When you first start kayaking you don’t need the most expensive lightweight paddle on the market, but you do want a quality paddle that will get you off to a good start.
The Carlisle Magic Plus is the best kayak paddle for beginners choosing their very first paddle. It’s an affordable quality-made paddle that has all of the important features for a new paddler to be successful while avoiding the pitfalls beginners can run into when looking at cheaper kayak paddles.
The Carlisle Magic Plus features:
- Great paddle blade design and materials for beginners
- Paddle blade designed for efficient and powerful strokes
- Durable and light build given the price
- Asymmetrical slightly curved blade for efficiency and comfort
- Bright colored paddles are easy to spot if you drop your paddle
- Plastic blades are reinforced with fiberglass which gives you a strong light paddle for an affordable price perfect for new paddlers
- Paddle designed for touring and recreation, making it an all-around paddle for trying out the sport
- Easy to use simple button ferrule to adjust the angle of the blades
- Affordable price given the features
While most quality paddles cost hundreds of dollars, the Carlisle Magic Plus hovers right around $100.
This is a great price point for beginners wanting a real kayak paddle that will help them have success in learning to paddle their new kayak but not needing a super lightweight $400 Carbon-Fiber kayak paddle just yet.
Avoid Cheaper Low-Quality Paddles. They will turn you off from kayaking.
If you get a low-quality paddle it will be very heavy and your arms will get tired quickly. You will be uncomfortable and sore. By getting a quality paddle upfront without overspending you will be able to experience firsthand the joy of paddling your kayak properly and have a solid paddle to serve your family for years to come.
Don’t Overthink Your First Paddle
If you are just getting started in the world of kayaking I highly recommend you don’t overthink it by researching every paddle on the market. Just start with the Carlisle Magic Plus. You will be able to get a feel for kayaking and have a god first impression of the sport.
Over time you will progress in the sport and eventually you may want to upgrade to a lighter or more specialized paddle for your preferred paddling style. At this point, your Carlisle Magic Plus will make the perfect paddle for your guests that will inevitably come to try out paddling with you. It also will serves you well as a great back-up paddle.
It’s a solid beginner paddle and you will find you will always have a use for it even when you eventually move into nicer and more expensive paddles for yourself.
You won’t know what you want in a paddle until you first try one that is a well-built basic kayak paddle.
The Magic Plus has everything you need to be successful during your first kayaking years while you get yourself out on the water.
Happy Paddling!
-MJ
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About Me – Welcome to One Step Closer to Nature!
Hello, my name is Megan Joseph! Welcome to my blog! I am a lover of all things nature and outdoors. I grew up in rugged Idaho, surrounded by mountains and nature, and spent summers backpacking and packing our horses into remote corners of the state as a child with my parents and sisters.
When I graduated from high school, I moved to a beautiful ski town, Jackson, Wyoming which only perpetuated my love of mountains, waterways, and fresh air. After getting married and a few years of living on the line between Teton National Park below the towering Teton Mountain Range, riding our bikes past the expansive elk refuge and only miles away from Yellowstone, we relocated and spent the next ten years raising our three baby boys in rural New England where we enjoyed exploring a new face of nature in Connecticut’s thick forests, rock wall lined farms, sandy beaches, and tiny islands.
Some of my greatest joys are getting my hands dirty working in my garden, watching my boys explore up and down the banks of the river behind our house, and hearing the clucking of our 18 chickens as they meander and scratch the dirt looking for bugs – they seem to wake up each morning as excited as the day before to explore and enjoy the abundance of the outdoors as much as I do!
My life mission is to help families and individuals get back into nature and spend more time outside in the fresh air and sunshine. I believe this is where we thrive and can be our healthiest and happiest.
I love research and writing and enjoying compiling data to motivate and inspire others. Wishing you many adventures and encouraging you to take one step closer to nature!
-MJ