Cascade ( by Canon ) 230 cm, 4-piece

[chuckiek1]

This is being used in conjunction with an AE Expedition. You can see my review on the AEE forum.

- light and will pack into the Advanced Frame Expedition ( but you'll be over the limit at the airport, so smile and be surprised so they might let you slide thru without a penalty - you are given some leeway ~1.3 Kg in the weight tally )
- fit tolerances of pieces is quite high; due to this item's purpose the need for this cannot be overstated enough
- mechanism for aligning and securing pieces is quite tight: sometimes the 'button' that aligns and perpendicularly intersects the pieces doesn't completely deploy ( see below for possible resolution ), but then that tightness is what you want when dealing with this item's purpose

- blades are a little small for my liking, but I'm REALLY picky
- a little short ( I'd go with a 240 as the AEE is wide )
- slippery handle due to plastic/vinyl on grips

Drying:
- took apart and left upright to let all water drain ( both ends for midsection )

- now that it's the day after, I'll swab with some WD-40 on the insides; unless there's a lube that will keep away rust and not leak out and get onto the 'yak and my drysuit.

Tuning:

- absolutely must offset the blade alignment: you have three options for this ( straight, and ~15 degrees either way ) so do it; it makes all the difference in the world
- need some 'grit' tape on the handle for grip; help me here as I'm a duct tape guy and that surely won't work ( plus it's messy after a while due to the adhesive's properties )
- ends are not outwardly sharp but insides are a tad sharp, thus I will seek some neoprene/hard foam rings to place over the ends for transport, to try to ensure that my AEE doesn't get damaged and that no denting occurs from high impacts during transport

In all, a good paddle; it functions and it's cheap.