review of the Ke Nalu (Pono Bill) paddle

[kayadogg]

Just grabbed a Ke Nalu from Bob at Matunuck Surf Shop yesterday.  He's got them fully stocked if you're in the RI/MA/CT area.  Best part was he had a paddle built already but I wanted a different blade on it.  He took out his heat gun and within 2 minutes I had the paddle that I wanted, setup perfectly.  It was in the water about 20 minutes later. 

I bought the elite Maliko, 90 flex shaft and ergo handle.  This thing is sweet.  Time will tell but the initial test run was pretty awesome.  The 90 had more flex than I thought it would but maybe I was pulling too hard.

[stoneaxe]

Glad you finally got one dogg.

[NHSUPSurf]

Assuming the xTuf shaft does NOT have the same 'reverse sharkskin'  feature that the 'reuglar' shafts have?  If not, which regular shaft flex is most comparable to the xTuf?

[JillRide45]

The xTuf does have some type of sharkskin, almost seems to be both directions??? Sure helps not to slip on the shaft like the QB paddles.  I did not like it the first day but after a week I am loving the grip and my hands are getting use to it.  And I am a slider, bottom hand slides up while the upper hand regrips below. 

I have been paddling a Wiki/xTuf for about a week and I am loving it.  What it feels like to me is the xTuf paddle builds up snap.  It is not flexy, or soft, but as the cadence picks up it seems to store energy and snap back, resulting in even faster cadence.  I know that sounds strange but that is exactly what I feel.  I am still working on changing my stroke for the KeNalu paddles.  Seems to me that with my other paddles there was an initial weighting of the paddle to try and initiate a firm catch, then twist.  With the KeNalu it seems to work great if as soon as the paddle is in, twist - the catch and hold will be there.

Cheers, Jill 

[PonoBill]

The xTuf has the same sharkskin texture. It's made the same way, on the same mandrels. The only difference is that we use prepreg unidirectional carbon fiber for the xTuf, and prepreg 3K Twill for the Elite.

It's unidirectional--more obvious when it's wet, but your hand slides down easier than up.

Jill, you can tune the sharkskin if you like. The simplest way is to wax the shaft a little with warm water surf wax. The wax fills the little grooves, stays in place, and mitigates the grab while it maintains grip. You rarely have to rewax, in fact if you want to get rid of the wax you have to use hot water. It hides in the grooves.

If that's not enough you can sand it with superfine sandpaper. I use the sandpaper from Billiard supply stores that is used for making pool cues smooth. 1000 grit. The grip disappears very quickly, those grooves are less than .001", so test a few times as you go. I sanded off the grip in the area I wanted slide and left them where I wanted grip. Then I missed the grip and swapped out the shaft to use for prototypes--at least that's my story when Diane looks at the inventory.

That "snap" in the xTuf is from the way the fiber is wound. It "stacks" like a bow does--suddenly reaches a point where it's much harder to flex. So you get a little give, but after that it stores a lot more energy for every little bit of flex.

And you're absolutely right--early catch is one of the biggest differences in the Ke Nalu blade design. Well, that and it doesn't wobble.

[PonoBill]

Incidentally, we're going to drop the 60Flex shaft and go with an xTuf and an xTuf S (for stiffer). The S will have one more wrap of vertical fiber. No price change, they'll cost us a few bucks more but managing the complication of the price sheet is worth just eating the difference. The flex numbers come out at about 70 and 80. so we'll have xTuf around 70 and 80 and Elite in 90 and 100. Probably have some 60Flex around for awhile, for people that don't like the shaft to stack--just to keep on flexing.

I view the xTuf S as just fine tuning. I don't expect it to be radically different from the xTuf though I'm sure I'll be wrong. Why would it be any different this time?

You hoid it here first. It will be a month before it makes it to the product page--they're being made right now.

[Strand Leper]

Fellow members of the Ke Nalu cult,

Paddles break.  In my three or so years of standup, I have broken five.  (Well, one four times and another once)...

It was about time for a paddle to break... and my Molokai popped on me the other day. 

My regular super light shaft, not my new X tuff.

It was a clean break... I think the carbon fiber may have been compromised on a rag doll over some rocks on Friday earlier in the day... I know that my legs, back, shoulder and feet were similarly compromised.  I was holding the paddle as I was spinning in the water, covering my face with the other hand and trying to "be shallow" and felt my paddle "clank" a few stones rather violently.

It gave new meaning to the "layback paddle snap" move that I like to do on my frontside.

It snapped pretty (amazingly, actually) clean, (layback, paddle dig, contort body, SNAP, fuc*!)...

The super amazingly cool thing is that I was building a paddle for my buddy for his birthday and I had just ordered an X Tuff shaft for him... but my paddle broke about six inches from the top... and my buddy is about six inches shorter than I am... so my bro gets the regular shaft instead of the Xtuff shaft (I inspected the rest of the paddle and did some "testing" to make sure that there were no more compromised areas)... and I will be forced to try out the X tuff shaft...

