: Sorry if I did not make my statement clear.

: In my experience, the outwale of a canoe is subject to more abuse
: than any other
: part of a canoe since it projects out from the boat and is an edge
: rather than a surface.

Seriously, more than the stem? You must paddle carefully and load it on the car carelessly. Drifting into a rocks with 400 lbs of boat+paddlers has far more potential for damage than dropping the a 35 lbs boat off the car. If your stems are in good shape it is because glass over softwood is amazingly tough. If your gunwales are getting beat up maybe they need more protection. Try putting a layer of glass over the gunwales and see if they don't hold up better. Don't knock it 'til you try it. If you think there will be problems with one layer, add two.

Another example is my paddle. It is western red cedar with one layer of 2 ounce cloth on it. I beat the living crap out of it. I bounce it off boulders, throw it on rocky shores, drop it, chase it as it gets blown down the beach, pitch in the back of my car and pile stuff on it, I never get around to the revarnishing it has needed for the past 5 years. It has plenty of crushed places and lots of spots where I have poked holes through the glass. I admit that it does look like crap now, but delamination due to crushing the 2 ounce cloth into the cedar is not one of the problems it has. It is just not an issue. I expected to destroy the paddle years ago and have not yet been able to. I will keep on trying and let you know how it dies.

I made the decision a few years back that every scrap of wood that goes on one of my boats has at least one layer of cloth over the whole surface. There are no exposed surfaces that aren't protected with cloth. (not strictly true, if I buy pre-made canoe seats, I don't cover them) I feel the longevity benefit is well worth the extra work. If it is good for the strips, it is good for everywhere else as well.