review of the Ke Nalu (Pono Bill) paddle

[swordfish1227]

Is there a door prize?

There is!!  Swordfish gets a free paddle and bag of his choice, and I'm sending Tom a whole bandolier of them for starting this thread in the first place. Swordfish--please PM me you address, paddle choice and bag color. Tom, I already have yours.

Wow awesome! Thanks Bill!


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[PonoBill]

Wow, that's pretty wild. All those reviews and comments and we still haven't had one that says our paddles suck toads. I'm pretty upset about the dimple problem we've been having on the blade tip, but we'll get that fixed.

We've been damned slow to get our adjustable part (trust me, you wouldn't have wanted version one) and our three and four piece travel bits done, not to mention no cool clothing, no stickers, and our labeling still sucks. We have a lot to do, but it helps a lot to get the basics right--a blade design that's a couple of steps forward, modular construction that's as strong and light as permanent gluing, an upgrade path for all paddles, a lot of fiddling with flex, adjustability without clicking, wiggling and leaking, and a lot of customization (with a lot more to come).

We'll get all that stuff done and there's more to come. We're working on some new blades at both ends of the paddlers spectrum--something for people that want mega-catch, and something for people who think a Wiki is too big.

Our overarching design philosophy is to make incremental, measurable improvements to everything we do--the whole "Powered By Physics" thing. But also EVERYTHING we do will apply to EVERY Ke Nalu paddle we ever made. We'll have some pretty interesting things to show off soon.

Thank you so much, all of you whose comments and ideas make our paddles better, and thanks to Randy and Chan for the great venue.

[Deadbait]

Congrats PonoBill!  I 've been reading all the posts and can't wait to get one.  I am waiting for the adjustable, but glad that you are waiting until it is done right.

[Henrik F]

Got two paddles. Now I'll just wait a while and order myself a cool T-shirt and an extended handle 

Henrik F

[Caribsurf]

Hey Bill is KeNalu going to have a booth at Surf Expo in September?  Great venue to sell some paddles
Loving my paddle

[mjd]

Hey Bill is KeNalu going to have a booth at Surf Expo in September?  Great venue to sell some paddles
Loving my paddle

We'll be there and that ^ would be awesome!

[Seattle-Wind]

Like many experienced paddlers who scroll through 68 pages of reviews, I was a bit skeptical. How could this new paddle on the market improve upon the proven and time tested manufacturers? Well, I ordered a Ke Nalu Maliko 100Flex to find out.

In short - I love it. The Ke Nalu Maliko is exactly how each and every member has described it before me. It is not a gigantic leap forward, instead my new Maliko is just so clean at the catch, so comfortable, so light, and very powerful. My previous paddles included the big names elite paddles and this is by far the best paddle I have used from any of them. The thickness of the shaft is perfect (*cue "that's what she said) for my hand size and the swing weight is so light. It has NO flutter. It is currently 11.5" above my head, I'm going to take an inch and a half off to bring it down to 82" and it will be just right.

Great job Pono - I should've ordered one sooner  It would've been great to have for the Maui to Molokai, I guess there's always next year.

[PonoBill]

Hey Bill is KeNalu going to have a booth at Surf Expo in September?  Great venue to sell some paddles
Loving my paddle

Perhaps, we need to see how the schedule goes. We have some family issues that are making things pretty challenging lately.

Glad you like the paddle Rastaman. You have just the right stroke to appreciate it.

[Old School]

Count me among the Ke Nalu converts!

I picked up a maliko with an extended T handle two weeks ago from Mike Deeney in Jacksonville, FL.  Haven't even fiddled around with adjusting the length yet, but I love the paddle!

[Expat Paddler]

Finally got my hands on a Ke Nalu after having it shipped here to Hungary. First time on the water with it was this last weekend at a small 8k race in Vienna. My shoulders are usually the first thing to get tired on me. I hadn't paddled in over 2 weeks, but had very little fatigue in my shoulders by the end. Coincidence? I can't say for sure, but i was quite happy nonetheless. Only problem is, now the wife wants one. Sure wish I would have went ahead and ordered them both at the same time and saved myself on some shipping costs.

[DurhamSUP]

Bill, I was really looking find a reason why the paddle sucks toads, but I just couldn't find one. 

I have the Maliko with xtuf stiff shaft and I'm loving it. I have about 50 miles of flat water in and a few surf sessions. I am most amazed on how it changed my stroke (for the better I think). I am more comfortable now with a shorter stroke and higher cadence. I think my old paddle had too much flutter and wouldn't settle in time with a short stroke.

One other thing I noticed is that it works better than most paddles as a stabilizer when waiting for a wave in choppy conditions. Maybe it's the flex and the stacking of the shaft or the blade shape, but it feels so solid when you plant the blade and give it a light sweeping stroke to help you balance. 

I also like when I hand it off to someone else to try and they don't notice a big difference at first. Then I give them back their own paddle a little later, and the look on their face is priceless. You would think I just handed them a 2x4.

[supfoo]

Just ordered my paddle, cant wait till Monday!
Trying to be prepared when it gets here, what  hot glue is recommended?

[swordfish1227]

Just ordered my paddle, cant wait till Monday!
Trying to be prepared when it gets here, what  hot glue is recommended?

Hot glue is already on the paddle. Cut, heat, plug it in. Repeat as necessary.


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[Naishguy]

ordered mine, Lee was great to deal with! its cut to length and the extended handle will give me adjustment. can wait for it to show up!

[PonoBill]

Thanks Durham. Glad to hear you like the paddle. You're right, our paddles really need a demo for people to understand what's different about them. It why we're starting to focus more on dealers.

Supfoo, take a look at the video on the site to learn how to measure, cut, and assemble your paddle. They need updating, but they'll give you the basics.