PVC is the way to be.................

looks solid

looks sturdy as hell

holy burly, the one i built was no whre near as sturdy looking as that. then i punched through the pvc and was too lazy to fix it

Haha totally doesn't need to be that reinforced for that small of a rail. And you don't need to drill holes in the top of the PVC

yeah, just zig zag some liguid nails on the wood, put the pvc on, tie them in place n put some weight on top, then a day or two later turn it over n drill screws up through the bottom just enough to get the screws up break through into the opening in the pipe, make sure you predril the holes tho, so you dont poke the pipe up