Bram was right about the quality available now. I used to work in forestry and grew the stuff for a living. The trend in the industry is to grow the trees as fast as possible without compromising the strength of the lumber. This produces a tree with wider growth rings. The virgin timber in the South I also believe was logged out completely (as far as we’re concerned) in the 20’s. This lumber has growth rings anywhere between 20-50 per inch compared to our currently available pine 2-10 per inch.

I have yet to start my first kayak but when I do I will be using some of this virgin pine I salvaged as siding on an old house I remodeled. I cannot give any advice about the workability of either for kayaks. But I can give a little info about it.

Longleaf and slash pine are native. Loblolly is a hybrid. Shortleaf also native but not very plentiful where I’m from (FL). All being yellow pine. The yellow pine you find in the store will definitely be any one of these listed. The main characteristics I would be interested in are the growth rings. They are quite definite. One very hard and dark, one soft and light. When sealed the wood has a yellowish color. Splitting when a nail hits the hard growth ring is very likely. If you sand it count on creating the wave pattern on the surface. It’s beautiful wood and should make an attractive grain pattern on the boat. All yellow pine has these traits.

The advice given to me was helpful look in the Search under “Heart Pine” and you’ll find my inquiry about the old pine should also apply to you.

Good luck with it. Hope this is useful.

Matt