Has anyone on these forums tried a Greenland-style paddle with a packraft?
The reason I ask is that the Greenland paddles are substantively different from the more familiar paddles. At first glance they are merely narrow unfeathered kayak paddles, and are best suited fo flatwater kayaking. However, their differences shine in use. The shaft/blade design allows sliding the hands along the paddle while maintaining blade-hand orientation, thereby providing a number of stroke options while paddling…The sliding action effectively extends the reach and allows complicated strokes such as j and draw strokes. If the upper hand is wrapped around the paddle’s end, the result is effectively instant conversion to a very long canoe paddle, with the full dexterity of a canoe paddle available because of leverage available with the upper hand’s grip.
Whether these capabilities would be useful in packrafts in white water or bony creeks is an empirical question, although Greenland paddles are apparently not suggested for use in kayaks under those conditions. The capabilities might be very useful when exploring narrow backwaters and swamps, and possibly in long-distance travel in open water because of the low stresses placed on the body by the narrow blades. Thus my curiosity.
I have no basis for an opinion as yet, and am hoping someone can save me unnecessary experiments.