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How to choose a paddle for whitewater canoeing
By TIM ROBINSON | January 2026
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Paddling whitewater with the right paddle is a level-up that's so worth it. I don't mean to be judgey, but I've seen videos of paddlers with high-end, outfitted canoes and PFDs, yet using the crappiest Canadian Tire plastic paddle. I don't get it. I mean those canoes are likely rentals, but if you're that into the sport (and you have the means) get a decent paddle. If you're using a paddle that’s appropriate for whitewater, strong, and fitted to your size, it just feels right. Here are a few tips and things to consider when taking my advice and getting a decent paddle that matches your paddling style.
Paddle length
Paddling with the right length of paddle will help ensure you have a better time out on the water. A short paddle will cause you to learn out towards the water unnecessarily and could get painful after a while. A paddle that’s too long is awkward to paddle and your offside hand is going to be way up in the air or your paddle will need to be unnecessarily deep in the water. You need one that’s just right.
There are a lot of tricks that people share for selecting a canoe paddle, and some are better than others. The biggest mistake is to assume that one length applies to all types of paddles. For instance, there’s a trick where you stand, hold the paddle vertically in front of you and select the one where the handle comes right up to your chin— completely useless. This doesn't work for all paddles since it’s the length of the paddle’s shaft, not the whole paddle that determines the length you need. While this chin method can work for outfitters that only offer the same type of plastic paddle, it doesn't apply to the diversity of paddles out there.
Unfortunately, paddles are often sold by their whole length, which isn’t super helpful. Once you figure out the shaft length that’s perfect for you, choose a paddle based on that length and ignore the whole length of the paddle. An appropriately sized lake water paddle, like an Ottertail, will have a much longer overall length compared to a whitewater paddle because of its elongated blade shape, but the shaft length will still be the same.
Some companies, such as Grey Owl Paddles, list the shaft length which is very helpful.
How to measure
There will be maybe a 4-inch range that’s just personal preference, but to find that spot, here’s what you can do. Measure your torso length (plus a little bit) by sitting on a chair, sitting up straight, and measuring the distance from the chair seat to your nose. If you have the paddle with you, then just use the paddle itself to measure. If you’re ordering one, don’t just use that number to order a paddle, or you’ll end up with a toddler paddle. You’ll need to find out the shaft length of any paddle you’re interested in. Unfortunately, not all stores will have that information, which is annoying, so you may have to ask them about that.
I nearly learned this the hard way when I ordered an expensive Turtle brand paddle with a very long thin blade. I ordered based on what I knew from simpler Voyager paddles which have a much shorter blade. Applying that length to the Turtle paddle would have made an absurdly short shaft. Fortunately, the company contacted me to say, “Umm… Are you sure about this?” They helped me understand the difference and I corrected my order.
Blade shape
Beaver Tail, Voyager, Ottertail, Bandit
This one is a bit easier. Shorter and wider are for whitewater and long and thin are for flat water, and all the variations in between for a little bit of both.
You know how water pressure rises the farther down you go? Well, to a small degree flat water (or lake water) paddles take advantage of this. A long thin blade gains traction on the water deeper down, where, because of the pressure, you can actually grab it more effectively. It’s like heavier water. The thinner width makes it easier to smoothly insert it into the water and withdraw it at the end of your stroke. It also just feels nice. A long Ottertail is a real pleasure in flatwater. You really have to try out both to understand.
It’s a different story in whitewater where responsiveness is key. Trying to haul the boat over with a repeated and frantic draw with a long flatwater paddle is an awkward mess. Exchange all that long surface area for a wide surface area and you can get that paddle in and out of the water effectively, but you’ve lost some of the smooth finesse of a long blade, and the bonus points from the deeper water pressure. There’s a little trade off there.
If you have to choose between the two, choose based on the whitewater. You can use a whitewater paddle in flatwater, but you can’t (or really shouldn’t) use a flatwater paddle in whitewater. You may want to just bring both, but for all the same reasons, a flatwater paddle doesn’t make for a good backup paddle if you drop your whitewater paddle in a rapid.
What about the ones in between? Sure, there are many that are just basic paddles in between. There’s a simple beaver tail with a rounded bottom, which helps the paddle smoothly enter the water, but it doesn’t get you the bonus points from the depth. Those aren’t really favourite of mine. There’s also the shape of the basic plastic canoe paddle. We have a bunch of those as loaners. They’re fine—I mean I would never use one, but it’s enough surface area to push water around in whitewater to get you through. Since paddles are so expensive, these simple plastic paddles are still what outfitters will give you when they rent you a top of the line whitewater canoe.
Spooning
In order to get a little extra bite on the water, some whitewater paddles have a slight concave shape on the paddle's power face (the side of the paddle that pushes the water). This slight scoop shape, known as Spooning, provides just a little more grabbing power on the water. A spooned blade can also be a bit more effectively with a strong brace since the water does not slip around the edge quite as fast, holding the paddler up a little bit longer.
There is some loss in finesse with spooned paddles since they become single sided blades. If you want to feel the difference the spoon makes, use it backwards—it feels a little gross. This means that you can't pull out some sweet silence strokes in flatwater, the kind where the power face is spun with each stroke. These performance paddles don't have any time for that.
