Schlagwort-Archiv: Flogger

Fetters Braided Cat o Nine

Von | | ,
Einen Kommentar hinterlassen

The Fetters Braided Cat o Nine

Vendor: Regulation

Construction

The name of this whip is telling: Each of the nine falls is braided out of four thin leather straps. At the end they are finished with a small knots so the ends form little four fall “floggers”. The straps are made out of soft, medium density, low weight cow hide. This in combination with a tight and neat braid give the falls a very high quality feel and appeal.

At a first glance the handle looks equally elaborate. A black and red braided leather pummel on top covers the attachment points of the falls to the handle. This pummel also houses a leather patch with the Fetters logo embossed into it which I find an interesting location at best (see below). A single strap of what feels like latigo leather lines the handle in one spiral. It is attached to the core with four seams. At the bottom there is yet another black and read leather pummel which houses a quite long latigo leather loop. Speaking of bottom: The pummel only covers the side of the core not the bottom giving it a bit of an unfinished feel.

All things considered, the grip is very economically designed with an aspiring premium leather appeal. Form followed function here while you can see where corners were but. But considering the price of the toy it is exceptional value for money. Yet compared to other whips and floggers with braided grip cover and loops, a pummel that is used to really attach the falls to the grip instead of just covering the attachments points, this Braided Cat o Nine is a bit more basic especially compared to the flogger from the same range. Considering the cost these are minor points because…

The Latigo Loop hold by a „Lateral“ Pollem and thus unfinished Bottom

Playing with the Braided Cat o Nine

… from a play point of view, it is even better value for money!

At first I was skeptical how well this toy would perform. With all the tails just laterally “attached to a stick” I wondered how well they would fly. Turns out, actually pretty great! Even at low intensities all tails fly precisely into the direction they are thrown without any breaking out. Targeting is easy making this toy surprisingly suitable for beginners. This property is supported by the low weight and still good balance point which is about at 4/5 of the handle length. You do not need much technique to rein in the momentum heavier floggers can develop while throwing.

Detail of the Braided Fall with the Finishing Knot

The overall great handling is a bit compromised by the Fetters logo tag. If the tag is in the throwing direction the tails break away. Since you usually do not turn the handle while whipping, simply make sure that the tag is facing you when picking up the whip so it should not be a problem. Annoyingly – at least at my whip – the tag was not a 100% aligned with the leather loop. Especially when the loop is not broken in, it wants to sit comfortably on your wrist. So you intuitively start to turn the handle until the loop sits comfortably – and the tag gets a bit in the way again. Over time you will learn to compensate the tag but especially at the beginning it is extremely irritating especially for beginners.

Which is a shame because overall, this toy is a surprisingly good beginner’s whip despite leaning towards sting due to the light weight. The combination of the great flying properties combined with the light and soft leather allow the top to caress and teas the bottom’s back lightly at low intensities. Because the falls are so light, I would not consider it a warm-up toy. The strokes are simply too light to increase the circulation sufficiently. As soon as you ad heft to your blows, the sting and intensity ramps up quickly. The sensation is of course focused on the knots which bite but the bottom will most likely also feel the scratch of the short tails behind the knots. These multitude of sensations is the greatest feat of this whip: Once you have learned to wield it properly, it offers many different sensations. Targeted precisely the end of the small floggers can just scratch the skin. Hitting exposed or raised areas of the back just right, almost only the knots hit. Throwing it like a flogger the is a bit of thuddy feeling along the impact area – until the tail ends sting like a lightning. So completely mastered the Fetters Braided Cat o Nine tails is truly a multitrick pony.

The Top Pummel with the Fetters Logo and the Leather Lined Handle

Speaking of great sensation range: Because the hanging loop is so long, it can be used as an impact of of its own. The pain is not sever but being made out of thin latigo leather, it bits a bit. Since the bottom expects a whip like impact sensation, teasing him with it it or inflicting agony when precisely targeting bruised areas adds to the wide range of possibilities with this whip.

Conclusion: Easy to throw whip with wide range of sensations and basic fitments.

Pro

Cons

Where to get

Price

Wide range of possible sensations

Annoyingly placed logo patch which impairs the handling

Regulation

£68.41

Easy to handle and throw

Handle design cuts corners

Good value for money

Fetters Heavy Leather Flogger

Von | | ,
Ein Kommentar

The Fetters Heavy Leather Flogger

Vendor: Regulation

Very often I get asked “Where can I get a good, quality flogger, best in Europe?” That is actually a tough question because unlike the USA Europe never developed a big BDSM flogger maker scene. Most of my floggers are made by a flogger maker in New York I have got to know when I studied in the USA. They cost at least four times of this Heavy Leather Flogger and take months to make, an invest most people are not willing to make. So I am quite excited to take a look at a traditionally made flogger that is easily accessible to guys from Europe.

