Packa Enduro X Soft Grip 4-Piece Packraft Paddle

The Packa Enduro X is an endurance paddle built for the long haul. It exists to answer one problem: shoulder fatigue over the hours of flatwater that a touring day in a packraft actually consists of. Smaller blades, a thinner shaft and a low-angle stroke all work toward that, and this soft grip version adds silicone grip rings for a warmer, higher-friction hold than bare fiberglass on cold mornings and wet afternoons.

The four-piece fiberglass shaft breaks down to roughly 26" (65 cm), short enough to stow inside a pack rather than strap to the outside of one. The shaft is air-filled and sealed, so the paddle floats — which on open water is the difference between an inconvenience and a rescue.

Key Technological Improvements

New small-sized blades

The most significant change is an entirely new, smaller blade. Smaller blades make each stroke easier and waste less effort. Because the blades sit at the very ends of a double-blade paddle, taking weight off both ends also makes the whole paddle easier to swing.

Each stroke costs less energy, and the stroke rate can rise to compensate — which suits how a packraft actually moves. A large single-direction thrust makes the raft yaw from side to side, and that sway is wasted energy. Moderate thrust at a steady cadence is more efficient and less tiring; when you want speed, you add stroke frequency rather than force.

A packraft's wide beam means a small blade submerges more easily, which in turn allows a low-angle paddling technique — less shoulder strain, and less water thrown over the boat.

The blades are not simply scaled-down versions of the larger ones. The curvature of the blade face has been reworked for the new thrust profile, for a smoother catch through the stroke.

26 mm shaft

The narrower 26 mm shaft is more comfortable to hold through a long day. The silicone grip rings on this version build the grip back up for larger hands, without returning to a thick shaft everywhere along its length.

Redesigned water block ring

The water block (drip) rings are new, sized to match both the smaller blades and the 26 mm shaft rather than carried over from the larger paddle.

Buoyancy

No buoyant filler is used in the shaft — that would add weight. Instead the sealed air inside the shaft does the work. In still-water testing, the paddle floated for more than 24 hours fully submerged.

Technical Specifications

Measurements may vary slightly with temperature and material variation; this is normal.

Choosing a Length

230 cm suits a solo packraft — the Minnow, Nomad, or Ponto & Tulo sit at the beam this length was drawn around. 240 cm is the tandem length, reaching comfortably past the wider hull of the Adventure X2 or Surveyor X2. If you paddle both, size to the wider boat: a slightly long paddle costs less in efficiency than one that forces you to reach.

Care & Maintenance

• Complete Drying: dry the paddle thoroughly after every outing before it goes away. Trapped moisture in the shaft joints is what starts mold.
• Climate-Controlled Storage: store disassembled in a dry place. A dry store is what gets the full service life out of the shaft and ferrules.
• Blade Finish: the blades are injection molded from a fiberglass and nylon composite. That process can leave visible fiberglass strands or slight unevenness in the surface — it is a characteristic of the material, not a defect, and does not affect strength.