Thong whip by Spartacus - review by moose1120

This is a frustrating toy that is too difficult to control for beginners, yet not severe enough for more advanced users. I say that this toy is not for beginners because someone inexperienced with multi-tailed whips is going to find this very unsatisfying and is probably going to hurt his or her partner. The weighting and length of this whip pretty much assure that a beginner will have no fun, and this is not the toy to use for someone trying to learn about whips. For more advanced users, there simply is not enough heft to make for an enjoyable (read painful) play session.

This toy has a small handle and very long tails (30" overall with the handle being just under 5"). There are 12 tails, each of which is slightly rectangular, measuring about 3/16th of an inch by 1/8th of an inch. It is very lightweight and has no heft to it. The balance is poor, making the use choose between accuracy and force. The toy seems fairly well made and durable, although even if it were not I doubt that most users will play with it enough to really wear it out. Back on the handle, it is too thin and short to grip comfortably. Doubling the handle over with one length of the tails (bending at the end and gripping the tails against the handle) actually results in a more comfortable grip and better balance. The handle has a D ring at the end, which is nice for hanging the toy in the closet. The tails are very soft and actually feel quite nice when they are swung with force and are not stingy at all. The leather has a typical smooth side with three rough/soft sides, and the construction of the toy allows all of the smooth sides to face outward.

I should also mention that the item description claims the toy is 1" wide. While the tail may be an inch wide when laying down and partially spread, the diameter of the handle is quite a bit thinner, maybe 7/16ths of an inch at most.

Despite the toy's design issues, it was at least marginally fun. We are pretty experienced with whips, and as such I was able to use a bit of force while maintaining some degree of control. While accuracy is not really possible because of the balance and weighting issues, force can be used so long as the toy is "steered" so that it will avoid wrapping around the far side of the person being hit (which is painfully annoying and should be avoided at all costs). As I mentioned, "choking up" by holding one handle length of the tails against the grip improves weighting and thus improves accuracy. The material feels pretty good and is well-suited for teasing, but for us teasing only works if my wife knows that it is a precursor to real pain, and this toy was not going to deliver anything close to real pain. When swung with some force, my wife reports a pleasurable sensation, but one that quickly passes. Again, I doubt that a beginner would be able to control this toy well enough to have much fun, but an intermediate or advanced user whose partner likes the idea of being hit but doesn't particularly crave hard pain, marks or bruises may well enjoy the level of sensation provided by this toy.

This is a leather toy and will be damaged by water. The handle has actually stiffened a bit just from the sweat from my hand, but I assume it will break in with more use. The toy would be difficult to completely sanitize if exposed to blood or fluids. The best way to store the toy would be to hang it by its D ring after wiping it down to make sure there is no residual moisture trapped on it.

The toy came packaged in a simple plastic bag, folded on itself. There was a small merchandise tag on attached to the D ring at the end of the handle. Given that the material is very supple, there were no ill effects from being folded up.

There is one positive to this toy that I have not yet mentioned. There are certain times when my wife wants to be hit but cannot take too much pain (a hormonally induced contradiction). This toy will be useful for those times.