Hi:

I would be interested to know what people are using to protect their Greenland paddles.

I'm nearly finished building an all cedar paddle. I used a 2X4 cedar piece that I cut in half down the length of the wide side. I then re-attached the two halves (but not to the same face) with epoxy. This made a very straight and I'm guessing stiffer 2X4. The 2X4 was a nice piece that I got from Menards and is not brittle (certainly better than average - based what I've used to build a cedar kayak). There's certainly some flex to it. I don't know how it will work in real-life.

Again, my question is 'What's everbody using to protect their Greenland paddle?'. And also, what are some of the advantage/disadvantages of the various methods? I'd like to retain some of the feel of the paddle, but I don't want to have a chewed paddle after the first couple trips in the kayak I'm building. I have read (Chuck Holst) that some people just use Tung oil. Some others might use epoxy and/or fiberglass.

Also, I might note, that I'm a novice at both kayaking and building paddles.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!!

Rich