Articles
Carlisle T-grip paddle re-review
- Category: Gear reviews
- Published on Thursday, 21 April 2011 18:09
- Written by Josh
I often like to revisit certain topics from time to time, especially on any gear that I've openly discussed in the past, updating with new information, for better or worse. These 're-reviews' (if I can call them that) can be valuable follow ups but they aren't always happy endings. It's a real pleasure, however, whenever I get to revisit a product review and be able to say that it turned out every bit as good as was hoped for. This is one of those times. Let me tell you a little bit more about the Carlisle T-grip paddle I picked up some time ago for use on my AI.
If you were to go back and read that first article I wrote on it, you'll see that I was most attracted to it because it was tough as nails. I wanted a good single blade paddle strong enough let me use it as a lever when and if required to push off rocks, sand, etc (a task not fit for the standard Hobie paddle, for example). That virtue saved my hide the other night, but not in the way you might expect. While visiting a friend I made a wrong turn down a narrow dirt road and when I tried to turn, inadvertantly got bogged on the side. Not just any bog either - an absolute doozy that had 3 wheels almost completely submerged in soft mud. Believe it or not, I used that paddle to dig myself out of that bog. By the time the cavalry arrived (in the form of my mate and his van) I'd managed to dig out all the mud and form slushy ramps back to relatively solid earth. When he hopped out of his car he commented on how lucky I was to have a shovel in the car. Imagine his surprise when I gave him a closer look and told him it's a paddle.
His van didn't have enough brute force to pull the car from thick mud, and although the ramps helped at first, it was difficult to gain traction. For a moment there it was starting to look limke my ramps weren't going to work. Then I got the idea of using my over-sized fish storage bag as a traction platform, which I shoved behind the deepest rear wheel. Even those these massive DMH drybags are pretty tough I was expecting the wheel to tear it to shreds. My plan worked, however, the drybag offering just enough grip for the wheel to gain traction from and slowly but surely the rest of the car followed. *phew*
My paddle was still in one piece. So was the drybag. Muddied up, but still alive and well. if they can survive that, they can survive anything my kayak throws at them!
3 hours ago