Blade spine
Canoe paddle blades are much thinner than paddle shafts so something has to be done to transition from the thick round shaft to the flat paddle blade without losing strength. There's a variety of ways this is done, and some are much better than others. The cheap paddles little just send the shaft down inside the centre of the plastic blade resulting in a big spine down the middle. By making a clear middle of the paddle in the water, this can cause the paddle to waffle or vibrate a bit under pressure. Some paddles, like our beloved Werner Bandit, taper down the paddle shaft gradually, but but the bulky sections on the back of the single sided blade where it doesn't matter.
Some paddle companies are better at transitioning to the blade than others. Look for ones that don't have a bulky lumps. My backup paddle, which I also use in the flatwater section, is a double-faced whitewater paddle, the Nantahala. Since they can't hide the bulk of the spine on the back, they take extra care in tapering it down throughout the blade making a flat and very smooth surface on both sides.
Carefully tapered spine on a Werner Nantahala.
Subtle scoop on a Werner Bandit.
Paddle materials
Your options are generally: wood (most paddles), plastic with aluminum shaft, fiberglass with aluminum shaft, or carbon fiber.
Wood
There are some decent wooden whitewater paddles, but don’t go super cheap with wooden paddles. You’ll need one that’s strong enough to not break in the backcountry. I’ve had the shaft of a cheap wooden paddle break when I was pulling in a firm draw in whitewater (and I've never been to a gym). It’s actually better to go with a cheaper metal shaft plastic paddle than a cheap wooden paddle.
If you're a wood purist, Grey Owl Paddles makes a couple nice paddles for whitewater:
Voyager. If you're starting out, you can't go wrong with this classic (though the price of these has really been sneaking up lately). It's not aggressive for whitewater, but it's great all-round paddle for both flat and whitewater.
Hammerhead. If you want to level up a bit and add a protected bottom edge and a fiberglass overlay for strength, they offer this one in 7" and 8" blade widths. The 8" is bananas to me—it's just way too much blade. I've tried it out and its awkward, but there are paddlers who like paddling with a pizza lifter.
C-1 Whitewater Paddle. This is their spooned paddle. I haven't tried this one out, but it's unfortunately 8" as well. 130 sq inches is just too much for me.
Plastic
There are some decent plastic whitewater paddles, but it's a big jump from a class Carlisle plastic cottage paddle. Here are some plastic paddles to take a look at.
Aquabound Edge Carbon. This one has reigned as the most popular plastic paddle for some time. It's called "carbon" since it has a carbon shaft and has carbon infused into the plastic blade for strength, but it's a nylon blade. It's a nice experience in whitewater for the cost.
H2O C1. H2O is a newer company to the game, but they have a strong entry with their C1 paddle. Though I would advise paying a little bit extra and going for a composite.
Composite
Composite paddles, such as fiberglass and carbon fiber, may not sound super strong but they surprisingly are. Our favourite whitewater paddle, the Werner Bandit, is a fiberglass. It feels odd that the paddle is made of glass, but it’s incredibly tough. It's resistant to cracking or completely breaking like wood or plastic paddles might, but it is susceptible to being slowly worn down over time as the bottom of the paddle hits rocks. So the depth of the rivers you paddle will actually affect the life span of the paddle. I've had mine for maybe 5 years now and the blade is noticeably shorted from another loaner one we have that isn't used as much.
Here are some composite paddles to consider:
Werner Bandit. As mentioned above. It's the best.
Werner Bandito. The little brother/sister of the Bandit. It's made of the same stuff but blue and slightly smaller. These are good for smaller-framed paddlers and those who just don't like the feel of a large-faced paddle on flatwater.
Shaft
This is one area that isn't as big of a deal for whitewater, just as long as you don't use a bent shaft. Those are not for whitewater at all. Have you tried prying with a bent shaft?
Wood paddles naturally have wooden shafts, and as long as its a decent quality, those are fine. Composite and plastic paddles will offer fiberglass, carbon fiber or aluminum shafts.
A fiberglass shaft, like on the Bandit, offers a nice balance of flexibility, rigidity and strength.
A carbon shaft will flex the least so all of the paddlers energy is transferred to the stroke and nothing spend on bending the paddle slightly. I haven't experienced this myself, but that rigidity can be hard on the arm joints on long paddles. It might be best to switch to a secondary for flatwater if you have a carbon shaft.
Aluminum shafts are mostly just for the cheap paddles. They do the trick, but under enough pressure, they will bend and not bounce back.
Some manufacturers add "oval indexing" to the blade right where your upper hand holds the paddle, which feels better in your hand and also enables you to know the direction your blade is facing without even looking at it. It's a nice feature.
The grip
I suggest a "T grip" for whitewater. That's just a handle that makes a T shape. In wooden paddles, the handle is the same piece of wood as the rest of the paddle and the handle tapers down into the blade. While not critical for paddling, there are many uses for a good T grip on canoe trips. Many of us have hooked on to a piece of floating gear with the T grip of a paddle, or even onto another canoe to pull us in closer. In rare rescue occurrences where a paddle is reached out to a swimmer (assuming a throw bag is not available) the T grip offers something solid to hang on to.
Comfortable T grip
Colour
I don't think any paddle manufacturers offer colour choices, but it's still worth mentioning that it's best to have a "high-viz" (highly visible) paddle so it's easy to find when floating away in a rapid. Our Bandit paddles are decently easy to see in the water, but even so, the more colours the better, so the best idea is to sticker-em up and add some colour. We put tape on the shaft just below the handle so it's easy to differentiate paddles by just the shaft, but it also helps with visibility. An all-black paddle is just a paddle that's soon to be lost—give it some colour!
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