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 The LOON is a handsome straight-shaft touring paddle for the discriminating paddler. It is designed for moderate duty use up through class II whitewater and the occasional class III.
I have made this paddle for many years with a variety of grips and blade constructions. Last year I even repaired a pair that were more than twenty years old. The fiberglass tips were worn thru and one had the cedar edge nicked up. I rebuilt the tips using Dynel, the nicked up one got full Dynel edging and both were reglassed them, then a refinished. I had quit making the LOON for a couple of years as there appeared to be no interest, but neglected to take it off the web site. Then the circle came around again and people started wanting just a very good, lightweight, durable paddle; so I resurrected it in its new form. Same blade shape, better grip, full Dynel edges, fiberglass wrap on the shaft, just an all around nice general-purpose paddle. In this process I also managed to drop about an ounce of weight.
Construction
The blade is 8-1/2” by 20” with fairly strong shoulders and rounded tips. The wood is book matched Western Cedar which provides the light weight with Dynel edges and fiberglass sheeting. The blade rather than being the more fragile knife edges of the Gemini paddles is slightly thicker to increase durability. All in all it is a very durable paddle. The shaft is a 5 layer laminate with three layers of cedar sandwiched by two strips of black willow. The shaft has a fiberglass shaft sleeve that is 14” long as the cedar is quite tender and I haven't seen anyone not whack the gunnel from time to time. The hand formed grip is similar to my Gemini grip which is a football shaped version of the classic Canadian palm grip to maximize control and power.
 Altogether the LOON is great combination of light weight, durability and performance.
**Average weight is 22 oz
**Lengths- 50”-60” in 1” increments
Price: $195, shipping in the continental US normally is about $15
Please note the new paddles will not have a veneer cross tip. I have basically run out of veneer and am not planning on purchasing another 15 year supply. Twenty five years ago the veneer, which was much thicker at the time did provide additional structural strength and caged the tip. It is now purely cosmetic, the dynel tip and fiberglass provide the necessary strength and stiffness.
If you want some options, we could substitute my asymmetrical T grip from the whitewater canoe paddles that was originally developed by the late Mike Galt for his bent shaft touring paddles,. I could also change over to a 4 piece hollow core paddle shaft that would give a weight reduction of 1-2 oz. There would be an extra charge for either of these options.
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