New Werner 4-pc packrafting WW paddles now available

[Richard Nisley]

I have a 250 mile WW class II-II pack rafting trip planned for next month. I was very apprehensive about subjecting my Sawyer pack rafting paddle to this level of abuse and not having it break. As a result, I started to look at other options a few days ago. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Werner now offers their WW paddles in lengths up 209cm. 200 cm had always been the limit. I called Werner Customer Service and talked to Shanna; she explained that 1 1/2 months ago they started offering these lengths do to the large number of requests from pack rafters. She was aware that most pack rafters were using their touring paddles in order to find the longer lengths optimal for a pack raft. She said that although the touring blades normally hold-up, in class III and above WW the touring shafts are liable to break.

I think this is very good news for the pack rafting community that this combination of 4-pc pack-ability and durability that is now offered by Werner.

[John S.]

Hasn't Aquabound been offering that for 10 years or more?

[David Chenault]

Bikes at Walmart are cheap, too.

In all seriousness, I cannot think of a single gear upgrade I've made in the last decade (across any discipline) which has won as big a performance gain as going from Aquabound to Werner.

[Steven McAllister]

I agree with David about the importance of the paddle, but only if you are going to be on the water a lot.
Packrafting to many is a very small portion of the trip and so the paddle may not be so important.

Think of the Aquabond as heavy leather boots and the Werner as being like UL trail runners.

A heavy awkward paddle is less efficient and adds to pack weight.

[Author]

Posts