The stems of most boats are designed to take the abuse of collision, accidental of course, and are often made of hardwood, oak, ash, or something similar. The ends of these stitch-n-glue boats are not hardwood, but simply the join of two 3/16″ thick pieces of plywood. They are made stronger by the addition of fiberglass cloth and by an “end pour” of epoxy resin. The “end pour” can be done by standing boat on end and pouring a puddle of epoxy resin about an inch deep into the end of the boat. 
While I know that hundreds of these boats have been built that way, it does not appeal to me. I would rather reinforce that area with the traditional material, wood. Well fitted, it will be just as durable, maybe more shock absorbent, and certainly much lighter.
My wooden stem fillers are made from spruce retrieved from the (good lumber) cutoffs pile. Shaping them now before the hull is glued closed makes it easy to get them right. They’ll be glued in place after initial hull glue-up.
As always, click on the photo for a larger version.
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