Grey Owl Paddles

Grey Owl Paddles has been making a variety of handmade paddles since 1976, beginning with traditional style canoe paddles, then expanding to recreational, bent shaft and kayak. They’ve also expanded into racing paddles for dragon boats and outriggers. We believe they make a very high quality product at an excellent price.

Our Grey Owl collection is focused on their more traditional paddles - there’s literally thousands of years of evolution behind these designs. We have also stocked two of their recreational whitewater paddles to support whitewater paddlers.

We recently had a chance to talk to Brian Dorfman - founder and owner of Grey Owl Paddles. Based on that we’ve update this page - rearranging it a bit and adding some of the info he provided. We think it will give you a better sense of which paddle may fit you best.

Traditional Paddles

Owlet

A great paddle for the young adventurer. Paddle lengths of 36”, 42” and 48” (shaft length of 20”, 24” and 28”) make them really great for the junior voyageurs in the family to help get you where you’re going.

Plume and Sagamore

The longest and narrowest blades. The classic Ottertail shape with the maximum width toward the top of the blade, narrowing towards the tip makes these two great tripping paddles. It carries its 80 to 100 square inches of blade along a narrow profile, and the narrow tip makes for a “soft” catch as the paddle enters the water, easy on the shoulders, with the power increasing as the blade sinks in, reaching the denser water deeper below the surface. These are great paddles for both solo and tandem paddling, where the longer blade makes for a great stern paddle. Best in water at least 2’ to 2 1/2’ deep.

**Plume:** Made with a solid cherry shaft and three part laminated cherry blade with resin tip guard, the Plume is an economical but beautiful traditional balanced paddle that’s great for touring where the waters mostly deeper than 2 feet.

**Cherry Sagamore:** This one piece cherrywood paddle can be had with your choice of high gloss exterior polyurethane with a UV block or boiled linseed oil. The paddle has an insert in the tip to add to its durability. The blade length creates a longer lever and helps control. It’s more flexible than the laminated Plume, absorbing some of the initial pull of the stroke, then releasing it at the end of the pull.

Guide and Cherry Chieftain

A more compact variation on the Ottertail design, these paddles compress more square inches (100 sq in to 132 sq in) into a shorter, wider blade, but retain the characteristic narrowing to the tip. This means you're pulling more water with each stroke more quickly, but still gain the benefit of a softer catch than a Beavertail. Another set of deeper water paddles, these are tuned a bit more with the the bow paddler in mind (pairs well with the Plume and Sagamore). The laminated Guide is stiffer than the Cherry Chieftain passing more of the work to the paddler.

**Guide:** The shorter, wider blade on the Glide concentrates its increased square inches to pull more water on each stroke. Like the Plume, the Guide is made with a solid cherry shaft and three part laminated cherry blade with resin tip guard, making it a very durable. It’s another economical but beautiful traditional paddle that’s great for touring where the waters mostly deeper than 2 feet.

**Cherry Chieftain:** Like the Sagamore, this one piece cherrywood paddle can be had with your choice of high gloss exterior polyurethane with a UV block or boiled linseed oil and has an insert in the tip to add to its durability. It’s more flexible than the laminated Guide, absorbing some of the initial pull of the stroke, then releasing it at the end of the pull.

Cherry Tripper

The Tripper is Grey Owl’s one piece solid cherry Beavertail paddle (a Beavertail is widest at the end of the blade). It carries has slightly more blade area than the Chieftain (102 sq in to 134 sq in), concentrated in a shorter, wider blade. This will result in a more immediate “catch” as more paddle is in the water sooner.

An excellent choice for the more aggressive solo or tandem paddler, the Tripper’s cherrywood has some flex to it, absorbing some of the pressure in the material then releasing it at the end of the stroke.

**Cherry Tripper:** Like the Sagamore and the Chieftain, this one piece cherrywood paddle can be had with your choice of high gloss exterior polyurethane with a UV block or boiled linseed oil and has an insert in the tip to add to its durability.

Recreational Paddles

Grey Owl recreational paddles favor variations of the broader, shorter, more square tipped features of Sugar Island style paddles. They excel in shallower and moving water where rapid shifts in direction or pace are needed.

Grey Owl Whitewater: C-1 and Hammerhead

The C-1 and Hammerhead are designed for whitewater use, up to Class 3. They are rugged, designed to take a beating. They can be ordered with Dynel sleeves to protect the shaft from gunwale rubs and prys. Both feature an oval shaft, oiled walnut mushroom grip and a heavy duty blade made of 7 ply laminated butternut, walnut and basswood with a 2 ply, 4/6 oz fiberglass cloth overlay.