First off thank Swift for the opportunity to test their new Skookum Paddle. I'm always excited to work with people on new and progressive products like this. First thing I will say about the paddle is its beautiful. I love the color (Lime Green). I'm glad they decided to release that color because a lot of us younger paddlers have been asking for a green paddle for a while. The over all fit and finish is good, but not perfect. I would love for the front and back side of the blade to be green instead of the milk white color. I see that the paddle with the sparkles uses green epoxy, making the front and the back sides the same color. I liked the way that looked better. Other than that I think the finish of the paddle looks beautiful. The joint where the paddle meets the shaft looks thick and strong, the black covering over the joint is very clean, and the carbon on the shaft is flawless. The decal also looks very sharp on the blade.
I really enjoy the feel of the shaft in my hand. Having the texture from the carbon makes the paddle feel less slippery in my hands as oppose to other paddles that I use. The thing I am most excited about on the new Skookum is the the blade shape. Bravo Swift for seeing the need for a high performance, high angle paddle that excels not only in rock garden, and surfing situations, but also on an all day tour. The short squatty blade gives paddles like myself the ability to take short hard stokes to get up to speed when catching a wave, or shooting a slot. Three hard stokes and my boat is up to speed. Being shorter, it also allows me to slice it through the water when linking stokes and bracing. The power and grab is incredible when pulling out of an eddy and getting speed to catch a wave. You can lay hard on a low brace, and with the flick of the wrist you can spin the paddle around and grab a hard draw stoked to pull yourself across current. Once on a wave, the slight curvature of the blade shaft to tip gives you a nice feel in the water. During a stern rudder, you can easily angle the paddle to ether pry the stern away or draw the stern back towards the paddle. It is a very rewarding paddle for those learning boat control and advanced stokes, like draws and rudders. Although the Skookum excels in these dynamic environments, what really surprised me was how it felt on a long all day flat water paddle. The paddle is so light that you barly notice you are holding anything at all. It pulls effortlessly though the water, and does not pick up much water on the exit. Even with my paddle being a 205cm I didn't notice any issue with hitting my boat during my forward stoke. The paddle catch is solid and gives you nice purchase throughout the stoke. The dihedral on the paddle seems to really keep the paddle square in the water without the tendency to wander. I also like the overall size of the blade for touring. Although it is a shorter blade it is not overly large, in fact it has even less surface area then the Sea Swift. This allows me to paddle all day and not feel tired. It is not like some other high angle touring paddles that feel like a light weight version of a white water paddle. Swift did an excellent job combining the most important elements of a high angle paddle. Control, power, and efficiency. I feel like they are setting the bar high for other paddle companies to shoot for.
Even though I love the paddle and am excited about what it means for the future of sea kayaking, there is still a few things I would change. First thing would be to use a colored epoxy to make the whole paddle one color. Secondly, the Skookum that I have has a nice reenforced tip on it, that runs about 3 inches up from the tip of the paddle blade, however I would love to see that reenforcement wrap around the bottom of the paddle a bit more because that is where you will be hitting the most rocks. The third and most important thing is to clean up the back side of the paddle blade. Swift does a great job of reenforcing their blades by using a stiff ridge that runs along the back side of their blades. This makes the paddles stiff and grabby when you plant them in the water, however it also creates drag and unwanted bubbles while surfing and while slicing the paddle though the water. Example would be, if you where surfing though a slot and you needed to slice the paddle forward through the water to a bow draw, having the ridge takes away your feel in the water and slows the paddle down. Most all paddle companies have this problem, and some address it better than others. I would love to see Swift come up with a solution to this, and then they would have, in my opinion, the ultimate high angle paddle!
Dan Arbuckle
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