Gents, I'd appreciate your advice again:

I'm debating how to protect the edges and tip of my newly made cedar GP. (Did some more sanding today, with a block and 120 grit paper.) I only have a handsaw and no access to (nor experience with) power saws.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on which of the following options would be best for me:

Option 1: Cut off the cedar blade tips and edges and re-glue them back on with epoxy or Gorilla Glue, as sacrificial areas. I could manage this, but to replace them when they get dinged, I'd need to cut new tips/edges and plane them down --which would be harder for me than when I did the whole paddle, given that the new tips would not be on a big piece of wood. I end up on a lot of shallow (but calm) water along the shores of the Potomac.

Option 2: Cut new tips/edges from some hardwood I can rustle up, cut off the existing cedar ones, and glue the new ones on. However: I don't have the ability (or tools) to do mortise and tenon. I'd be relying solely on the strength of the epoxy or glue. And I would still not be using epoxy over the rest of the paddle, so there would be epoxy just over the tips/edges and oil everywhere else--so no "bridge" of epoxy over the juncture.

Also, I'd still have to find a way to plane down the hardwood tips into curved, sharp edges, which will be harder for me, with only hand tools.

Option 3: Epoxy over the tip and edges (using G/Flex 655), masking the rest off to ensure a straight line. But won't the areas with epoxy look different from the rest of the paddle, which I plan to oil (with half tung oil/half citrus thinner)? I'm OK with that if I can make sure I have straight lines all around--and that the epoxy areas are just darker, rather than yellow. Would fiberglass tape be worth the trouble and weight?

Option 4: Buy thin copper strips from Etsy, bend them around the tips and a few inches up the edges, then Gorilla Glue them in place. But would this trap water or pose some other problem? Would it stain the wood?

I expect and don't mind a few dings--as you can see, my paddle is far from perfect--but I don't want the edges and tips to look like they've been used in a kendo tournament.

Thanks very much for your opinions. (A few new photos here: https://sailwithdulcinea.shutterfly.com/pictures/56)

John