Construction

This flogger is a beautiful example of traditional flogger making: Braided leather knot on the top and bottom knot. Between them a black and red herringbone pattern made out of leather straps covers the 17cm long grip, giving the handle an overall length of 23,5cm. For better storing and not losing the flogger while throwing it, a 14.5cm long braided leather loop is attached to the bottom knot. What surprised me that Fetters uses relatively stiff and sturdy leather for the braiding which usually makes getting it tight and firm difficult. But I was impressed how tight it was which is a good indicator for durability and quality. The flogger is quite well balanced. The mass center is at the bottom of the upper knot which is low enough to keep the wrist from tiring out quickly.

Detail of the Angle Cut Tail End

Into the top knot 25 tails are woven. They are made out of rather stiff black cow hide and have an angle cut at the end. At 55cm overall length they are 4.5cm longer than the “standard” flogger length of 20’’ resp. 50.5cm but this only is important when you are Florentine flogging with a 20’’ in tail flogger. In the knot a 4x2cm leather patch with an embossed Fetters logo is woven. I am not sure about this move because when you tails “break” over this patch, it impacts how they fly. Especially experienced tops will soon learn how hold their flogger to not have this happening or how to compensate. Still, I would have preferred this patch elsewhere.

All things considered, I have not yet found this level of craftsmanship and attention to detail for this price. So from a pure manufacturing side, this flogger offers incredible value for money.

Playing with the Fetters Heavy Leather Flogger

Detail of the Knot with the Fetters Logo Patch

From a technical point of view, this flogger is good for novice tops getting into flogging. The tails fly well which makes the aim easy. The mass center at the top knot allows the tails to gain momentum when wielding in laying-8-shaped circles so once you have established a pattern, the flogger guides the throwing arm.

But from a pain perspective this one is not for the faint of heart. Fetters chose a stiffer variety of cow hide, yet not as stiff (and thus severe) at Latigo leather. Unlike Latigo this cow hide is flexible and flows and flies really nicely yet it is far from soft. Adding that to the medium weight of the leather it leans a bit towards sting. Additionally the edges are a bit firm and the rough side of the leather is relatively coarse for a flogger. And finally, the tips are angle cut so when they hit, they have an extra bit. Furthermore, angle cut will give you the most acceleration and thus most strong impact sensation.

Detail of the Bottom Knot and Loop

This doesn’t make the flogger bad! It is awesome toy for masochists, a mid- to end-scene toy when the endorphins are flowing and a skilled top will be able to get some thud out of it. But for people starting out with flogging or not hard-core masochists, I strongly advice to use a different, softer flogger for warm up, like the Bare Leatherworks Buffalo one.

Despite the overall roughness of tails, I was surprised how relatively little they color. Of course the impact area will turn red quickly but being medium-weight bruises even on delicate areas like the ass and thigh are unlikely. Despite the sharp tail edges and angle cut tips I was actually surprise how little scratches and welts this flogger produced. So if you are looking for a meanish impact toy that leave relatively little marks after a scene, it is a good one to go with.

Finally a little word on availability: Since this product is handmade, it is rarely available in large quantities. This flogger has been on my watch list for over 2 years and it has been sold out most of the time. So if you are interested in this flogger, I highly recommend setting an e-mail alert to get notified when it is back in stock!

Conclusion: Extremely competitively priced, well made and handling flogger to deliver a stingy sensation.
Pros Cons Where to get Price
All tails fly together for a good ain Unlike advertised on the stingier and heavier end of the pain spectrum Regulation £58.99
Well balanced
All tails have same length and overall well made
Not good for warm-up

Massage Flogger

Von | | ,
Einen Kommentar hinterlassen

Bare Leatherworks Massage Flogger

Vendor: Bare Leatherworks

Construction

The basic design of this flogger is fairly standard: One side with tails, other side handle. But that’s all that is standard about this toy. Instead of having a bunch of tails, this one only has 6 which are made out of soft and medium heavy bull-hide. They are 50mm wide and about 530mm long in full (or rather standard flogger tail length) size and 350mm in the medium size (for playing in more confined areas or using this flogger primarily on subs on spanking benches). I intentionally write “about” because on my flogger there was a difference of 9mm between the longest and the shortest tail! For a “normal” flogger, this would serious impact the play experience. But being a “massage” flogger you do not really just target with the tail tips but with the full length. The tails fixed to the handle by just putting a screw through them in the middle which is a “quick & dirty” way to make a flogger which in the end enables the rather low price.

