I've paddled with Gerry David a handful of times and am always amused at how much his paddle bends while he paddles. I made a one piece cedar padddle and was very nervious about the extreme flexability of it. I didn't trust it. Many of these purists like bare wood with just a linseed oil coating. The grain comes up and gives it a nice grip on your hands. I split mine down the center and limanited a spruce stripe about 1/4" in wide the center for strength and stiffness.

Yes they are soft and you will get a lot of bruises. You can always coat it with epoxy which will stiffen it and give it strength.

I have another friend who carved one out of cedar and his is fairly stiff. I learned that very tight grain cedar is a different animal than the wide or no gran type usually found . I'm talking about Western Red here in both cases.

Many people carve the one piece ones out of pine, spruce or fir. You have to be very selective with your choice of cedar if that's what you want to do. They are light, but they also can be weak.

Jay