review of the Ke Nalu (Pono Bill) paddle

[enden]

I used my Ke Nalu Maliko paddle for the first time yesterday on a Hawaii Kai downwind run, what a great paddle.....

[PonoBill]

That is so beautiful I can't stand it anymore. I've tried to justify it so many different ways but I just can't anymore. I NEED to try one of these for myself I've just heard too much. And to think that I've already spent so much on crappy aluminium paddles makes me want to kick myself.

These things are like a work of art. So for a 240 lb sup beginner paddling mostly flat water what is the best Ke Nalu for my money?

A maliko is the safe choice, no question you'd like it. If you want to push yourself go for the Molokai. It takes some work adapting to it, but it's the most efficient and when you want to catch a wave or a swell, it's hard to beat having all that oomph.

[SUPpaddler]

I did an interesting test of shaft stiffness (I'm being serious here.)  I compared the KeNalu 90% shaft to the QB SSI-36 shaft, which is their softest carbon shaft.  Bottom line is that the KeNalu was negligibly softer.

Details:  I put 50 inches of each shaft, free of any inserts, between blocks and used dial calipers to measure the distance between the shaft and an aluminum plate on the floor.  Under a load of about 35 pounds, the QB deflected 0.53 inches, and the KeNalu deflected 0.54 inches, or less than 2% more.

I would just guess that the 100% KeNalu shaft falls somewhere within the range of the QB SSI-38 (medium) or SSI-40 (stiff) ratings, but someone else will have to find out for sure.

[PonoBill]

That's about right. Since our shaft is tapered it flexes differently, the lower half is about 10 percent stiffer than the upper half.

[Bulky]

That is so beautiful I can't stand it anymore. I've tried to justify it so many different ways but I just can't anymore. I NEED to try one of these for myself I've just heard too much. And to think that I've already spent so much on crappy aluminium paddles makes me want to kick myself.

These things are like a work of art. So for a 240 lb sup beginner paddling mostly flat water what is the best Ke Nalu for my money?

A maliko is the safe choice, no question you'd like it. If you want to push yourself go for the Molokai. It takes some work adapting to it, but it's the most efficient and when you want to catch a wave or a swell, it's hard to beat having all that oomph.

Keloke--I'm 240 and my beginner days were not that long ago.  Not like I would have anything to add beyond PB, but +1 on the Maliko.  You will notice such a difference from whatever you're using now.  I don't have the best car and even the best board, but it sure is fun to look at my paddle and say I have the BEST.  You don't notice how much other paddles flutter and wobble until you plant a KeNalu.

Have fun!!

[Hoffenator]

Hey Bill, I'm about to pull the trigger on a wiki, looking to dial in a paddle length of between 84" to 86", what do you think is the better option the long 100 flex shaft and trim to fit or the standard shaft length plus extended ergo T? I only ask because website says that wiki with standard shaft is 82.5", so I'm only looking to add 1.5" to max 3.5", so at most only 50% of extended grip range. I think I saw an earlier post about the extended grip possibly effecting the shaft flex when fully inserted into the shaft? I suppose I could also trim the standard length shaft and then take full advantage of the extended grip range; hmmm, that's an interesting option. Anyway, appreciate your thoughts.

Bill

[PonoBill]

The extended T handle gives you a lot more options. I can barely measure the difference in flex. I'd take 2 inches off and have 80.5 to 86.5 range, You're likely to find you use a slightly shorter paddle than you're used to.

[stoneaxe]

Bill...give me a yell and we can hook up for a demo. I'll PM the details.

[Hoffenator]

Bob, got it. I emailed you at newenglandsup, talk soon. Bill

[PonoBill]

That's the way to go. I forgot that you are reasonably close to Bob. One of the main reasons we're working on adding dealers is that the best way to choose a blade size is to demo a Ke Nalu. It's a very different paddle. People who think they like small paddles are winding up with Malikos and some people who are used to a larger blade are hooked on Wikis. I haven't come up with a useful formula for really predicting which blade someone is going to like.

We're working on a way to make xTuf's a reasonable choice for rental fleets. It will be a bit easier when we have the screw-adjustable version ready. We've had to go through a few iterations of the fitting to make sure it works properly.

[Stand and Paddle]

Hi,

Where is the closest place to Hilton Head Is, SC / Savannah, Ga, that I could try one of your paddles?

Do you have any dealers in the Southeast?

Thanks

[jdmotes]

Hi,

Where is the closest place to Hilton Head Is, SC / Savannah, Ga, that I could try one of your paddles?

Do you have any dealers in the Southeast?

Thanks

 I'm in Jax Fl (Water Bound Sports), and a registered Ke Nalu dealer. There are a few of us around here using Bill's paddles. If you are in this area, let me know and I'll try to catch up to you for a demo ...   Paddle on,    JD

[finsider]

One of the main reasons we're working on adding dealers is that the best way to choose a blade size is to demo a Ke Nalu. It's a very different paddle.

Agreed.  Even after reading 30+ pages of this thread, and all of your videos and articles on Ke Nalu, I still cannot make up my mind, the only reason I have yet to buy one.

[PonoBill]

Yeah, we really need a few Florida dealers besides JD--not that there's anything wrong with JD, but last time I drove around down there I realized how fricken' big that state is. . There's a lot of interest there. Finsider, if you have a local dealer you like PM me their email address and I'll do what I can to get them signed up.

[PonoBill]

What Tom--our very first customer--started here has become a HUGE thread. Browsing around on the zone it's seems to be in the top ten for number of replies and number of views. I can't tell you folks how much all your positive comments and encouragement have meant to us. We're working hard on both getting a reasonable dealer footprint so more people can try the paddles, and on some new stuff that will make our paddles even better and more versatile. Even the one you already own.

One thing we've focused on that will make the early adopters of our paddles particularly happy is that everything new we're bringing out will be compatible with or original paddles. We haven't found any reason the change the dimensions of our blade or handle ferrules or the core dimensions of our shaft design. So when we come out with a three piece paddle, or our adjustable, our new wing designs, and anything else we do to a paddle, if you like it, you can add it to your existing paddle. It may sound weird to say the paddle you use today can be a three piece travel paddle that performs just as it always did, but it will.

We think the component approach is a great way to add value to our line. And we're going to expand on that as we go. So stick with us, it just gets better from here.