I saw a classmate aged 12 caned with a length of 3/8th inch dowel in woodworking class. He did not seem to mind but the dowel broke and was replaced with every stroke.
Discussions with others with more experience has lead me to believe that punishment of the hands is generally more painful than of the buttocks but this will depend on the circumstances – size of the implement, force and number of the strokes, the fairness of the punishment, etc. But one thing is certain – I would not want to be caned on the hand with the size of cane used on our bottoms at school because of the risk of severe injury if the cane was to be applied with enthusiasm.