For those that are newish to the sport, it may be useful to briefly discuss the legacy, surrounding packraft paddle selection. Back when packrafting first became a thing, the only paddles that most in the evolving community could get their hands on were either 1-piece whitewater paddles in lengths designed for hardshell whitewater boats (193-203cm) and longer 2-piece paddles (220-240 cm) designed for flatwater recreation and touring kayaks, or in some cases whitewater 2-pieces in IK suitable lengths.
This is the reason why the vast majority of packrafters you encounter are either paddling with a big blade whitewater 1-piece or a less expensive and lighter 2-piece paddle engineered for flatwater. To this day, these remain the only two obvious choices, “off-the-shelf”. The reality is that one has been able to order custom 2-piece paddles from most manufacturers for the last 20 years, but few take advantage of this fact. Some companies do not even add a surcharge for this, but the most extra you’ll generally pay is about $25-30.
The folks that came over from the hardshell world or learned from those folks tend to be pretty dogmatic regarding paddle fitment and selection. The reality is that human nature is such that most come to prefer and advocate whatever paddle length and type they get used to. Most paddlers are resistant to change, because in trying a different length paddle it “feels” too long or too short. What one really needs is an experienced person to watch your strokes and paddle dips. Is the paddler using good technique? Does the paddler have good core alignment? Are they constantly rubbing their shaft and hands on the tubes of the boat (listen for continual squeaking - Lol)? How often and when are they missing strokes?
If you have or plan to invest time in developing hardshell boating techniques (i.e. proper and consistent high-angle paddling technique, bracing, edging your boat on the tubes, potentially rolling, etc.) and have a whitewater specific (Wolverine, Valkyrie, MRS Pro) or a smaller skirted boat then a traditional (shorter) 1-piece will serve you well. If you’re going to go this route, I highly recommend taking a paddling skills class that focuses on cementing the basics of hardshell paddling. These can take the form of regional packraft specific courses or a multi-day hardshell class, where the school provides boats and paddles.
I can’t wait for the next topic, blade offset (feathering). High offset paddles are simply another legacy, this time from sea kayaking and slalom racing, where the winds howl on zero gradient oceans or where every second counts. Until manufacturers started making whitewater specific paddles, much like packrafters today, hardshellers were stuck with whatever the shortest high-angle sea kayak or slalom paddle they could find.
Over the years, the amount of offset used by river paddlers has gone from 90 to 60 to 45 to 30, to an emerging 15 degrees. For instance, I now paddle 0 or 15 degrees RH offset for whitewater and 30 degrees RH offset for flatwater.
For most beginning river paddlers or those learning proper whitewater technique, I usually recommend starting with 0 offset, unless you have a history of wrist or other injury that dictates you paddle with a per-determined offset. It is self-evident that folks learn proper bracing, self-rescue, rolling and blade feathering techniques way faster with 0 offset.
Once again, people tend to get very heated about this topic, but it really goes back to what folks get used to, rather than any scientific reality about paddling ergonomics. While it is true that personal bio-mechanics play a role in determining offset, it is not factual to imply that humans generally require a 30 degree offset for proper turn-over and wrist alignment. In fact, I would argue that 0 degrees is closer to bio-mechanically correct than 30 degrees anyway.