I am just about done with building a canoe paddle. I'm wondering about putting an epoxy tip on the bottom of the paddle. It is a 5 section paddle made out of Ash and Cheery. I will be using it for the lakes in the BWCA, one or two trips a year. Is it needed or can I leave it off? Thank you for your help.

i would put one on made of Kelvar!!!..i try and treat my paddles with a fair amount of respect but pushing off rocks and poleing along the bottom is sometimes nessary--make that stainless steel!!

I'd put one on, it'll only help. I put one on all the paddles I made. Here's a nice little How-to that isn't too far off how I made mine.
epoxy tip good luck!

Thanks for the advice guys. I had looked at that site before Mark, but they don't say what the brand of epoxy they use. Is the West system 105/206 what they are talking about for the epoxy? Any help with this would be great.

West system would work just fine. Mix it with some wood sanding dust to make a paste (mix the two sides together first, THEN add the filler to make sure it'll cure properly) It'll seem a little rubbery for while, but let it cure for overnight and it should be rock hard. One thing I'd say about adding a tip like this, you really need to fiberglass the blade and the tip. I think without the added reinforcement of the fiberglass on each side the tip could be a little brittle.

I don't think you need it.

BTW I used to use a length of nylon, 1/8" cord on the blade tip as a rock guard. Stretch it tight and hold in place with a straight pin on each end. Then dab epoxy on it. Remove the pins when the epoxy is gummy.

It help up fine and I'm sure it protected the tip. But as I said, I just didn't feel it was neccessary, especially if the blade is fiberglassed. Just touch up the blade at the beginning of each season with a little sanding and epoxy.