Our recreational line is characterized by shorter, wider blades than the traditional paddles, along with laminated blades and shafts often of contrasting woods for aesthetic and practical reasons. Laminated shafts can be made to be strong and light using hardy and heavier woods on the face and sandwiching lighter weaker woods in the core. The same may be said of the blade – using strong woods on the thinner edge and blade center, with light weight woods near the shaft where the wood is thickest. Another advantage of laminating is the strength gained by the numerous grain patterns of the various wood strips.
Recreational paddles tend to have a stiffer flex. On the one hand this feature makes the paddle more efficient by limiting the loss of power transferred from the paddle stroke.
The Owl Feather is great for soloing and freestyle paddling.