Sea Kayaking Scotland, Oban

Sea Kayaking Scotland

Based near Oban, close to some of the best sea kayaking
locations in the UK!

NDK Sea Kayaks | Lendal paddles | Celtic Paddles
Sea kayak expeditions and skills training

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07551 611406
email: info@sea-kayaking-scotland.co.uk

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Home › Choosing your Lendal paddle

Choosing your Lendal paddle

Lendal and Celtic Paddles are carefully designed to optimise the following:

  • Strength: Must stand up to hard use in real conditions, including surf launches and landings, and rescues
  • Weight: Lightweight reduces fatigue on long tours and expeditions
  • Flex: Some flex required to prevent injury on long trips, but excess flex wastes stroke energy
  • Efficiency: But you need to be using the right paddle to benefit from this!

A good fit is defined as the shortest paddle that allows you to make an efficient, effective stroke. The chart below should be used as a guide for those paddling 21″-22″ wide sea kayaks, with an efficient forward stroke. Low angle paddlers will probably need to go up one paddle size.

Sea Paddle Sizing Chart

Height of Paddler Paddle Length (cm) Blade Size Shaft Size  Large Blade Small Blade
6ft 2in+ 185cm 218 – 222 750 700 padded out standard shaft 215 – 218 216 – 220+
6ft 0 in 180cm 214 – 220 750 700 standard 212 – 217 214 – 218
5ft 10in 175cm 210 – 216 700 650 standard 210 – 215 212 – 216
5ft 8in 170cm 208 – 215 700 650 standard 208 – 213 210 -214
5ft 6in 165cm 207 – 214 650 standard or narrow 208 – 213 208 – 214
5ft 4in 160cm 203 – 212 650 600 narrow 206 – 210 208 – 212
5ft 2in 155cm 190 – 210 650 600 narrow 203 – 208 206 – 210

How many pieces?

two piece paddle

2 piece paddles

The blades are permanently attached to the ends of the shaft. In the centre you have a switchlok to adjust the feather to suit your paddling style and the Vari-paddlok to adjust the length.A two piece paddle will be slightly lighter than the equivalent four piece.

browse 2 piece paddles

four piece paddle

4 piece paddles

Can be broken down to a very manageable size, convenient for transporting and storage. One of the biggest attractions is the ability to replace individual sections, so if you damage a blade you only have to buy one replacement. The 4 piece paddles can also be packed in to the Celtic Paddles Bag which has room for 2 sets of paddles and a few accessories.

browse 4 piece paddles

Choice of blade design and size

For touring you need a blade size that will allow you to maintain an efficient stroke throughout the day, even when you are tiring. The choice of blade size will depend on your build and your height, as shown in the table above. Larger blades are generally used for paddling in surf and tide races but if you are the kind of person that does a mixture of touring and playing in surf or tide races then you can either compromise with one blade that will suit all, or make use of the interchangeable nature of Lendal four piece paddles and have alternative blades that can be fitted to your shaft for different paddle days.

Kinetik 600 Blade

Kinetik Touring 600

The Kinetik 600 has the smallest surface area of the Kinetik range, the blade enables the paddler to increase their stroke rate whist maintaing efficiency. This blade is ideally suited to towards women or smaller paddlers. width: 17 cm length: 50 cm

Kinetik 650 Blade

Kinetik Touring 650

The Kinetik 650 is the mid range blade that suits medium size paddlers. It is extremely efficient and delivers much more power than it’s modest size would suggest. width: 18 cm length: 50 cm

Kinetik 700 Blade

Kinetik Touring 700

The kinetik 700 is the original sized Kinetik shaped blade, it is suited to all paddlers looking for a larger size blade. The down tilted geometry produces great initial power, which aids greater acceleration when needed. width: 19 cm length: 50 cm

browse Kinetik 600’s

browse Kinetik 650’s

browse Kinetik 700’s

Kinetik 750 Blade

Kinetik Touring 750

Lendal’s famous Kinetik shape, increased in size to suit powerful paddlers looking for a large blade. A versatile blade the 750 is suitable for touring, surfing and marathon racing. Offers maximum power and efficiency. width: 20 cm length: 50 cm

Archipelago Blade

Archipelago

Highly versatile, with a small asymmetric shape that fits a range of activities, a softer catch for lighter or novice paddlers with a small efficient power face. This classic shaped blade is well suited to expeditions and touring. The blade is never tiring to use, great for paddlers looking to maintain a high stroke rate.  width: 17 cm length: 50 cm

