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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Dave Chun (Kialoa Paddles) Part 2 of 4 |
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By: Stand Up Paddle Surfing Magazine
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Monday, 10 December 2007 |
- Your First Paddle - Paddle and Board Packages - Performance -
SUPSURFMAG: Fantastic. Now, for the beginning stand up paddler, someone who’s basically just starting out and they don’t really know much about paddles, and wouldn’t have any idea of where to start; what should they look for when choosing their first paddle?
DAVE: The first thing, when you buy equipment, is it needs to fit your budget. This is a sport and a fun activity. Don’t do into debt to buy equipment, especially in the beginning. You don’t know if you’re going to like it or not. So, stay within your means. Lower end equipment… it might not be as good as the higher end stuff like we make, but sometimes it gives you a chance to see what you want. Get some skills, and then you can an informed opinion.
After that, really, if you’re looking for high performance stuff, you really want a carbon fiber paddle. I would say, nowadays, look for a paddle that doesn’t have huge amounts of square inches on it. More people are overpowered by their paddle than over power a paddle. By that I mean, they have too big of a paddle. The other thing is, if you get a stock paddle, because now the board guys are packaging the paddles together, go out and give it a whirl with that one because one thing you get to experiment with is the height of the paddle. You know, when you buy your brand new shiny Kialoa paddle, you’re going to have to cut it to the height. You get like one shot unless you want it shorter. So it’s kind of good to go ahead and use some of the packaged things.
To be honest with you, paddles are a matter of comfort. Just like I always tell people, “What’s the best running shoe? The one that doesn’t give you blisters.” If you can demo blades, go to the shops and try different ones. Hey don’t take my word for it, I’m going to try and sell you a Kialoa of course because I made it. But you know what? You may have a different opinion. Your hands may be not the same size and the guys who test my products. You may do different things.
There’s a lot of good paddles out there so give them all a whirl. And you know what, if the shop doesn’t have demos, maybe go find a shop that does. Maybe work with a company that’s good at demo stuff. We should be doing that for you guys. You guys are parking down a lot of hard earned money for our things so I’m big time trying to advocate for the consumer.
SUPSURFMAG: So would it be safe to say, “Just get your hands on something and then once you kind of figure out what you want, then you’ll know exactly what kind of paddle you’re looking for?”
DAVE: Exactly! And you know, a lot of guys that jump in and buy our stuff, it’s word of mouth. You borrow your friend’s and that’s cool. You definitely want to try things. Everybody’s different.
END PART 2 OF 4
www.kialoa.com
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