I have never used a kayak paddle in a canoe. I have seen a few people use them but not many. I can see the ease and convenience for people who are new to canoeing because they keep switching sides with the paddle. With a paddle, once you learn the j stroke, you won't be switching sides very much. To me, a paddle will give you more control when you invariably come up on a bend in the river with a strainer in the middle of it and you have to make a quick hard turn to navigate through. Then again, I have never tried a kayak paddle and you may have enough experience that you could accomplish the same thing only better with the kayak paddle. I am not an expert by any means and know enough not to flip in fairly rough water. I have friends who have done allot of white water canoeing who could explain the benefits far better than me.
