Paddles?

[Monkey Loving Bob]

Don't worry Towel, while Asho was on the table,you were on Fat Pete...

[caz]

yes i definately recall blisters being played on the friday night. thanks for the advice, i will try and take it into account. right now i have four of the buggers from paddling last weekend  owie.

[bexifurr]

Caz,

I think that if you use handcream on your hands you are more likely to get more blisters cos your skin will be softer and wil prevent, to a certain degree, the formation of calluses.

I find that if you use methylated spirits you can toughen up your skin to prevent getting more blisters, but then your skin will be hard. So just use it on the small areas that you tend to get blisters. These are usually the palmar aspect of the knuckles and the middle aspect of the middle bone in the thumb.


Hope this helps.

[caz]

well i don't use any hand creams or anything like that, i apply comfrey ointment to them after paddling where i get blisters though. the problem is i have ultra-sensitive skin and also very small hands, so the paddles are probably bigger than they should be.

[Monkey Loving Bob]

Caz, unfortunately for most people it is just a case of suck it up until your hands develop the necessary calluses. YOur smaller hands probably would allow some extra movement to occur due the shaft being to wide for you. Long term I'd look at trading up to something more comfortable, Werner do offer a small shaft diameter for just this situation. What you could try in the interim is to apply a small amount of board wax to the point you hold your shaft ,might cut down on some of the excess slippin that can occur. Also if I remember correctly you have new type rough stuff blades with a blue shaft, it looks like the finish on some of those was quite rough, this might help smooth out some of the inconsistencies. The best thing of all about it is that if it doesn't work you can just rinse it off with hot water.

[Karen]

Slightly different from the blisters problem, but what about bruises developing between the two middle fingers on one's left hand? I seem to always get them and it can be quite sore when I forget they're there. Is this also do to incorrect grip or is it just some oddness of my hands?

[Matt]

i've never seen bruises on fingers from paddles. it might have something to do with the way you are holding yours.

i'd recommend you go for a set of werner players. you can get them for €250 in i-canoe, which isnt too bad. i think they're one of the best paddles you can get, and all the cool kids have them these days 

i never have any problem with blisters with my werners, except for the odd small one

[kill]

Getting blisters on your hands has been directly linked to excessive application of certain types of jelly. My advice is to calm down on the jelly.

[caz]

NEVER!! you can't have ice-cream without jelly - everyone knows that. anyways, if something is giving you blisters i doubt its bein caused by jelly. 

seeing as i have some board wax handy at home i'll give that a try, can't do any harm anyway. thanks for the advice.

[Evan]

what about bruises developing between the two middle fingers on one's left hand?

Do you have a ring on your middle finger that might be causing it?

[Karen]

No, no rings. Nope, this is just under the fingers, the squishy fleshy bit above the palm, below fingers. Only on my right hand. It's probably just bad grip. I'll play around with it and hopefully it will go away...

[caz]

the squishy fleshy bit above the palm,

is that the medical term for it? 

[Karen]

Yup, I had to check my anatomy atlas for that one.

[Sick Boy]

they are called fat pads. not phat pads like no. 8 kingston grove but fat pads.