Wood or Aluminum Oars?

[Thudpucker]

My Oars are 6', wood.

Looking at Oars in a Catalog, I see that the Aluminum Oars were a lot more expensive than the Wood Oars.

Has anybody looked into the differences? Which would be better for me and my old skiff?
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[davetclown]

six of one half dozen of the other...
[ul] [li]aluminum is lighter,[/li] [li]Wood floats and may be boyant enough to save your life if you tip.[/li] [li]if the aluminum is sealed it may float as well but wont hold you up.[/li] [li]the aluminum ones will last you a life time,[/li] [li]the wood ones may last if you take care of them[/li][/ul]
half a dozen of one six of the other...
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[tomc]

that seem a little short,i would go with the wood.its work flawless in years past.the aluminum is more for racing




[font "Arial Narrow"][#336666][size 4]Oars
[/size][/#336666][#666600]Longer oars have more leverage, adding more power to each stroke. Short oars fit nicely in the boat, but at the cost of efficient (easier) rowing. Oar length should be approximately twice the boats' beam. Racing hulls have a much greater oar length to beam ratio.[/#666600][/font]
[font "Arial Narrow"][#666600][/#666600][/font]
[font "Arial Narrow"][#666600]the beam is the widest part of the boat.for example ,looking at the pic you posted for oar lock pacement it looks like a 10-12 foot boat,so i am guessing is about 4 feet wide so 4 x 2= 8.you should be useing 8 foot oars.[/#666600][/font]
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[Thudpucker]

You guys are alright, no matter what your girlfriends are saying about you not having all your Oars in the water...[]

In the years before my Dad could afford an Outboard, we rowed in rented boats. Lot's of folks did. You might think we were a little odd but when the Salmon were in the Puget sound thick, we went out and got our share. Rowing back an forth. We were a minority, although there were others in the same fix though.

I rowed while my Dad n' Uncle did the fishing. I've been rowing all my life. Well...since I was 10 Years old anyway.

When you are out fly fishing for a nice long day of it, Short Oars are better than long Oars.
The Ease in Handeling means a lot in lost energy. After a long battle with Fish n' Brush, it means a lot to still be a little energetic.
Rowing for speed or emergency is no longer necessary in my life.

My 16' Starcraft had long oars. Short ones would not work with that boat because the sides were so high I couldnt keep the blades in the water. I had that boat for years and bought three sets of Oars for it. It had Oarlocks at both center section seats.

I prefer the Circular Oar locks, and the Rubber stops on the Oars. Lots of experience in that statment. But still as Dave said: It's six of one and a half dozen of the other.
Basically, if you Pin your Oars, you can only ship them one way, and with the sliding Oars you can pull them in quickly in just about any direction to avoid brush, keep from tangeling an oar in loose line, and of course to grab your rod...

I bought a Metzler inflatable. It came with Aluminum Oars that snapped together in the middle. Great Oars. I never had a bit of trouble. No corrosion and never showed any sign of weakness.

I think I still dont know what to do. But I also think I'll stick with the Wood Oars as I've had pretty good luck with them over the years.

I'm rather rotund.[blush] So I going to put the new Oarlocks at 16" arears of the rowing seat.
I'll look at 6' Oars again. Maybe 6.5'.... we'll see later on this week when the world has once again settled down to normalcy.

Happy and prosprous New Years to you guys!
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