I have just completed a Cedar Strip "Panache" which was my first kayak. I used 3/16 and have not had any experience with 1/4 but I was wondering if a person used the 1/4 you would have a little more to work with when it comes to fairing out the boat. I had some low spots where if i was to really get picky about i would run out wood thickness to properly fair it out. On the other hand I was really glad to be working with the thinner strips when there was some tricky twisting happening @ the stems from strips coming from the keel area. Maybee next time I would use thin stips for the hull and 1/4 for the deck.