Adjustable Paddles — There is a Difference

Pretty much everybody starts their paddleboard career with an adjustable paddle. These are especially common in “package deals”, where you purchase a board, leash, and paddle together. Adjustable paddles have a lot of advantages. They can be sold to most paddlers, not matter what their height. As a new paddler, you can also experiment with how long your paddle should be. They are a great piece of equipment to start with. (Just make sure that your new paddle floats. They all should, but some of the cheap ones sink like a stone!)

Even experienced paddlers have use for an adjustable paddle. If you want to bring a friend out, this is what you’re going to loan them. If you’re going on vacation and can only bring one board and one paddle, an adjustable paddle is perfect. When I go to Florida, I bring mine along with my 10’6″ Bic, and depending if I’m surfing, flatwater paddling, or just messing around, I’ll have it at a different length. If you’re doing a long distance trip and need a second emergency paddle, you can collapse your adjustable to its smallest size and strap it in with your gear.

Adjustable paddles are made of all sorts of materials normal paddles are made of— aluminum, plastic, fiberglass, and carbon. Aluminum and plastic paddles are heavy, really design for beginners wanting to try the sport. Carbon paddles are the lightest and strongest of paddle materials, but (naturally) they are also the most expensive. (Keep in mind that the locking mechanism adds weight to the paddle, so if you’re looking for the lightest paddle you can buy, even the highest-end adjustable carbon paddle will not be it.) I personally think fiberglass is the sweet spot for adjustable paddles. It’s strong and reasonably light, but significantly less expensive as a carbon paddle.

Photo Courtesy of Kialoa paddles (www.kialoa.com)

The first system, and my least favorite, is what I call the “Tab” system. (Someone please correct me if there’s a different name.) This locking system is released and closed by a tab that comes out, clamping the wider main shaft to the narrower one attached to the handle. It works reliably and is quite good for micro adjustments, like when you want to make the shaft just a trifle longer. This system does have two issues that concern me. The first is that the circular shaft can twist around in the loose mechanism. You can easily end up with a paddle handle twisted out of alignment with the blade. This is pretty easily resolved with guidelines that extend from one shaft to the other, but many cheaper paddles don’t have this.

The second stye I like to call the sleeve lock. It consists of a collar connected to the lower wider shaft with two pins. The narrower shaft has a series of holes that fit the pins. To adjust it, you pull the collar up and adjust the shaft. You have to line the collar pins up exactly with the holes to make that work. The pins make a solid connection. There’s no chance of the narrow shaft sliding up and down. (Tab mechanisms can slide, although that is quite rare.) The collar and pins will not. The holes also assure that your handle is perfectly aligned with the blade.

I prefer this locking system to the tab system. While the collar does stick out, and your hand will impact it, the hits will be much smoother. You can do an advanced stroke on one of these, although after a while the impacts will hurt. (I did an eighteen miler with one, and by the end my fingers felt bludgeoned.) There are also no microadjustments; you’re stuck with the predrilled lengths. That’s never been a serious problem for me, but it could be an issue for someone who’s very particular about comfort.

One amusing feature of this type of paddle I discovered on a breezy day. I was paddling and kept hearing some sort of hooting sound. It was haunting and kept happening over and over. I figured out that it was happening at a certain point in my stroke, so I held my stroke there and — made a funny discovery. When I held the paddle at that angle, the wind blew across the holes making a sound like a flute! (As a flute player, I found this especially amusing.)

My favorite adjustable mechanism is an internal wire system. This is controlled by a latch in the handle of the paddle. You raise this flush latch up to loosen an internal lock within the paddle. There is a small (sharp) lip where the two shafts meet but nothing else on the shaft. This system has the fewest external parts and places where your hand can impact. I have read that the wires inside can fail, and when it fails you have to replace the entire paddle, but I haven’t seen that happen. The main disadvantage of this system is that despite the fact that the handle latch is flush inside the handle, the edges will still rub against your hand. Wearing gloves solves this problem. There’s also the small lip where the two shafts join together, which your hands will impact, but this is much less of an issue than the other styles.

Whichever model you choose, and adjustable paddle is a good addition to your paddle quiver. While they will probably never be the highest-end of paddling equipment, maybe that’s a good thing? As an advanced paddler, often I feel the pressure to always be pushing my equipment to its extreme, going faster, farther, always pushing myself. One of the best purposes my adjustable paddle serves is a reminder to chill out a little bit. Sometimes it’s better to not push the envelope and to take take it easy for a while. With my high performance gear that doesn’t feel right, but with my chonky adjustable all I want to do is have fun. I think that might be the best reason to own one, actually. Our world is very stressful, and sometimes you need to get on the water and just relax.