Chain tickler - sex toy by Sportsheets - review by Vanessa Jade

The Chain Tickler is an interesting item in that it has a number of immediately apparent uses. Obviously, as the name suggests, you can use it to "tickle," dragging the chain-fall end of it over your partner's skin. You can also, as you might imagine, use this similarly to a riding crop, with the metal ball-chains adding an interesting, heavier-than-you-think stingy, tingly bite.

My partner immediately put this in the freezer upon receiving it and the ball chains took on an icy, wet, slippery sensation as they touched my skin.

Unlike the name suggests, you can use this for light flogging, but I would not recommend it for heavy play—it's definitely a light-to-medium range toy. Beginners and advanced users alike can find something fun to do with this.

The handle is flexible plastic, about a foot long give or take. At the "business end" there is a small plastic cup with strands of slightly larger than jewelry-weight ball chains epoxied in as a "whip" end. The stick is capped at the other end with a plastic handle so you don't lose your grip.

For the price, this little whip/tickler/crop is much more well-made than I would have expected—the chains are attached well, nothing seems loose or unfinished, and there are no apparent seams or jagged edges. With light use, it should be fairly durable.

As it is made out of plastic and metal, I am assuming that this item is vegan. There is no indication as to what type of metal the chain falls are made from, so do not assume it is hypoallergenic—it may contain nickel or other allergenic metals.

As a tickler/sensation toy this performs quite admirably. I hate feather ticklers and the like—the sensation they give is too "creepy crawly" for me—but I liked this. The smoothness of the metal flowing over my skin was very nice.

As a flogger/whip, it could use some work. It is heavy enough at the chain end that it becomes hard to control due to the flexibility of the shaft. We quickly determined that the only way you can flog someone with this is with an overhand motion and once that was determined, accuracy improved and it became a surprisingly fun, stingy mini-whip.

It could easily leave marks if you hit someone hard enough and if you aren't careful you could hurt yourself or your partner, so be sure you play safe!

If you get anything on this, it's safe to just wipe it down with soap and water and dry it well. To store, either lay it flat or hang it up—but if you want to hang it, be advised that it does not come with a loop or hole to hang from, so you will have to drill or somehow add one.

The chain tickler comes with a little card that says what it is, and has a couple of "tips" on how to use it on the back—nothing incredibly informative, though. No box or bag except the one it ships in.