First Thoughts: Werner Stealth And Covert Paddles (Video)

Whitewater paddlers have caught on to the stroke power benefits of blade-forward offset, and with this we are seeing more paddles incorporating the design element. For 2024, Werner has introduced a new blade-forward paddle lineup. Here with an initial reaction is Simon Coward, owner of AQ Outdoors (AQ Outdoors is a paddling shop and school with locations in Calgary and Edmonton). The following is a transcript of Coward’s review.

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First thoughts: Werner Stealth and Covert paddles

We’re checking in with a first-thoughts review on the Werner Stealth and Werner Covert paddles. This is the first time I’ve had them in my hands, so please take all this with a grain of salt. We’ll check back in soon once we get them on the water.

Paddle construction

You have a combination of foam core in the middle and then you have laminate carbon on the outside. It’s nice and thin through the laminated carbon which is going to make feathering and slicing the blade through the water really smooth and nice. Then you have this foam core built in, which is going to add strength and durability.

You also have that typical ridge that Werner builds into their blades which helps with strength. It’s very narrow where the blade joins the shaft and I think that’s going to be great for nice vertical paddle strokes because you’re not going to have that lower volume there that’s going to bash off the side of your boat.

Blade-forward design

Conversely though, the volume of the blade, especially in the Stealth, is quite big and it carries that volume all the way to the end of the paddle. In shallower water river environments, you’re still going to get power forwards and backwards out of that blade because there’s ample volume all the way through.

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It also has the offset forward blade, which gives a more powerful catch and it’s something I’ve become a big fan of over the years. The Surge, Stealth, Odachi, and Galasport paddles, they all incorporate that into the blade design and it does make for a very powerful catch.

Now it does feel quite different in my hands versus a traditional Werner paddle like a Shogun. I think that might take a little bit of getting used to for some people.

What I would like to see as the paddle gets more use is how durable it’s going to be. It’s not going to be as durable as a composite fiberglass paddle from Werner, but I’m hopeful that it’s going to be as strong as a Shogun or a Double Diamond.