A new paddle company - WaveDog Paddles

[skoboatin]

The official release of WaveDog paddles
~A boater’s best friend~

We are proud to announce WaveDog Paddles is open for business.

It is time to witness a new revolution in the kayaking world. While boat designs have made radical progressions that have transformed the sport of kayaking, paddle technology (particularly for wood) has remained relatively unchanged. WaveDog believes in the benefits of wood and we have developed innovative construction methods to blend old school craftsmanship with cutting edge technology. We're stoked to bring these hand crafted bent shafts to the market at prices comparable to mass-produced composites.

Please check out our website (http://www.wavedogpaddles.com) for more information and pictures of our current models.

Our mission is to bring the natural beauty, strength, flex, and warmth of wood paddles back into the mainstream of whitewater kayaking. After two years of R&D and 24 prototypes, we have achieved what we believe is the perfect all around paddle. We’re convinced that you will fall in love with the unmistakable power, flex, and smoothness as the paddle becomes an extension of your arms creating a unique feel unsurpassed by any composite paddle on the market.

Did I mention that we believe these paddles will set the new the standard for strength and durability?

We are currently talking with local retailers and our website will soon list locations where you can try us out in your own backyard. WaveDog encourages you to shop local! As of now you can check out a demo at the Bear Paw Outdoors (WI), and CKS – Colorado Kayak Supply (CO). Demos will arrive at SOC – Sierra Outdoor Center and CCK (CA) within two weeks. Paddles will also be on display in the Bear Paw booth at Canoecopia – the world’s largest paddle sports expo - March 9-11 in Madison WI. Check back soon for the growing list of local demo locations.

Customer service is our top priority. Contact us to find out for yourself!

Thanks for checking us out.
www.wavedogpaddles.com
Brock Royer
brock@wavedogpaddles.com
815-540-5060

[DanOrion]

Good luck in the paddle biz, looks like some nice sticks.

FYI, your website drags, soooo slow.

[jonny water]

website is fine for me.

What is the advantage of wood?

[gh]

Saw one of these at cks, was that a prototype or the finished product?

[DanOrion]

website fine now. maybe lots of buzz traffic at once. why no "ridgeback" paddle?

[bowen]

Brock,

They look good and its cool to see that kayakers are still starting their own homegrown businesses. The website is clean, basic, and informative. I hope that you guys do well.

Any Southeastern demos?

[skoboatin]

Thanks for the interest. I’ll try to answer the questions…

The demo at CKS is a finished product. We’ve thickened up the polymer coating around the edge some, but you won’t notice too much difference in the look or feel.

Why Wood? There are the standard answers that wood is warmer and it “feels” better. True statements in our opinion…It really boils down to the natural flex of wood. It also offers superior strength. We’re confident that the paddles will provide more powerful strokes and be easier on your joints…but you’ll have to try for yourself!

Our R&D was a balancing act between strength, weight, and flex. We broke lots of paddles over past couple years. Think of the paddle shaft clamped to a bench with the blade extending into space and loaded near the tip of the blade (essentially and cantilever beam). We tested everything with a 2 foot cantilever so a load of 100 lbs creates a cantilever moment of 2400 pound-inches in the shaft at the attachment point. All paddles failed in shear with carbon fiber shafts typically breaking with a max moment between 1900-2400 pound-inches and max deflection before breaking between 1-1.5 inches. Our wood shafts broke with max moment between 2400-2900 pound-inches and max deflection between 4-4.5 inches. So…we’re about 6 ounces heavier than a typical carbon bent shaft with glass blades, but our shafts are stronger and will flex nearly 4 times as much!

Lastly, hollow shafts will create a major stress point if it gets banged or nicked. A gouge in a wood shaft will also create a stress point, but a solid shaft is better able to stand up to this type of abuse. The polymer coated Baltic birch blades are not quite as buoyant as a foam core blade, but definitely more buoyant than glass or carbon. You won’t have to worry about a sharp rock edge punching through a thin composite layer into a foam core.

Why no “ridgeback”? R&D is underway for a Pyrenees (creeker) breed, but it’s quite a ways off. The spine on the front was part of our research and it gives good balance while creating a dihedral effect all while being extremely smooth through the water.

I hope this helps answer some questions. Feel free to contact me with any more that you may have. Thanks again!

Cheers,
Brock
brock@wavedogpaddles.com
815-540-5060

[paddlebizzle]

Pink shaft on the collie? WTF? What about dudes with stubby fingers? (Insert small hands joke here).

I completely approve of women's specific designs, but could you diversify the color scheme a little? I prefer skulls, lightning bolts, or soaring eagles. . .

[skoboatin]

We can make smaller grips on the Golden for anyone who wants them. The collie is a woman specific paddle with smaller blades even. No worries bro we take care of anyone with any need. That is another reason why a custom wood paddle is so sweet!!! We can also engrave a skull and cross bones on the shaft if you like!

~Peace~
Brock Royer
WaveDog Paddles
brock@wavedogpaddles.com

[erdvm1]

Why are the blades textured......??? Seems like it will cause turbelence.......effectively very irregular turbulence. Just curious. BTW wood does warm quicker in my opinion and holds warmth better....Kinda like an iron tub versus a plastic tub