I'm Loving My New Flogger

When it comes to this flogger I'm completely pleased with the purchase as my first commercially bought (as opposed to improvised at home) impact play item. It can be so simple yet so versatile in use. As a first run, I used it purely as a 'warm up' for spankings, "dropping" it across and over the butt and thighs. I would say it does help the warm up process much better than my home wrapped cable flogger; something about the weight and the squared ends helps it carry a little sting even on the light dropping strokes. In other rounds I've used some good force, but I honestly haven't given this flogger to my boy at full force or had him use it at full force to give me the feel for it. In moderation (quick snaps) it has a mild sting that I enjoy giving and taking. It is a real turn on for him, too. We are only intermediate players, and it is good enough for us. I figure a beginner could hold on to this for a while and upgrade later on.

Also, the handle carries a loop as pictured on the page that for me doubles as makeshift crop. About as painful as a slap from a small child, but the idea is there! You can hang up the flogger by this loop, but on top of that I personally use the handle DURING play, around my wrist, to prevent any Wii remote-like slippage incidents.

Upon opening the package to the flogger, I was amazed at how much like the picture it looked.
I had assumed maybe the photo had been retouched, considering how glossy and flat the handle looked. It was a disappointing moment, as I had HOPED that the photo was retouched, as one of the things that had attracted me to the flogger was "mahogany". It conjured up an image of... well, mahogany. Unfortunately, the handle had very little similarity to any kind of mahogany, save the color. It appears to have been drenched with lacquer paint (keep away from any solvents) and shows tiny pinholes or bubbles as well as some dents, smudges, and other lint, dirt or trash that may have gotten submerged in the paint. However, these don't impact the shine of the lacquer unless you really eyeball it and are barely to be felt when held in the hand. The handle itself is as light as a handful of wooden rulers, and fits very well in my average-sized hands (7" by 3"). The handle, measuring about 3.5 inches in circumference, is just large enough to fill the palm and get my fingers wrapped round. I wish it was thicker, since my nails are long and I can't truly grip it without stabbing my palm. The 5.25 inch length of bare handle is pretty much perfect, as it leaves some shimmy room. The ridges turned into the handle add grip and visual interest, but I would have traded that and this bland paint any day for some natural, elegant looking wood grain.
At the business end of the flogger are 15 pleather (polyurethane) falls attached two-by-two into the tip of the handle and secured with a horrible strip of shiny black vinyl tacked around them. Here is the best picture I can get out of my camera to explain just how the falls "radiate" around the handle. At their base / center the half-finished tip of the handle is visible


As a previous poster said, the 6th inch of the handle is wrapped in black vinyl and looks terrible. I don't know if they chose it for contrast, for some property of strength or practicality, but in the end it makes the whole thing less classy-looking. It's already starting to poke out from under itself and fray, and the white inner liner is showing on its edges.



I feel like they could have used the same pleather from the falls and loop to make this one piece and it would have improved the class factor by a ton. The nickel-plate chrome tacks look great.
The falls themselves are nicer than I expected. They are of an okay weight, not too cheap-feeling as a whole. I was expecting them to have a problem like many other cheaper pleather products I have purchased, to have little white lint dingle-berries and threads hanging off of them, problems that the vinyl wrap is experiencing. These, however, are very cleanly cut. The edges are all squared off, with little to no fraying at all, though this will probably change with use. Each measure about 1/3 inch wide and 18 to 18.5 inches long, having a pleathery-looking side and a suede-looking side with all suede sides facing in. They are probably the best part of the flogger; I wish there were more of them!
The final part of the toy is the hanging loop. Made of the same pleather as the falls it is over half an inch wide, 5 inches long - folded and 11 inches around, so it will fit over any average hand or hanger. It is tacked very sturdily into the handle and chances are the pleather will rip long before the tack ever loosens.

Overall the flogger will do its job and with our usage level, which is less than routine, it will last a very long time. It has a pretty acceptable level of craftsmanship. I would say a bar above plain novelty or costume whips. Oh, and the flogger didn't smell when we opened it.

For its price and materials, I was extremely pleased with this flogger. I wasn't expecting the world considering the great price, but I really appreciate the clean cuts of the falls which make the sting easy to feel even with light strikes. Its light weight makes it possible to use for much longer than my heavy home-made thudders, at least without feeling like an onset of carpal tunnel syndrome! My boytoy can sometimes be a lightweight when it comes to pain, so this flogger is gentle enough that I can go a little bit crazy and he won't end up bleeding or crying. It is powerful enough to give some good red stripes. If I went a little crazier however, I think it probably could draw some blood. That is if I were to really try though, with actual stripe inducing technique. In the end, I was pleased to find that the little hanger doubles nicely as a slapper or crop that doesn't pack a punch but makes a good quick reminder tool and attention getter.

The recommended care is a wipe down with a damp cloth. I have a weird tick about any kind of pleather or leather that I must condition them. So I gave each fall and the loop a damp wipe and quick buff down with some mink oil. That job will go to the sub next time.
It is stored lovingly hung from a hook by the bed; I would not recommend folding it to store it for longer than a day because it will hold the bends for a little while. I definitely would never fold or roll it up tightly as it would wear out the falls. Working with automotive paint, I have been drilled with certain rules about lacquer paint. I have to say, don't ever use nail polish remover, paint thinner, or any other harsh solvent on or anywhere near this flogger. Not that you would anyway, but I have had some very unfortunate nail polish remover spills in my past.

My little flogger came in a plastic bag in a cardboard-ish box with an obligatory sexy lady on it - forget discretion. It was labeled very clearly - SEX & MISCHIEF! No instructions, once the flogger was out of the bag there was a tag attached to it with materials, information, and a referral to the company website. Very basic, I hated how the flogger had to be bent to fit its package. It took a day of hanging after conditioning it to get it looking mostly straight.

I truly loved the experience of something thinner and lighter than something made from scrounged items. The first time truly using this for more an actual session, I brought it in a whip motion onto my boy's back. The sting was just right across his back and butt, from what I heard it was satisfying, not too intense since he is not a super-intense masochist. It was just enough to make those sublime muscle twitches go off in his back. It left his back and butt rosy and hot, with lovely pink/red stripes, which is one of the absolute best turn-ons for me. I would love to give it my full force in future sessions, since the flogger is so mild-mannered. That, however, is best saved for a special occasion.