I had no idea that those rubber rings would streach that much.

When I made a single piece paddle I followed the suggestion from this board to tie turk's head knots for drip rings. They seem to work fine and look great. I did not coat them with epoxy or varnish to leave them soft. Place the rings where they act as bumpers to save a few dings on the boat. On my paddles that location seems to also be correct for for paddling.

The attached picture, of the paddles paddles I have made, is from Scott Dollmeyer's website "Aricas Silver". The black rubber drip ring is on a two piece paddle and the white turk' head is on the one piece paddle.