Verne,
To my knowledge and from what I have read in the old Thompson literature all cedar strip boats from Thompson, both cavas covered and non-canvas cover had the compression type strip construction. That was a big selling point with Thompson boats.
The difference between the canvas covered and non--canvas covered boats was the thickness of the strips. To make the lighter take-along boats, I do believe the strips where thinner to save some weight.
If you get the CD's with Thompson boat info you can check the features of every boat they built over the years. These CD's are worth the cost in info and photos, etc.
I purchased the whole set years back and it has been very helpful for not only myself but in my being able to help other people identify their boat models when asked for help.
The CD's are available from
www.dragonflycanoe.com
Good Luck,
Phill