You are correct. My 96" paddle weighs 29 oz.

I guess by definition I would be considered hardy, then.

You can approach edges from a couple of points of view. One is for ice protection- but it's not protection from ice, it's edge protection, whether from ice, rocks, or anything else. For this particular paddle, intended for speed/racing, the hardwood edging was necessary so that the edges could be sharp enough to remain in one piece long term. I have paddled in ice, but it is rocky where I paddle, and cedar dings very easily and does note rebuild well (not to mention that time spent rebuilding is time taken from other things, like paddling).

Alternately, people who would not consider themselves "hardy" build replicas because they want to know how that gear paddled. You can't understand historical performance if it's an interpretation of a paddle design that an American wrote how to make in a book, that they use while paddling a commercial kayak. That's not the same thing. It's not necessarily bad, but it's modern paddling equipment, it's not historic in any way. That's not the point for some people.

This paddle is in between. Strictly pragmatically, spending time adding edging is time well spent, because it keeps you from having to make repairs down the line. It happens that I could rely on historic development to solve the problem of edge fragility. And some of the paddles had very sharp edges. I don't know why, and I don't know if anybody does. There's an uncharacteristically long by west Greenland standards in the collection of a nearby museum where the very long bone tips are sharpened right down to an edge. Is it for weight, or was there some purpose why you'd need a sharp-edged paddle? I built a replica with maple tips. I can't say I learned anything about the tips, but man- did that thing paddle. The kayak just flew with very little input, just like the historic video you see of eastt Greenland kayakers. So there you go.

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