As for flexibility, perhaps you could clarify the position for me? I have seen rattan school canes flexed to a half moon shape, but it may be that the degree to which one of these canes could be flexed depended on the diameter of the cane in question. It would perhaps be reasonable to expect that one of the lighter, say 6mm, canes would more ameniable to flexing than would a stouter 12mm example. Have you seen canes being flexed prior to use, or have you ever attempted to flex one yourself?
There was a master at Aylesford Secondary School(the one nearest to my house in Maidstone) famed for caning with split end canes-Hitchcock, not Alfred, but the Geography Teacher;boys only there, by the way.