Specifications

• Surface area: 610 sq. cm
• Blade length by width: 46 by 18 cm
• Weight for 210 cm: 23 oz.
• Available length: 205 to 230 cm

Werner Cyprus Initial Thoughts

I’ve owned a 210 cm straight shaft version of this paddle for four years, used it for over 1,000 miles of touring, plus more miles of day trips and feel ready to do a Werner Cyprus Review. When I was first shopping for a new paddle, I had experience with a number of brands, but I mostly used my Werner 201cm whitewater paddle for everything. I was also working at a guide at a place that used Werner paddles. I had grown to trust the paddles after seeing them abused daily for several years. While I liked my whitewater paddle for touring and day trips, I wanted something slightly longer and lighter. The Werner Cyprus seemed a good paddle to try.

Someone lent me a 215cm version to demo for a week and while I put it through its paces, I really started to enjoy it. The blade was smaller than my whitewater paddle, but still powerful enough. Catches with the blade felt quick and were silent. The surface area felt easy on my back and I did notice that my cadence quickened, and because of that my kayak’s average speed raised. Obviously, the whitewater paddle was just too much surface area for touring. When I’m by myself, I like to lay back on my rear deck and look at the sky while dragging a paddle blade on one side for stability. When I first tried this with the Werner Cyprus, the blade edge caught and I ended upside down. During the roll, I popped up quickly and it felt like the buoyancy helped get the paddle to the surface quickly during the setup.

After the week-long demo, I was hooked and ordered a paddle in 210cm, because I felt that the 215cm version was just too big for my 21-inch wide kayaks. The length actually felt clumsy to me.

Paddle Construction

The paddle and blade are constructed from carbon fiber, which has a beautiful black weave. The finish came from the factory completely smooth and without a single blemish. The foam in the blades gives each blade a 3D shape across the back. The thickness of the foam sandwiched between layers of carbon gives the blade strength and stiffness not possible with a simple carbon layup for the same weight. I’ve also tried a bent shaft version and the construction was equally as nice. In fact, every Werner paddle I’ve seen is of high quality.

One downside of such a smooth finish is that I find the paddle rotates easily in my hands. I use surfer’s Sex Wax to make the shaft sticky.

Werner Ferrule

The Werner Cyprus features Werner’s adjustable ferrule. The ferrule has notches at common feathers and those geared notches lock the paddle together with almost no slop or wiggle. It’s not as tight as Epic’s lever locking system, but it’s way better than a spring clip system. The advantage of Werner’s system over system like Epic’s is that nothing rises up above the paddle’s shaft, so it feels more like a one piece paddle. It has settings for 45 and 60 degrees. I use 45 because I find using that feather keeps my tendinitis from flaring up.

I haven’t had any problems with the ferrule other than the typical sand jams. I just used the hair dryer method of getting a jammed paddle apart to fix the problem.

Weight

This paddle weighs 23 oz. It feels light. When I hand it to someone using a heavier paddle the first thing they do when it gets into their hands is smile. The lightweight actually saves you energy during the day, because you end up lifting much less weight. If you paddle for eight hours on a typical touring day, you’ll lift the paddle over 28,000 times. A few ounces adds up. For example, if you use Werner’s Shuna, which weighs only 3.5 oz. more, then you end up lifting about 6,000 more pound over the day. I hate lending this paddle to someone else, because it means that I have to use their heavier paddle.

In addition to the lightweight, Werner boasts that their paddles have a low swing weight, which means that the ends weigh very little, so swinging the paddle back and forth takes less work. It certainly feels that way to me. If you pick up a paddle with heavier blades — even other carbon paddles — you can tell the difference.

Rolling

One feature that I really like about this paddle is the extra buoyancy of the foam blade. It helps for rolling and seems to pull the blade to the surface. Where it really shines though is during sculling side braces and balance braces. It’s very easy to balance brace with this paddle vs. one without foam blades. To me it actually feels like using a wooden Greenland paddle when balance bracing. Recently, I was teaching a new paddler to balance brace. She just couldn’t get it with her paddle, so I put the Cyprus into her hand. She got her first balance brace instantly.

