2 old paddles saved from getting burned

My classmate found these 2 beauties in an old barn and saved them from getting burned in a big clean out.

One of them seem to be a child model as the blade-area is very small and the shaft is shorter than on the other. What confuses me though is that the grip and shaft is way too big for a child.
The other seems to be an ordinary beaver tail.
From what I can tell they are both made with a pine core and laminated spruce on the grip and blade with a worn out varnish finish. I guess the material choice was just because pine and spruce are easy to come by here and it's easier to find long knot-free pieces of pine than spruce.

Since I can't find any sign on either of them they're hard to identify. But there hasn't been a lot of commercial paddles made in Sweden so I made some research. I assumed they are made commercially as the lamination on one of the grips is quite advanced for an amateur without proper tools.
In Swedens digital museum I found photos of very similar paddles made by ABC-fabrikerna which made sports and outdoor gear between 1909 and 1982. The grip lamination seems to be the same as on one of the paddles I got. The spine has the same sharp edge as mine and the grip shape and overall "feel" matches well too.

Close up of the grips. I used the lamination on the small one to identify the paddles.

The spine is very sharp on the big paddle. Some of the paddles from ABC-fabrikerna seem to have been made this way.

Though the ones in the museum is made from pine. But it could be a miss-identification on my part. Or maybe they used both spruce and pine.
Hopefully I get a chance to visit that museum in summer when I work with kayak rental nearby.

One of the paddles had an interesting detail on top of the grip. I'm speculating in if it could either be a rest from a lathe if the shaft was turned, or a hole where a metal piece have been stuck in for balancing the paddle. It looks like a drilled hole with a wooden plug. The other paddle has something similar but smaller.

If you know anything about these paddles please let me know!

While researching these paddles I got some insight into Swedish canoe history. I find it really interesting to see how the skills of canoe building have spread and it gives me a sort of stronger feeling of connection to the Swedish canoe history. As we are not many who build and paddle wooden canoes here anymore.
The man who introduced and started building open canoes in Sweden was Harry Macfie. Who spent over 20 years in Canada as a gold washer, trapper and mining engineer. While there he learned the art of building wood canvas canoes.
He came back to Sweden and 1927 he started building wooden canvas canoes in his workshop at home. His canoes soon became famous as real works of art.
1938 the production was taken over by Mårten Gedda after Macfie sold the rights to ABC-fabrikerna.
ABC-fabrikerna produced hundreds of canvas canoes a year for many years. So when you do find an old Swedish canvas canoe it is almost always a Gedda or in rare cases a Macfie.
Today I only know of 2 people who make and sell canvas canoes. One is my old teacher Bo Weslien who mainly makes his own model called Lom, which is an amazing solo model with maneuverability unlike anything else I paddled. And the other is Magnus Carlson who also works as an outdoor teacher but builds canoes in his free time, mainly Prospectors.
Ove Larsson, another teacher (what's with teachers building canoes?) builds canoes with his 9th grade students and holds weekly canoe and kayak building courses.

Paddle project: Experimental grip design

I put a lot of thought into this paddle. It was on the sketch board for a few weeks before I was pleased enough with the design to start building it.
My idea was to make a paddle with a kind of north woods grip for adjustable length. But allowing a more comfortable grip by tilting the hand a bit. At first I worked with ideas of a symmetrical grip. But then I realized an asymmetrical grip will give more specific length options and a stronger construction. I'm still waiting for the oil to dry so I haven't taken it for a sweep yet.
Shaft length: 80cm (31.5")
Blade: 74cm (29")

All the way through the middle of the grip are 9mm (1/3") of unbroken fibers for strength. And to further strengthen the grip there is some extra material on the opposite sides of the concavities.

Each grip is approx 9 cm (3.5 inches) and the hand comfortably slides over to a grip on the other side when I flip the paddle for for example an Indian stroke.

I couldn't get a good photo of this. But the grips are a bit thicker than the concavities, which gives a more relaxing grip.

Holding the top grip one way is nice for distance paddling.

And flipped the other when you need a more firm grip of the paddle.

And holding the side-grips. IMO the most comfortable way to use this paddle.

I did not put as much thought into the blade as into the grip. But I wanted a form which has the same feel. It turned out as a curvy design. The narrow part got a bit more narrow than I had planned because of a malfunction in the band saw. But I think it still turned out okay.
The wide part in front should give some extra power for steering strokes, while hopefully still being quite relaxing to paddle forward with because of the narrow middle.