Detail of the Rubber-Wrapped Handle

The handle is made out of wood with a “bulges” (the cover material not being plaited you cannot really call them knots) on both ends for a secure and comfortable grip. Despite the heavy tails, this flogger is extraordinarily well balanced! The center of mass lies right between the end of the grip section and the beginning up the upper bugle. Looking at my collection of 10 floggers this is the most balanced flogger I own!

The handle cover is quite unique: Instead of being covered in an elaborate plaited multi-color leather pattern, a long strap of industrial rubber is wrapped around and fixed buy multiple black screws in stainless steel grommets. The rubber provides a good and secure grip even with sweaty hands. So from a functional point of view, nothing speaks against this method and it safes a lot of time, material and money (thus the very competitive price). But as someone who sees a flogger also as a piece of craftsmanship and handcraft tradition, this flogger looks a big “basic” (or as another testee put it “Bad-ass Mad Max”-like…). At the bottom of the handle, an eyebolt is screwed into the wood. Through it two intertwined leather straps are threaded for a wrist or storage loop. This loop looks so “artistic” and lavish that it is a steep contrast to the rest of the rather “basic” flogger design. Not that I would mind…

Detail of the Eyebolt and the intertwined leather loop

For an extra $10 you can get the “Pro Grip” handle. When choosing this add-on, a thick wire that runs in a spiral beneath the rubber cover. This adds texture to the gripping surface. I tried the Pro Grip at Spexter in Munich years ago and found it too uncomfortable for my size 7½ hands. So I ordered this flogger with a standard grip. In the review process, I never felt that even in heavy scenes that I needed extra grip when throwing this flogger. Naturally my testees could not compare both handle types. But even the tops with the sweatiest hands never had gripping problems. In addition, none of the Bare Leatherworks impact toys I have come across in scenes over the last 5 years had the Pro Grip. Another possible add-on for $14 is adding two more tails for an extra powerful thud!

Free of charge is customizing the colors of the tails. You can choose between black, red, blue, purple, grey, green, white, yellow and pink and have different colors for the inner and outer tails.

Playing with the Massage Flogger

Usually, I am very skeptical when tails are just screwed to the top of the handle instead of carefully arranging them in a woven knot for optimal flying capabilities. But the Massage Flogger flies really well. I was actually surprised how good targeting and swinging was with it.

Detail of how the Tails are Attached to the Handle and the upper „bulge“

Of course, throwing this flogger takes some getting used to. Instead of straightening out a few dozens of tails more or less loosely flying into the same direction, there are only six (resp. 8). So it takes a bit less force and control to direct them towards a target.

After talking about the technical aspects, let’s look at the sensation side of this flogger. The impact sensation of this toy is unlike any sensation I have felt before from a long-range impact toys before. It does its name really justice. The width, weight and rounded tips of the tails only produce a deep, satisfying thud. If you hit the sub lightly, it will be like caressing, if you hit him full power, the sheer force will throw him forward in a shattering way. The level of thud you create is highly disproportional to the weight and mass of the tails. Most testees compared it to a at least 40 tail cow flogger. So even more than usual I highly recommend trying out this flogger with a trusted play partner starting with low intensity and a thorough debriefing.

Detail of the Round-Cut Tail Ends which are Sadly Unevenly Long

If you want to get a bit of sting out of the Massage Flogger you could try hitting with the tails’ sides. But on the one hand, the tails usually orientate themselves towards the wide side, on the other hands the tails being made out of soft leather, after hitting with the side, the surface “falls” on sub’s body adding thud.

Like all thuddy toys, extra care is advised when throwing this flogger. The amount of kinetic energy hitting the bottom’s body can severely damage organs if you hit anywhere except the left and right side of the rip cage (and not the spine!), chest, ass and thighs with much force!

Conclusion: Good value for money flogger with a unique sensation.
Pro Cons Where to get Price
Unique sensation Not all tails have the same length Bare Leatherworks $99.95 – $133.95
Extremely well balanced
Good value for money Simple, industrial design instead of craftful plating