t know what to get that little one for Christmas? What about one of these ~

Little Jo Toddlers Paddle ~ http://bit.ly/vcGZ8c

We’ve added more models to our line of Little Jo paddles! You can now get a miniature of any regular Sanborn paddle in Little Jo size! Check ‘em out ~http://bit.ly/vcGZ8c

There’s still time left to get 20% off at sanborncanoe.com! Learn more ~http://bit.ly/tV47WS

Paddle as Art.

INTRODUCING: PADDLE as ART. PADDLE as TRADITION. PADDLE as HERITAGE.

Check 'em out ~ http://bit.ly/rpuyyj

As long as there have been waterborne craft and tools to ply them there has been the need to adorn them with artistic symbols of our heritage and folklore — be it a mermaid lunging forward the bow of a great ship to the etching of ones name to the oar continually strapped to his hands. This is held true in the pride of our craft that has always been instilled in paddlers, from the great whale hunting Inuit paddlers of centuries past up to the modern couple that treks into the wilderness lakes of Canada with a map, a few changes of clothes and their paddling equipment. We are all bonded together by that paddling heritage. And pride in our gear.

In our painted paddle designs we continue our contribution to this great paddling heritage. With a blend of artistic design and functionality we bond a work of fine art to a craftsman's skilled form.

Art. Tradition. Heritage.

"Catch the Sleigh" ~ and Get it By Christmas Sale!

DETAILS:

What: 20% off everything on the website.

How: Use the discount code “Christmas” when checking out.

When: Now until midnight on Sunday Dec. 4th.

Why: Wouldn’t a paddle look great under your Christmas tree? Yes! Yes it would! That’s why we are guaranteeing that every purchase made during this sale will be on your doorstep by Christmas. Even our custom paddles and made-to-order products!  (Sorry we can only guarantee delivery by Christmas to the US...but get your overseas order in ASAP and we’ll do our best!)

Make sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter for announcements throughout the sale about more exciting things coming to Sanborn. From features about current products, unveiling of new paddle features and announcements about new products!

Gear Patrol - Gunflint Paddle

Check out what Gear Patrol had to say about our paddle...

From Gear Patrol: 
"Made, by hand, in Winona, Minnesota (yes, we’re all about Minnesota), two year old Sanborn Canoe Companyhas been creating some of the best looking wooden canoe & kayak paddles we’ve encountered. Founded by a cadre of enthusiasts looking to play a closer role with the products they used, Sanborn Canoe Co now produces an assortment of well-priced wood paddles we can’t decide if we want to mount on our walls or hit the water with. Our favorite: the Gunflint Paddle ($125). Made from western red and white cedar, the Gunflint isn’t just a hunk of wood that moves water. It features a slightly wider span and 14° bend for more powerful strokes, hard epoxy tip for protection from underwater nasties, and an indexed shaft to preclude hand and joint stress. The fact that it looks like a million bucks is just icing.

Buy Now: $125"


Check out Gear Patrol's Website.

Could be Coming Soon

I thought some of you would be interested to see what may be upcoming at Sanborn. We've been working on a new paddle design. We're really excited about this one. At this point it is just a project paddle that I made for the start of spring. But we've has many nice things said about it already so we're exploring the possibility of taking it further.

Some of the features of this paddle:
Hardwood tip: Instead of our usual epoxy-mixture tip this paddle has an Ash tip.

Oil: Instead of varnishing the entire paddle, like we do on all of our canoe paddles, the shaft and grip of this paddle are oiled. And let me tell you it feels wonderful!

Oil Me Please

With the arrival of our Greenland paddle we've felt the need to educate the virtues of a nicely oiled paddle. Even though it might take a bit more work an oiled paddle just feels so much better gripped in your hand. Here is a copy of the content on our 'Oil Me Please' page.

If you’ve purchased one of our oiled paddles please take care to keep up with its care. It’s really a simple and enjoyable process. Oil may be a bit more work, but it’s well worth it to have the very best paddle finish!

What to use? Tung Oil vs. Linseed Oil

Tung Oil: If you use Tung Oil make sure that what you buy has actual tung oil in it. Some products are sold as ‘Tung Oil Finish’ These are not actually tung oil. Look at the ingredients on the side of container. If it doesn’t say tung oil look somewhere else.

          Pros: Highest quality oil for finishing paddles.

          Cons: A little trickier to work with than is linseed oil. (Tends to gum up a little faster)

                   More expensive.

Linseed Oil: This is the cheapest and easiest to use.

           

          Pros: Easier to work with.

                  Cheaper.

          Cons: Less water resistant. Poorer quality finish.

Application: Oiling a paddle is a very simple process.