Living with the forest

A trip to the forest is pretty much the same as visiting another country. You could book an all inclusive trip to a southern warm country, eat nice food, sleep in a luxury hotel and go swimming at the beach. Then when you get home you can tell everyone what the country looks like.
But that's all, you haven't talked to the locals, you haven't tried their food, you don't know how they live, how their homes smell, what they do in their free time. All you know is what you have seen through a window made by the travel agency.
If you instead go there with no plans, maybe couch surfing, speaking to the locals, rent a bike, leave the tourist streets in the cities. You will get a much deeper connection to the country. You will experience it with all your senses.
In a similar manner we make a choice when we visit the forest. Do we want to go there and look at it, or do we want to experience it?

The rythm of nature

When I was younger I always slept in tent on trips. I felt safe inside the tent-walls, keeping the scary night outside. It took a long time before I realized that I don't need to be afraid of the night. It is part of nature. So if I do a trip and hide from the night, I miss a part of the experience, a part of the nature I'm there to experience. Nowadays I prefer to just sleep under a cotton tarp. There's no walls so I can hear all the sounds, smell the air and watch the stars when I fall asleep. And then wake up to the sunrise, completely following the rhythm of nature.

An amazing sunrise, easily missed if you sleep in a tent, disconnected from the world around you.

On early winter trips it's not uncommon to go to bed at 5 pm, and then sleep for 16 hours. It may sound crazy now when you read this by your computer. But when you're out there it feels completely natural. The sun sets at 3 pm, then you make dinner and then it's too dark to do anything else. You could bring a flashlight. But then you disturb the rhythm and lose a part of the experience.

A camp that is part of nature.

The forests burning energy

Gathering stones. Building a tripod. Sawing and chopping wood. Carefully preparing the fireplace. And finally, the magical act of starting the fire. Watching it burn is like hypnosis. It's the forests energy turning to light and heat. It's quiet and relaxing and will let you cook your food, dry your clothes and keep you warm for the night. The forest is giving you all this for free.
Now, imagine if you had brought a gas stove instead. It makes a lot of sound, don't give any warmth and your food will be done in seconds. Are you not here for a relaxing experience?

Take your time to build a nice fireplace, even for a lunch during travel. It makes the experience so much more enjoyable.

Connecting through your gear and tools

I'm out paddling with a wooden paddle, one which I made myself. I know every part of it. I chose the material and formed it after my body and paddling style. I can feel it moving in the water, it tells me what is happening under the surface. Is it deep or shallow? Are there any currents? Seaweed? It's like an extension of my body, just like the canoe which I also made myself. And I know, if I lose my paddle or canoe, they will go back to nature, back to the circle of life.
I don't need an ultra light carbon fiber paddle or a bent shaft super fast paddle. I'm not out here to race. And I don't want gear which is made on the cost of the very nature I visit.

How could you be in a hurry away from here?

For me the material creates a flow. A gore-tex jacket is just like the tent walls, cutting me off from nature, while a cotton jacket lets it flow trough. The cotton also gets along better with the fire. A piece of ember usually won't even make a hole, unlike the synthetic jacket which melts right away. By wearing fast drying instead of waterproof clothes you get to experience the rain and river much closer and you don't need to worry about getting wet.

The moment you learn to not fear and take cover from the nature is the moment you will really feel freedom on your trips.

Take your time, relax, make a pizza!

Or anything else delicious!

Paddle project: Spear (pointy) blade paddle

The idea for this paddle came from a blog post on another blog. What really caught me attention was the grip, I wanted to make something similar. But the end result actually isn't very similar at all. I got a lot of new ideas along the way. The slight difference in the wood color is because I finished the shaft and blade with a tar and oil mix. And the Grip with just raw pre-oxidated linseed oil.
The reason for the spear blade was mainly because I had never paddled with one before. From what I have heard they were used for spearing fish and as weapons against other tribes. Murat, the owner of the paddle making blog told me they were used in Africa and Amazonia where the bottom is often muddy. If the blade gets stuck in the mud you just have to flip it and it gets loose. A normal blade is too wide to flip when it gets stuck.
I have a theory as well, that by putting all the impacts in the middle, where the paddle is as thickest and where the fibers go all the way through the paddle, it won't breat as easily. A wide blade can get stuck between stones and split the blade.

The shaft length is 64 cm (25") and the paddles overall length is 130cm (51"). The shaft tapers from a round shape by the grip to an oval shape towards the blade, for a good grip and better balance.

The surface is not sanded. I will go deeper into this in another blog post.

Some very good old canoeing clips

There are some really good and very old canoeing clips out on the net. Here's a few I found extra interesting.

Canoeing by Reg Blomfield

Reg Blomfield, an amazing canoeist. Here he shows some breath taking and very creative tricks which I have not seen done by anyone else.

