> Paul my personal bias is using a hole drilled through the end pour for a rope and handle(dowel,pipe) then installing a perimeter line that goes up the the bow and stern through a small deck mounted loop of webbing. The idea of a handle is to allow you to hold onto the boat from one end should the boat turn a few times , either while clambering out of the surf onto the beach or in the water. It's also for picking the boat up with somebody at the other end. I don't think a 1' diameter tube is a very comfortable handle for carrying 30 lbs for a distance. I may be talking from lack of experience here, but all these reinforcements for a hole through the end pour seem like over-kill. Wouldn't wear of the hole be taken care of by chamfering the edges,heavily coating the edges and inside with epoxy/cabosil, then sanding it smooth?