Forward Stroke and Other Strokes

I don’t have anything to complain about. The blade shape and size catches the water quickly, it’s size feels about right for my strength — I wouldn’t want anything bigger — and the blade releases from the water just as easily as it catches. It’s a very quiet blade. When underwater, I find that I can easily move the paddle to link up strokes. One problem that I have with it is that the smooth shaft rotates and slides around easily in my hands. Now and then I’ll notice that the shaft has moved more towards one side than the other, so I have to slide it back, like I mentioned above I either use grippy gloves or wax to counteract this problem.

I find the smaller surface area of the blades feels good on my shoulders at the end of the day. Because I have a shoulder issue and don’t want to do surgery, I feel like the light swing weight and smaller blades help me continue to enjoy long-distance kayaking without losing too much power. When I shift to more surface area, I can definately feel it.

For forward strokes, I feel like 210 cm is just slightly short and 215 cm is just slightly too long for what I want. I just want a few more cm to put my catch slightly more forward.

Long Term Werner Cyprus Review

Over the long term, the paddle has held up. The blades have scratches and the tips are worn down to the fabric from pushing off sandy and rocky beaches during seal launches, but no worse and perhaps better than other paddles that I’ve used. The sticker holding the feather angles has come off a few times. I wrote to Werner about the problem, and offered to buy stickers. Instead of charging me a couple of dollars, they just sent me several replacements. I expect that the paddle will give me many more years of service.

Conclusion

I love my Werner Cyprus, and if you’re looking for an all-around lightweight paddle, then I highly recommend you buy one.

This article originally appeared on PaddlingLight.com. Leave a comment and an opinion by clicking through here: Werner Cyprus Review: A Lightweight Carbon Kayak Paddle

Bending Branches Viper

Recently, I had the opportunity to try the Bending Branches prototype of their new Viper double bend canoe paddle. I paddled a Bell Wildfire canoe during the trial and had the following observations.

Quality Build

The paddle, even though a prototype, was beautifully built. The double bend in the handle had a very organic feel, which was accomplished by laminating several thin strips of wood into the final shape of the handle. A black rock guard surrounded the fiber-glassed blade, which not only provided extra protection beyond the blade’s fiberglass cover, but it also ascetically contrasted with the wood of the paddle. This made this paddle one of the prettiest out there. It will catch your eye.

Solid Performance with a Few Quirks

Besides being a beautifully constructed paddle, it performed well in several aspects. The double bend of the handle put the blade into a position that worked well on draws. Much better than a normal bent shaft, paddle. When you found the exact right spot on the outside of the curve of the handle, it also pried well. If you were slightly off, then the pry was much more difficult than other paddles I’ve used. The paddle worked nicely with posts and axles. It would be a nice substitute for a straight shaft paddle for some freestyle play if the pry worked better.

The weight of the paddle balanced perfectly about an inch above the neck. This is exactly what you would expect and want, but even with this said, it felt slightly head heavy, which made it harder to swing over the deck during sit and switch paddling. The flex of the shaft was good, but I wouldn’t have complained if Bending Branches stiffened it. Most canoeists will like the flex though, because after a full day of paddling you won’t feel as worn out as you would with a stiffer paddle.

The Downsides

The downsides are subtle but warrant a warning before you buy. It seemed like the handle was slightly bent too far forward. I actually added a thin layer of foam on the back of the handle, and this made it much more comfortable. The shape of the shaft seemed to put a little too much strain on the shaft arm forearm, which after a full day of paddling caused slight discomfort.

Final Comments

Overall, the Bending Branches Viper is a nice paddle. It is good for sit and switch tripping, even though the swing over deck felt awkward at first. Eventually, you will get the hang of it. If grip had a slightly different angle and blade was less heavy this would be a must have in my quiver of paddles. It is definitely worth a try. You may like it, and this paddle with its bomber construction would last your lifetime.

Date Reviewed: 8/29/2003

Cost: Retail $149.99

This article originally appeared on PaddlingLight.com. Leave a comment and an opinion by clicking through here: Bending Branches Viper Prototype Review