American Indian Trappers, Traders and Canoe Builders ( 1946 )

Some very good birch bark canoe building footage as well as some interesting paddling clips. Notice the short paddle shafts and how they never move the grip hand above the eyes. This makes paddling much less straining in the long run.

Grey owl (Archie Belaney)

The guy who fooled the world, he sucessfully pretended to be a native American. He literally lived with beavers, and was one of the first people realizing and speaking up about how we humans destroys the nature. There has also been made a movie about him which has some very nice canoeing scenes (with an actor who can actually paddle for once).

And this one I couldn't embed: https://www.nfb.ca/film/beaver_family/

Nipigon trails 1924

Some fantastic white water paddling and lineing scenes. As well as a bit of portage. Near the end you can see the stern paddler is for some reason splashing up a lot of water when paddling. I can't figure why, unless they were just playing around.

Voyageur - Adventure on the Mississagi, Ontario (1933)

More white water and some interesting scenes from a voyageus camp.

Ikwe

About a native girl who's forced to marry a trapper. Lots of interesting footage from native camps/villages.

Ikwe by Norma Bailey, National Film Board of Canada

If you have sugestions for other clips please let me know an I'll add them :)

Edit: Added Nipigon trails and Voyageur clips suggested by Murat

Crossing thin ice with a canoe

The thing about canoes that amazes me the most is how you can pass through pretty much any terrain with them. On lakes, rivers, sea, and on land. So why should we let some ice by the shore stop us from paddling?
Last 2 years during my outdoor/friluftsliv course at Sjöviks folkhögskola we got to practice crossing the ice by the shoreline and get out to the open water with the canoe. We did this by leaning on the canoe with one hand on each gunwhale and pushing it forward. This distributes our weight so we can get out on really thin ice. Here it helps to have chose with a good grip so you don't need to put much weight on the ice. The moment the ice breaks, we jump into the canoe. The ice always breaks under our feet, not under the canoe. And you can feel it starting to break under your feet so you have time to jump into the canoe.

Two different methods of pushing the canoe. Another one is to go with one leg in the canoe and one on the ice. Photo by Matthias Crommenlinck

Now for the next part we have a special tool, it's a stick about 1m / 3 feet long with 2 points at the end, one going forward and one sticking out to the side. Traditionally these were used for log driving and you can sometimes find them on ebay or second hand (called pike pole). I believe there are modern versions too, but I think they lack the weight needed to get a good hit in the ice. With this you can either use it in the stern and push the canoe forward, or in the bow and pull it forward. And voila, you're out on open water!

The pole in action.

I guess I don't need to say it, but this is dangerous and you should not do it alone. Since your weight is distributed on the whole canoe you can get very far out on thin ice. So it will be hard to get back to shore. Bring ice nails and a waterproof change of clothes.

When practicing it's a good idea to have a rope in the canoe and a friend on shore who can pull you in if you get stuck. Photo by: Matthias Crommenlinck

I got lucky the other day and found an old pike pole cheap on the Swedish ebay. It was covered in rust and didn't have a shaft so I started off by removing the rust. A quick google search adviced me to soak it in vinegar over night. I did that, then brushed it with steel wool the next day and that did wonders. I had to repeat it a few times but now it looks like new. I finished it up with some linseed oil. The shaft I made from a slow grown spruce (about 50 years with a diameter of 5 cm / 2 inches) that I had lying around.
.

The hook before and after vinegar treatment.

And finally, some photos of my latest winter paddling.

Back on thick ice, you can see the track made by the canoe.

Computer aided paddle design

I've been looking for a good software for canoe paddle designing and the best one I found is Adobe Illustrator. Although it's not made specifically for paddle design it works very well, both for symmetrical and asymetrical paddles and it is at the moment my software of choice.

I have created a basic paddle design file here which you can download and modify to your liking.

Here's a bit about how to work with the file:

• You need Adobe Illustrator to open it.
• You can change the measurements to inches if you want by pressing Document Format in the top.
• You modify the left side and your modifications will be mirrored to the right side. Use the white arrow to select anchor points and move them around to change shape. If you are new to Illustrator/vector graphics I suggest you follow some getting started guide.
• There is a ruler tool, in the menu to the left. It helps a lot to get the measurements right for the shaft and blade.
• You can print the whole paddle and tape the papers together to get a good real size template. Choose "Pages side by side" when you print, otherwise you only get part of the paddle printed.

With some modification this method can be used for asymetrical paddles too. For example my upcoming paddle:

I hope this was of some help. And if you know any better software for paddle designing please let me know!