Northeast Paddlers Message Board Review H2O-2

by CarnageKory on Monday 11 December 2006
View the review on Playak website

Basics:
Me: 5 feet 11 inches or so. 210 lbs.
Paddles i've owned and what i've done to them:
Aquabond straight shaft - first paddle i had. beat it and sold it. good for starters but not that great.
AT3 -had 3 of them. broke all of them. gave up on AT after that.
Werner Sidekick Fiberglass bent shaft- had it for a year or so. lost it on a high water day. liked it alot.
Robson Chili-broke it the first day i had it out. apparently there were some outsourcing issues.
Fluid Technologies bent shaft- was the replacement for the chili. same design, different materials. had it for about a year. snapped a blade on west branch deerfield. immediately bought another and sent the first back for repair. day after i got the repaired one back i lost the other in a fun swim on south branch baker. still have the first as my play paddle/backup creeker.
Werner Powerhouse fiberglass bent shaft-had it about a year. loved the power but i wore down the fiberglass about an inch or more in that year and finally snapped a blade on fall creek in october.

What I want in a paddle: durability and power. i'm not much on finesse but i want something i can beat on and something when i take a stroke everything goes into it. no flutter, no flex.

H2O-2 paddle: 30 degree, right hand control, small shaft, 194cm.

The Bad: OK, i'll get this out of the way first. It was a pain getting this thing. Steve at H2O was great. the Dealers were not so much. i had to go through about 5 or 6 different shops until i found one that would ship me one. they either said that they weren't dealing with H2O anymore or they wouldn't ship it to my house or ...blah blah blah. then when i got an order in it took customs a week and a half and then they couldn't send it directly to me because of homeland security so it went from H2O to a warehouse through customs to the shop (rocky mountain outfitters) and then to me. so all in all over a month to get the paddle to me. unfortunately all of the creeking rains we had in november i was paddling with my backup paddle. since i'm primarily a creek boater and suck as a playboater i was depressed.

The Good:
I finally got the paddle out on the water at Tariffville today. Just looking to get a feel for the blades and how i would like them in a creeking sense. this was not bought as a play paddle for me. however, it turns out it's going to be my every day paddle.

forward strokes: without a side-by-side comparison i can't tell if it's as much as the powerhouse but if it's not it's very close. huge power on the forward stroke. and absolutely no shaft flex, which i loved.
draw strokes: not a bit of flutter. the blade was solid where i dropped it and bringing it forward or back along the boat it was still rock solid. very nice. my fluid technologies has a significant amount of flex and flutter when i'm drawing.
reverse strokes: this is where it really stands out above the powerhouse or any other paddle i've ever had. huge power here. no flutter, no flex, just straight power it was a great surprise.

durability: i can't tell. i've only had it on the water once. however i was worried about the Santoprene™ TPE grips because i carry the paddle up on my rack. steve from h2o put my worries to rest and said throw it up there no worries. so far none on my end either.

weight: this paddle felt heavy when i picked it up at moosefest last year. but i really don't mind a little extra weight if it gives me some durability. i'm a big guy. i weighed the paddle and it's roughtly 1150-1200 g. which is right in the same range as my powerhouse was. and it doesn't feel heavy on the water, which is the most important thing.

all in all i love this paddle. i'm very happy i went with h2o. i was debating between this paddle and the 4-piece lendal because i know that they have a reputation for tremendous durability. the price on the h2o and the fact that the blades are really bright so when i drop it under a rock it'll be easier to find were good points for me.

for another review that i studied extensively prior to purchasing look at http://www.wetdawg.com

any questions, let me know.

Rating:
95%