Step #1: Make sure you have a smooth paddle surface. Lightly sand with a high grit sandpaper #220 or higher or #000 Steel  Wool until all surface particulates are gone. You’re not trying to sand into the oil too much. Just get the surface dust and dirt off.

Step #2: Wipe off dust with damp cloth.

Step #3: With a lint-free cloth wipe on oil.

Step #4: Wait about 10 minutes and wipe off excess oil with other side of cloth.

How often: The common rule here is…

   -Once a day for a week.

   -Then once a week for a month.

   -Then once a month for a year.

   -As need after that.

If you’ve purchased one of our oiled paddles we’ve done the ‘Once a day for a week’ for you. So continue from that point. I find it easiest to apply oil after every trip in the summer (I go on a trip about once a month) Also at the end and beginning of the season.

April Newsletter

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter - click here.

Hello everyone. April is here and with it has come even warmer weather (and, yes, yesterday even some snow!). That’s living in Minnesota for you. But orders are still flying out the door.

Road Trip

We had a great weekend over the 8^th and 9^th of April. We took a little road trip to deliver paddles to Duluth Pack and Stone Harbor Wilderness Supply. Great to connect and get to know some new folks and put faces to email contacts. We also got to sit in on a great 'Wilderness Canoeing' seminar by Cliff Jacobson. Let's just say WOW! Such a vast collection of valuable knowledge and enormous energy packed into one man! I learned better compassing skills, how to talk down a bear, what portaging means in the Canadian wilderness and some great tips for canoe trip packing. Great weekend.

April Paddle Giveaway

As you may know this is “The Year of the Paddle” and we’re giving away one paddle a month for the entire year! Get in on ourApril Paddle Giveaway! 

Don't keep this to yourself...Please tell your friends and neighbors about our Paddle Giveaways!

New Dealer – LakeSUP.com

Our newest dealer hails from our very own great state of Minnesota and is also our first Stand Up Paddle dealer. LakeSUP.comdeals in Stand Up Paddleboards, paddles and other paddleboarding supplies. And do a great job promoting the sport of Stand Up here in the Midwest. If you’re interested in Stand Up Paddlesports make sure to check out LakeSUP.com!

You can find us on Facebook too!

Want to learn more about us and see more photos? Check out our facebook page!

April Paddle Giveaway

I know. I know. I'm a little late in getting this on the blog. The month is over half over!But there's still plenty of time to sign-up for our April Paddle Giveaway.

A random drawing will win someone one of our Gunflint bent shaft canoe paddles. All we need from you is your name and email. Click here to sign-up!

Booklet of Wares

Hey Everyone. Been busy working on our brand new 2011 'Booklet of Wares'. Just a fancy-pantsy way of saying catalog. We're actually getting some printed to hand out at an event we're attending in a couple of weeks up in Duluth(more to come on that soon). I was able to download a Photoshop trial for a month so that I could do this project. I really need to buy it though! Maybe this summer!

Here's a mini online version of the booklet to check out. You can click on it to be taken to a full-size version.

Booklet of Wares 2011

Publish at Calaméo or browse others.

Sanborn Goes to the Library

We are fortunate enough to have had the Winona Public Library invite us to display some of our paddles from yesterday until the end of April. So we have 10-odd paddles hanging, surrounded by Hemingway, A.A.Milne, Chuacer, Grisham, Dr. Suess, C.S. Lewis, Norman MaClean, Franklin and all the other great authors. I could go on and on. So thank you to the Winona Public Library for letting us invade their space for a time.

Along with our 'regular' paddles we have many custom and fun paddles on display - including Sanborn's 1st paddle and a super long 30-some-inch-bladed beavertail Todd made. And we set up a progression of the different stages that we go through when making paddles - from gluing to shaping to finishing. We explored doing a paddlemaking class with this, but thought it might be a little dusty and loud to pull off inside the library :)

We had a good time hanging the paddles yesterday. Although my daughter, Glady, kept shushing us because we were pounding nails into the wall. To be fair I did tell her when we were walking into the library that she had to whisper when we were inside. "You aren't whispering Dad. Shh!" Another bonus was sharing a little time picking out some books with Glady and signing her up for her first library card.

To check the paddles out you can head down to the Winona Public Library any time they are open until the end of April. You can even pick up a book while you're there!

Here's a link to the facebook event page.

Copy of our March Newsletter

March Newsletter

Hi folks. Another month has passed. And with it goes the last of the bitter cold weather here in Winona. It’s warming up fast! The snow is melting. And we all know what that means: it’s almost summertime. The time for camping, fishing, canoeing, kayaking, paddleboarding, campfires, s’mores, school break, warm nights, thunder storms and lots and lots of paddling!

