At my school, the cane used on the hands was lighter than that used on the bottom and was applied with much less force.
As I said, I’m not sure that being caned on the hands at school actually hurt anymore, I just found the experience more unpleasant, so it seemed to be more painful.
I suspect one reason that there is no agreement on whether caning on the hands is more painful than on the backside, may be purely physiological. As I understand it the distribution of pain receptors/transmitters (nociceptors) follows a bell curve in general terms, but in all cases, there is a quite high minimum number on the hands.
Therefore there will be more equality of pain on the hands, wherever you lie on the bell curve whereas those of us who have a low distribution quotient in general will feel less discomfort in the other area !!!!!