im considering a yak paddle (heaven forbid) for my wenonah wilderness. im 5'11". the wilderness is 30.5" max width, 27" at the gunwales

the question is.....260 or 280 cm? or are either that much different?

thanks.

kanoes,
IMHO and experience I would say either size will work as you seem not to have developed a yak paddling style as of yet. Your style will be developed by what you have in hand and become accustomed to using, which is fine.
I use more of a sweeping stroke with my yak paddle while in my kayak as I am generally in a lake/pond. If in moving water I do tend to use a more upright stroke which is slightly easier with a shorter (slightly) yak paddle.
Boppa

I think you would be happier with the longer paddle in a canoe. The reason being you are higher off the water in a canoe than in a 'yak.

How do you make a yak paddle?


Sorry...

slap his ass?

Kanoes
BB makes a kayak paddle for solo canoes that is longer than a regular kayak paddle to get the reach over the width of the solo canoe. Solos are wider than kayaks therefore you need more length and as has been said because of the height over the water.
CB

i know CB, they make two of them. one wood, one composite....thus the 260 v. 280 question. (BB paddles) i was just asking if seven inches makes that much of a difference. 7 inches....let the puns begins! hahaha

Kanoes, yeah they're quite a bit different. I have the 280 BB Solo Impression, and in my Wenonah Voyageur I think it may be to short compared to my experience using my kayak paddle with my kayak, but it's the longest I could get. However, I'm 6'2", but with most my height is from my waist up. If it's too short you keep over-lifting your arms to get a blade-full of pull.

You need to give them a try.

If you would like to try my 280 let me know, I live close to Lebanon Hills Park for a test run.

Also, when going this route make sure your back-up paddle is a standard canoe paddle (I use bent). That way you can swap out to handle other situations: narrow rivers or weed-choked areas. Just yesterday I had the Voyageur out on a slough trip on the Mississippi, and ending up exploring in a backwater choked with weeds. The double blade kept pulling up weeds, so I switched to the the bent shaft which worked great.

kanoes,
BB's paddle length chart indicates a 260 for your width canoe and your height. Since I use a 250 with my Pack and with a rental Prism, and it works great for me in both canoes, I would lean towards the shorter of the two BB lengths. It would sit in the canoe a little better or, broken down, be easier to throw on the back seat of the car. Also, you will get shorter as you age :))
I got my carbon shaft Aqua-Bound from Red Rock Store.

Kanoes, I to am 5'11 and use a 260cm BB yak paddle in my Prism. Although I would like to try a 280cm just to see if I could stay a little drier with the extra length. Also when I find myself in weedy or wild rice areas, I just use half of the paddle like a normal canoe paddle.

It's not the length that matters.....its how you use it.

timber? are the blades cupped on the BB wood yak paddle? i cant tell.

sloughman and timberwolf....

has the ferrule gotten sloppy on those paddles at all?

basswood is a pretty soft wood and i have that concern...maybe unwarranted. guess thats why im asking.

kanoes-yes they are slightly cupped, I have the tailwind model with the day shape paddle. And no my ferrule has not gotten sloppy and I've been using this paddle for 3yrs now and its seen lots of heavy use.

How does is one who paddles a wonderful beavertail paddle jump to a double bladed paddle? Will a GPS be next? :)

its called headwind. :)

K..... stay away from the dark side.

geeze....not like its a GPS or SPOT tracker. :)

Kanoes, I've only had the paddle since this spring, but so far the ferrules have stayed tight.

Use the force K!

A kayak paddle???

Just messing with you Kanoes. :)

If it works for you go for it. Seems like a lot of people use one and like it. Darn wind wears me out too sometimes.