Apparently alongside kayaking as a hobby, futzing with paddles is a related side hobby. Perhaps some of you can relate.

Yes, I have a Greenland and a wing. I like Euro paddles too and expect that I will always prefer them for some things.

There are so many great paddles out there, yet I find myself wishing I could combine aspects of them. Here are some admittedly very unorganized thoughts on that:

• I prefer round shafts. The Lendal indexed shaft is a great idea yet I just don’t like how it fits my hand. Going back to a round shaft always feels like a relief. I also don’t prefer the Werner slightly-ovaled shape. My favorite shafts so far are the Braća-Sport, which offer variety in flex and can be cut to any custom length: Braca Full Carbon Kayak Paddle Shafts - Individual Kayak Shafts 1

I find Celtic shafts comfortable too; I don’t mind the indexing on the right side.

• Ideally all blades and shafts would be interchangeable between brands. I like Werner foam-core smooth-backed blades like the Cyprus but hate that they’re not adjustable in length and again the shaft shape isn’t my favorite.

• I’d love to be able to have a Braca shaft, which is über-adjustable and which I like the feel of a lot, with Lendal Storm blades or fiberglass Shuna blades for fooling around on rivers with friends et cetera.

I know that Braca-Sport paddles are made a with a glue that the end user can heat up to assemble and disassemble themselves. I’ve heard of people detaching Werner blades, although they’re really not made to do that and the company does not advise any attempt to do so.

The Celtic Paddlok system is really brilliant, although Celtic paddles tend to be a little on the heavy side. I found you can buy this little thingy separately: