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I see the surprised look often. “You use a breakdown paddle for everyday paddling?” The look of surprise
usually turns to a look of envy as they grasp the perfectly shaped ergonomic crank shaft and feel how light
yet strong my four piece everyday paddle feels. The next question usually is, “where can I get one?”
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| Lendal in wait: photo Scott McCorvey |
Lendal is leading the charge into the next generation of performance paddles. Their four piece breakdown
paddles feature a locking mechanism that essentially turns a breakdown into a one-piece. If I don’t tell
people that my paddle is a breakdown they usually don’t even notice. The performance is as good as any
one-piece on the market yet the list of added benefits is essentially endless.
First off, and probably my favorite feature about this paddle is that if you have two of them you will never
get caught in what I like to call the “Clark’s Fork Scenario.” Many of you may know how it feels to go from
your high end, bad-ass, bent shaft paddle directly to a low end, straight shaft breakdown paddle. My Clark’s
Fork scenario involved a swim, a lost paddle that I was extremely familiar with, a new breakdown paddle that
I was extremely unfamiliar with and three strokes to the lip of a must run drop by the name of Deliberation
Corner. Having a back-up paddle that is exactly the same as my regular everyday paddle would have come in handy.
Even having one high performance Lendal bent shaft breakdown as your back-up paddle will make the transition
much more friendly in an extreme situation. Lendal makes a variety of paddle options that will fit the bill
depending on your budget and blade preferences.
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| Nick Hinds desert Lendal boof |
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| Lendal fantasy |
Next, let’s talk travel implications. Many paddlers by nature seek out exciting, new and exotic paddling
destinations. Getting there can be half the battle. Now envision yourself walking through the airport with a
small travel suitcase, about the size of a soft briefcase, containing two top of the line Lendal breakdown
paddles. It doesn’t get any easier to travel with your weapons of choice.
Some of the other advantages include easy repair of damaged parts and the ability to switch out a half
shaft or a single blade if you tend to rack up high points on the mission destruct-o-meter. These paddles
are super tough though and rumor has it that team member Jason Hale has “tried” and can not get one to break.
They also come in a variety of material lay-ups to meet whatever your strength to weight ratio needs might be.
Another cool feature to the Lendal system comes in to play when you have two sets of interchangeable blade shapes.
You can essentially have a play and a river paddle with only one set of shaft pieces. This means that instead of
traveling with two full paddles you can roll right into Buena Vista with merely and extra set of blades ready
to attack Lake Creek in the morning and throw loops at the playpark in the afternoon.
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The list goes on but the bottom line is that Lendal makes a damn fine paddle, breakdown or not.
They are a bit on the spendy side, but no more than any other top of the line paddle and you pay for what
you get. They also offer a wide variety of pricing vs. performance options. Look into one today at
www.lendal.com.
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