My buddy Corran offered me the use of one of his paddles... as I hadn't had time to adjust my distance paddle down... but I told him I would rather use a six inch too long Ke Nalu than one of his paddles...

I had just switched back to my old surf mobile (repo'd from my son, who earned a vehicle due to some amazing accomplishments that would sound way too braggadocious if I discussed them herein)... and had no blow dryer in the car!  The 120 outlet didn't get enough juice to the dryer for an "on the fly" adjustment, and I didn't feel like scrounging for an outlet in the neighborhood above Tim's NW secret spot... ("Hello Ma'am, I know its early, but can I show you the wonders of the Ke Nalu paddle?  No, perhaps I can interest you in a money making opportunity for you and your friends... no, it does not involve network marketing...").  I just went for it... VERY hard to adjust to a longer paddle on a marginally stable board, but after a few strokes, it was all good.

Doing some paddle adjusting today.  Going to try the X Tuff and the regular shaft before I replace the broken shaft.

Just figured that I should post about the break, given my relentless pimping of these ridiculously amazing paddles.  No, not looking for a replacement.  I got my money's worth.

Thanks Bill,

Tim

 

[headmount]

SL... Spies talk like this... "I know that my legs, back, shoulder and feet were similarly compromised"  Are you really a lawyer?  Too funny. 

The coll thing is you can reuse the handle and blade  and it won't end up like this.

[PonoBill]

Victor was so pleased with himself about that sweeper paddle. Trust me, that's not a reflection on Kialoa--whose paddles are super tough. If you leave a Ke Nalu paddle in the back of a earthmoving contractors truck for a couple of years, and surf and downwind on it as hard and often as Victor does, it will crumble like a Ritz cracker. That thing was so cooked by UV that it was white in places.

Yup, you can break these paddles. Our warranty is pretty liberal because so far (knock on wood) we haven't had to replace a complete paddle--just components, and not very many of those. For example, that's the second shaft that has broken. Another reason this hot glue thing has worked out so well.

[PaddleCrazy]

Yup, you can break these paddles. Our warranty is pretty liberal because so far (knock on wood) we haven't had to replace a complete paddle--just components, and not very many of those. For example, that's the second shaft that has broken. Another reason this hot glue thing has worked out so well.

Well, there's actually been a third.....

When a shaft suddenly slides out of the back of your vehicle at the precious moment that you begin to slam the hatchback door....

Well, I have found that taping the small crack in the shaft left by the accident, will only get you about another hour and a half of use out of the dang thing....before it snaps in two while trying to stick a turn.  I think Tim used the word, "fuc*!".....

Unfortunately, not having the same discretionary spending policies as some (ok, so I didn't want to have to go ask the wife ), I found that I had to go another route, rather than simply purchasing a $200 "component".    

So, a great repair guy in SC took the paddle in and worked some magic.  Cut down another CF paddle shaft that he had, split it and "rolled it" to fit inside my broken shaft, epoxied it in one half, then epoxied the other side to connect the two, then carbon wrapped the area.....sanded, and buffed it to match.  All for $50.....





....and if the CF cloth that he used had matched the original pattern of the CF of the broken shaft, you'd be hard pressed to tell that it was ever broken and repaired.

Surfed it several times since, and don't really notice a weight, flex, or performance difference from its original, new condition.  I just hope it lasts......

[Strand Leper]

H M,

I am pretty sure that Pono is the only spy on the forum.  I must confess, upon a re-read, it did look a bit  like an "after action report." But the four years I spent in Kosovo were devoted to helping them draft banking regulations.... Really...

You are right on about still having a paddle, sans shaft... And the fact that Ralphie delivered the X tuff to the office last week seems a little more than serendipitous.

Paddle hard!

Tim

[PonoBill]

I"m looking for some great reps, and I figure anyone who is really smart and active in SUP has got to be on the Zone--at least lurking, so this is probably the best place to find them. We started off with a very limited number of dealers because our production was low, but we have that ramped up some now, so it's time to get rolling. I still intend to focus on dealers who have a real commitment to SUP, and I've become convinced that the way to find them is to find really good reps that have an established business and a complimentary line of products. I'm not averse to reps that are already selling paddles, our stuff stands on it's own merit. So far we have SoCal covered, Georgia, South Carolina, Northeast Florida, and the New England States. If you're already doing this biz and you'd like to add us to your line, PM me.

Some folks contacted me before we were ready to do this. If you did, don't assume I remember who you are. My memory is a sieve and my email inbox looks like my desk. I'm also looking for recommendations, if you know a great rep PM me and tell me how to get in touch.

[Tecpartner]

Bill:

Who's the rep in South Carolina and Georgia?

[PonoBill]

JD Motes has Northeast FL, Georgia, South Carolina.

[NHSUPSurf]

Anybody else getting a 'security certificate expired' when going to KeNalu website, or is it just me?  PB, sent you a PM about it...