: what point do these number really matter to
: the average paddler? Are we looking at .5 lbs or 1 lbs before we could
: really see a difference?

A study that I read once showed that most paddlers can tell the difference in resistance when it get to be over a 10% difference, so your difference should be noticeable.

And even if you can't feel it, that extra resistance is there or not there. In The Shape of the Canoe, Second Edition, John Winters writes a 2% gain in efficiency at 4 knots means that the paddler will gain two minutes on an hour. A 10% increase should then gain you somewhere around 10 minutes. Assuming you can sustain the same force.