New SUP Paddle

After much hard work and many revisions our first SUP paddle is finally here! We’ve really taken our time with this paddle to make sure every little detail is how we envisioned it to be. I think it turned out great! We decided to call it The Laker in homage to all the lakes and nickname of our great state of Minnesota. But don’t let the name fool you – it will handle any all types of paddling, from ocean waves to river currents to calm reflection ponds.

New Dealer – Kayak Corral

We are very excited to say that we have recently added Kayak Corral to our growing list of great dealers! They are in fact the first place other than our website where you can purchase one of our new Greenland kayak paddles. If you live in the Saline, MI area, or are planning a trip stop in and check out all they have to offer. You’ll be glad you did.

From Kayak Corral’s website:

“Your Great Lake's resource for kayaks & accessories
Serving Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Ontario and our many friends afar.”

Take a look at Kayak Corral’s Website.

March Contest

As you might recall here at Sanborn we declared 2011 The Year of the Paddle. And with that we are giving away a paddle every month for this entire year! Check out our contest page for rules and how you can enter!

Planning a Wilderness Canoe Trip

If you’re in the Duluth area on Sat. April 9th come check out what will be a great seminar on Planning a Wilderness Canoe Trip by the author/guide Cliff Jacobson and put on by the Duluth Pack Store. We’ll have a table at the event. We’re looking forward to chatting to some great folks - if you're there please stop by and say hi. For more details and to purchase tickets to the event go to Duluth Pack’s website.

Thanks,

Zak

New SUP paddle and Spring Weather

Glady and I made good use of the beautifully warm and sunny weather we've been having to get our new Stand Up Paddle, The Laker, outside. I think I promised Glady a tootsie roll if she would hold the paddle for me to snap a few pics.

She told me the paddle was too big! "I can't use that one daddy!" :)

Oh well. I'm sure it's the right size for someone to be using really soon since spring is finally here!

First Greenland Dealer

We are very excited to say that we have recently added Kayak Corral to our growing list of great dealers! They are in fact the first place other than our website where you can purchase one of our new Greenland kayak paddles. If you live in the Saline, MI area, or are planning a trip stop in and check out all they have to offer. You’ll be glad you did.

From Kayak Corral’s website:

“Your Great Lake's resource for kayaks & accessories
Serving Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Ontario and our many friends afar.”

Take a look at Kayak Corral’s Website.

Paddle Giveaways Are Back!

NOTICE TO EVERYONE: Sanborn Canoe Co. is declaring 2011 the "Year of the Paddle" And in honor of this momentous occasion - that we just made up - we are going to be giving away 1 paddle a month for the entire year! There will be different contests for every month…

Check out more details as well as the current months contest on our Giveaways Page!

Snow in November

Well, we had over two feet of snow dump on Winona a few weeks before Christmas that we are still digging out from. But before that storm hit we took a November canoe trip up to the BWCA and it snowed on us up there too!

The first night we drove up and stayed in our friends cabin outside of Ely, MN. A nice gas stove and heater work wonders in a small a-frame cabin. It was toasty warm that night!

In the morning we drove a few miles and put in on the Kawishiwi River. We stayed on the Kawishiwi for most of the trip except for a few jaunts up to other lakes. That morning though we were paddling up the river. The many small rapids were an adventure to try and paddle, pull or portage around. Luckily we had nice weather that day.

We camped a few nights and on the last night snowed somewhere around 5 inches, got windy and cold. We quick packed and ate breakfast that morning and trucked it back out - down the rapids that time. Even though we were going with the current it was a tricky day with all the slick rocks, snow falling, cold temps and low water. The rapids weren’t very treacherous but since the water was so low the rocks were all barely submerged and we were hitting all of them.

We made it to Ely in time to eat lunch and catch the Bears-Vikings game-(the first one). Wish that could have turned out differently!

We stayed another warm night in the cabin and headed home. A great trip!

Greenland Arrival

Our new Greenland-style kayak paddle is finally here! We’ve been working really hard over the past few months ironing out the design, learning the skills, testing and then reworking everything until we were satisfied this paddle was up to Sanborn standards. And we’re really happy with how it turned out!

I know it’s a little weird for a canoe company to make a kayak paddle, right?! And to tell you the truth before we began developing this paddle and testing it and learning we really didn’t have a lot of experience with kayaking. But I would have to say that I really fell in love with kayaking over the past months! I think a cedar-strip kayak is definitely going to be in the works once it warms up!

Learn more about this paddle - and maybe buy one - click here.

New Logo

We felt that the logo needed a little updating. What do you think? This is also what our product tags will look like in the upcoming year. We’re looking around for a great printer to get them done for us!