[Michael Nelson]

I haven't had a chance to row with them yet, but I received a pair of these oars Friday. They are very cool.

First, the weight. I have a set of Sawyer SST fiberglass oars for my Scadden Outlaw Rampage that are 6 1/2 feet long. I weighed one of them and it was 3lbs 5oz for a single oar. A single NFO Lightspeed oar in the same length weighs only 1lb 15oz!

The workmanship on the Lightspeeds is much better too. The Sawyers are pretty cobby and rough. They have a funky joint locking mechanism that manages to work well in spite of being clunky. In contrast, the Lightspeeds use a simple push-button arrangement that has three different holes around the mating piece, so you can set the oar blades at one of three different angles.

There are two holes in each oar for the NFO frameless oar system oarlock pin, so you can adjust them inward or outward by about 2" per side or 4" total. Should be helpful to people who prefer different positions for their hands when rowing. One of the holes is in the exact same position as I decided on for the SSTs (the SSTs come undrilled for use with conventional oarlocks).

The carbon fiber shafts are 1.22" on the Lightspeeds and very thin wall thickness. The SSTs are 1.28" and much thicker. I think the Lightspeeds will be more susceptible to damage from careless handling but unlikely to be damaged in normal use. Just don't toss the Lightspeeds into the back of the truck and then toss the anchors on top of them!

The blades are probably the "trickest" (is that a word?) part of these oars. The blades are very thin and made of fiberglass-reinforced polypropylene by Carlisle... they are actually the Carlisle "Magic Plus" kayak blades and are so marked. The blades are very light and have positive buoyancy (they will float). They are also asymmetrical and directional (they are somewhat cupped). The joint between the blades and the carbon fiber shaft is very clean.

Front side:

Back side:

... and a fuzzy one of the side view:

I am really looking forward to getting out on the water with these. The extreme light weight should make them less tiring to swing over the course of the day, and the flex at the start of the stroke should take some strain off the oarsman (me!). I will report back after I have a chance to use them.

 

[mojo]

So this tells us everything is cool with NFO now. Glad you like these oars. We have some on order too, but I think you already know this.

 

[Michael Nelson]

Yes, Joni and I have talked back and forth about it. Hope you get yours soon!

 

[Keith Humphrey]

Any feedback from people that have used this built in oar system in bigger rivers? Seems like the rack n pinion is a bit iffy for OP rivers and is the one thing keeping me from buying a renegade right now. Cheers

 

[Michael Nelson]

I have only used it on stillwater because I am a pussy. The same system is used on the Watermaster and Waterstrider boats though, and there are several videos on youtube of the frameless NFO boats being thrashed pretty hard.

 

[Craig Schulz]

Keith,

I have the Renegade and have run the Sol Duc from Bear Creek to below the hatchery a couple of times. I was nervous as well about the oar locks, but it is the same technology used on the Water Master boats. If you know how to row, meaning not over rowing you should be fine, the boat is great and responsive although I have considered the replacement oars as an upgrade.

Any feedback from people that have used this built in oar system in bigger rivers? Seems like the rack n pinion is a bit iffy for OP rivers and is the one thing keeping me from buying a renegade right now. Cheers

 

[Keith Humphrey]

Thats the kind of water I wanted some feedback on, appreciate all the good info. Just making sure I dont drop a grand+ on a boat that doesnt work for me. Now if I can just get someone from Scadden to call me back...cheers

 

[davec]

OK, so do I understand this Lightspeed oar by Dave Scadden/NFO correctly?
He takes a Carlisle kayak blade that is "very light weight", drills a hole in it large enough to accommodate the oarlock pin on his frameless boat and rates the system for Class V water. WOW.
My concern is: By drilling a hole in a kayak paddle, not designed to be an oar, you create a weak point in the tube, then placing the weak point as the pivot point in the system..... I wonder how the Carlisle Company would respond to their kayak paddle being used as a Class V rated whitewater craft?
Lakes, OK, Class III, IV, V, not me!

 

[Michael Nelson]

Why don't you write to Dave Scadden and ask him? [email protected]

I don't work there, I am just a customer. I only use my boat on stillwaters too, so the whole class V thing is irrelevant to me.

I wouldn't want to go through class V rapids in a big inflatable with an experienced whitewhater oarsman on the sticks, let alone with ME on 'em.

 

[Michael Nelson]

Just back from two days fishing at Lake Davis. It was VERY windy, so I got a chance to give the oars a good workout (and them me). I spent the better part of two days rowing almost constantly. I found them way easier to use than either the stock aluminum ones that came with the boat or the Sawyer SSTs I was using before the Lightspeeds.

I think the bending of the shafts at the beginning of the stroke kind of reduces strain on the rower, then they rebound and give a nice kick. The light weight really helps with the return stroke, there is almost no effort there.

When I first started rowing with them, there was a "groaning" sound from the oarlock area on the left oar only. It was fairly loud and happened on every stroke. I tried "lubricating" the oarlock with water and that helped, but only momentarily. I looked through my stuff on the boat and the only "grease-like" stuff I had was a small tube of hand lotion (alkaline lakes really dry my hands out and drives me nuts). I squirted some of that on the oarlock and the noise went away. I will re-do that with some waterproof marine grease now that I am back home.

Bottom Line: I love these oars!

 

[mojo]

OK, so do I understand this Lightspeed oar by Dave Scadden/NFO correctly?
He takes a Carlisle kayak blade that is "very light weight", drills a hole in it large enough to accommodate the oarlock pin on his frameless boat and rates the system for Class V water. WOW.
My concern is: By drilling a hole in a kayak paddle, not designed to be an oar, you create a weak point in the tube, then placing the weak point as the pivot point in the system..... I wonder how the Carlisle Company would respond to their kayak paddle being used as a Class V rated whitewater craft?
Lakes, OK, Class III, IV, V, not me!

Not trying to stir the pot, but how do you know he does this and it's not Carlisle building them for NFO this way?

 

[HILAKER]

I bought a Northwest Express a couple of years ago and finally used it for the first time on a Grande Ronde float trip last July. I was not impressed with the aluminum oars that came with the pontoon and elected to purchase the oars that are shown on the attached link. I cannot find this particular oar on the current Scadden site and I have to assume that the oars mentioned in the above posts have replaced them. The oars that I have were made for Scadden by Sawyer and are fiberglass construction. The only complaint that I have with my oars are the fact that I got a lot of ribbing from the other paddlers on the trip because of the flaky designs and color of the blades. The carbon fibers oars now being offered by Scadden should be a good product. Just my 2 cents.

a couple

 

[Rick Todd]

I bought a Northwest Express a couple of years ago and finally used it for the first time on a Grande Ronde float trip last July. I was not impressed with the aluminum oars that came with the pontoon and elected to purchase the oars that are shown on the attached link. I cannot find this particular oar on the current Scadden site and I have to assume that the oars mentioned in the above posts have replaced them. The oars that I have were made for Scadden by Sawyer and are fiberglass construction. The only complaint that I have with my oars are the fact that I got a lot of ribbing from the other paddlers on the trip because of the flaky designs and color of the blades. The carbon fibers oars now being offered by Scadden should be a good product. Just my 2 cents.

a couple

I have these same oars I've used for a couple years now on my 2 man MacKenzie pontoon and I have found them to be awesome oars! I also like the color, but my friends love to give me s--t about them! Definitely worth the extra bucks. Rick

 

[Matey]

Do they come in a 3 piece shaft?