I have never used a sabot. Al highly recommends them, and a friend who has taken a couple of Al’s courses uses them on 5 of his canoes. The sabot looks to be real easy and good way to make strong ends. It is solid wood so it does add a little weight. but we are still talking 50lbs canoes for 17 ft trippers.

: Al also recommended using a 'sabot' at the turn of the stems into the keel.
: This is a solid piece of cedar shaped to fit into the ends instead of trying
: to fit all the skinny ends of the strips together. Have you tried this or
: seen this done?