: Softwood covered with glass may work for light-duty but the problem
: is the soft wood will crush under the glass and leave a dent
: with delaminated glass. A hardwood edge will take the abuse and not
: allow the underlaying softwood to crush.

Yes, glass on softwood can dent, but you make it sound like a reason not to put glass on the softwood anywhere on the boat. Much like the fiberglass over the stems and the rest of the boat, it can be bruised, and it is every bit as non-catastrophic. Bruised glass on softwood will last for years without serious problems and minimum care, so long as a little bruising doesn't disturb your aesthetic sense to greatly. Cracked varnish on gunwales will require a lot more work and care.

I have a 7 year old kayak with a glass covered softwood coaming lip. The boat is used 4 to 5 times a week all spring, summer and fall, stored outside in the sun, it has been revarnished twice in its life. The boat has traveled thousands of miles on the roof rack with other boats leaning on its coaming. The coaming is in perfect shape. It has not been "light duty" in any sense of the word. This technique is very suitable for heavy duty uses. It will last a very long time with minimum damage and almost no maintenance.

Of course if you really want tough, laminate on the hardwood edge and then glass over it. The glass will only make the gunwales stronger and longer lasting, in the same way it helps the strength and durability everywhere else on the boat. I use a layer of hardwood under glass anywhere I want really bomb-proof, but in my experience the hardwood is actually unnecessary.