Originally Posted by
anga
Double eyelets --- stronger wheels.
Maybe for very light rims where the bed for the nipple is too thin but not heavier rims. Your application and tire size isn't ultralight so it's kind of an irrelevant criteria. There's a reason a lot of rims don't have ferrules, they aren't necessary for a particular design.
If these are very heavy load carrying wheels I'd go straight to wider rims like the Rhynolite or 721 not because the narrower rims can't take the weight but that the heavier rim will have a bit more sidewall to grind away and the tire sidewalls will squirm less under a heavy load.
With 36spokes in 26" any mid/heavy weight rim, single or no ferrules will be extremely strong.
I see the dividing line between the need for a rim better suited to 1.5" tires or a rim suited to extreme utility bike loads where you're going to be grinding through rims on long descents regularly. If you aren't stuck in either of those then all of the rims mentioned above will work fine.