Nordkapp Blade

Nordkapp

For over 30 years, the Nordkapp shape has been the top choice of expedition paddlers. The full sized blade offers ample power – just what is needed for breaking out through surf or for battling an unfavourable tide. Best suited to larger, fitter paddlers. width: 19.5 cm length: 50 cm

browse Kinetik 750’s

browse Archipelago’s

browse Nordkapp’s

Blade Materials

Kinetik 700 Blade

Carbon

Carbon blades are the stiffest and lightest available.The carbon blade offers ultimate performance for the demanding paddler. Thin, stiff, and light- an outstanding blend and highly durable. Available in Black

Kinetik 650 Blade

N12 (Nylon)

N12 blades are slightly heavier than Carbon but are ideally suited to paddlers who are harder on their blades, for example digging off the bottom when launching! It’s the right choice when you require a blade that is tough but still moderate in price. This blade is ideally suited to outdoor centres and club use. Available in Red, Yellow and White

Kinetik 600 Blade

SF (Glass Polymer)

A light plastic blade that is best suited to intro to intermediate sea paddlers. A good choice when price and weight are important. Available in Red, Yellow and White

browse carbon blades

browse N12 blades

browse SF blades

hand length

Narrow or standard shaft?

Celtic Paddles offers a standard and a narrow diameter shaft. The narrow shaft is suitable for those with a small to medium hand size, but it is very much down to personal preference. The outside diameters are narrow 26mm and standard 29mm. As a rough guide, a narrow shaft would suit someone with a hand length of up to 17cm. We include narrow paddle shafts in our range, and they are available to try in our Paddle Sizing Clinics.

Which Lendal Joint?

A variety of different joints are used across the range of Lendal and Celtic Paddles, which are detailed below:

paddlok-300x119

Paddlok

This is the standard button joint,  but it does not function like a traditional snap button in other paddles. Instead, it works like a miniature jack. When you tighten the Paddlok key, the button very slightly deforms the male portion of the joint, wedging it tightly inside the outer tube. Since the parts are locked in place, any trapped grit can’t grind inside the joint. The result is paddles that last longer.

varipaddlok-300x96

The Vari-Switchlok

This is the standard centre joint on all 2 and 4 piece straight paddles. It gives the choice of  three settings in length, for example a 210cm shaft would extend to 212cm and 214cm in length. In addition the joint incorporates a Switchlok so you have a complete choice of feather. In order to have the full range of feather options for left handers, please order a left handed paddle.

Straight or cranked shaft?

There has been a tendancy in the last few years for both touring and expedition paddlers to move away from cranked shafts. The reasons are quite complex and are best explained face to face or over the phone. So if you’re considering a cranked shaft please feel free to give us a call.

Shaft Materials

The Celtic Paddles Pro range have rolled technology carbon shafts in either standard (29mm) or narrow (26mm) diameter. This means the shafts are seamless and therefore are stronger, have a high strength to weight ratio, have moulded handgrips and offer improved precision in the interior diameter, enabling precision fitting of the paddlok spigot. The Celtic Paddles Classic range uses the standard carbon shaft, offering stiffness, strength and lightness. Classic paddles are also available with a fibreglass shaft, which offer more flex and are cheaper than the carbon options.

There are a lot of options available within the range, so if you would like more information or to discuss your needs then call us for a chat on 07551611406 about the range or join us for a paddle sizing day here in Oban.

    NDK Sea Kayaks

    We sell the full range of NDK sea kayaks from Sea Kayaking UK including the Romany, Explorer, Pilgrim, Triton Double and Greenlander.

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    Lendal Paddles

    We sell the sea touring range including the Kinetik, Nordkapp, Mystik and Archipelago blades and offer a specialist sizing clinic to find the right paddle for you.

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    Kayak Expeditions

    Explore the west coast of Scotland: the Oban area, Firth of Lorne, Isle of Mull, and the Small Isles.

    Skills Training

    We offer courses ranging from Introduction to Sea Kayaking, to Tidal Race Paddling and Navigation.

    Contact Us

    We are based near Oban, on the West Coast of Scotland. We do not operate from a shop but are mobile allowing us to meet you in the Oban area and further afield.

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