Mill Strap

The London Tanners Mill Strap

Vendor: The London Tanners

Construction

As the name of the impact toy already implies, the basis is one long 4cm wide strap of 5.5mm thick leather. The overall length of the toy is 36cm of which the lower 13.5cm are folded together by another, narrower strap and two sleeve nuts forming the grip. The narrower strap does not wrap tightly around the broader one but forms a little loop which houses a d-ring for easy storage. The toy features some nice details like the saddlers’ crease both on the broad and the narrow strap and the embossed hallmark on one side of the broad strap. Regarding the color, you can choose between a classic black or tobacco brown which I bought.

Detail of the embossed Company’s Hallmark

While this sounds pretty standard for an impact implement, what sets the Mill Strap apart from other is the leather and finishing quality. The leather quality caused some discussion in my testee panel. It is top notch pure vegetable tanned British hide. This means there is no risk of allergy due to Chrome-6 for example which is important when doing heavy impact play since the bottom’s sweat can wash out the Chrome-6 and the tormented skin can easily reabsorb it. However, since the oak tanning process is very gentle, the hide does not get softened. So now after almost three months of regularly using it, my Mill Strap is not even close to being broken in. What helps to facilitate the breaking in process is kneading the loop. This does not make the Mill Strap a bad toy, just for a relatively long time, it performs more like a paddle than a strap. Furthermore, the oak used for tanning the leather gives it a distinct, strong smell which – in my case luckily – will fade away over time while some testees liked it very much.

Detail of the Strap forming the Grip and housing the D-Ring for easier Storage

The finish quality is one of the best out there. The surface is oiled and waxed for a super-smooth finish and the edges are burnished for no unintentional abrasions.

Playing with the Mill Strap

The Mill Strap delivers what the name promises: An easy to control, stingy impact toy. Since the strap is flexible, it can even be used for warm-up when carefully and lightly tapping the bottom’s cheeks. While the strap is long enough to hit both cheeks, due to the thick leather’s weight this strap is rather loop-heavy. Because of that I would recommend targeting single cheeks.

As written above it takes some time to break the strap to get the slapping effect of this kind of toys. Once you have reached that point, the sensation of thick upper half back lashing turns the medium sting into an intense one. Also, the cracking sound of slappers and straps then appears, adding another sensual dimension to the impact play.

Detail of the Strap’s Loop with the Saddlers‘ Crease on both Sides

To my surprise, the Mill Strap does not color as much as I did expect of such toy. It will redden the skin quickly but not as much as a paddle and the red will quickly fade. Also none of my testees managed to produce bruises with it. While naturally this depends on the sub’s body, the Mill Strap seems to be a good implement for sessions which should not leave lasting marks.

If you prefer a little bit of thud, simply turn the toy around and hit the sub with the grip. The stiffness of four layers of tightly folded leather will still sting but the sheer weight will add some thud, giving the Mill Strap even some bruiser potential. Especially when the strap is broken in, flinging the grip forward will develop movement momentum, allowing to hit the sub with little force. Especially when doing this more or less uncontrolled hitting, the d-ring hitting the bottok might become a problem – or an appreciated backlash.