Aquabound paddle review ISUP

Jack Uses the Aquabound Freedom 85 Paddle on the San Juan River

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed using this paddle the other day on the San Juan River. This was my first full day on a paddle board, ever! I attribute much of my success to using the right paddle. Mark from Aquabound was very instrumental in helping me choose the right paddle. We had a great conversation about the paddle surface area, and relating it to oar blade surface area. This was something I could relate to. Smaller blade surface makes it easier to cross stroke, and it also tends to make one over correct less. This is the same idea we tell our rowing customers. This is the reason I picked the 85 sq. in blade over the 100 sq. inch blade. I did not have any fins on the bottom of my board, because the river was really low, ataround 500 cfs. For this reason, I had to cross stroke a lot. It was easy with this smaller blade to do that, and I found it easy to brace and recover in a number of instances. I almost made it all the way through 8 ft. rapid. I did have to drop to my knees at 4 ft. rapid, which is a much smaller rapid. I really felt a lot more comfortable using this paddle than any of the other 3 paddles I have used, including the 100 sq. in Aquabound paddle that we got from Shields in South Dakota this summer.

I thought from a paddle board manufacturer’s point of view, and from a beginner point of view, that potential customers may benefit from this review. I am very pleased to know that it is also available in a 4 piece breakdown for traveling on the Airline. This is something we like to do with our inflatable boards.

Comfortable stance, easy to brace and hold my balance. Easy to cross stroke with the smaller blade.

Making it half way through 8 ft. rapid before this happens

Still just a Beginner, but I really like the paddle, and it was real exciting to board through these two rapids!

Thanks To Aquabound for a great paddle, and great information about choosing the right paddle.

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