Intro to BDSM: Flogging
There are countless sex toys and types of sex furniture in existance, varying significantly from mini, bullet vibrators and male sex toys such as the Fleshlight, all the way up to the intense sex machines and BDSM gear like electrosex toys, vibrating nipple clamps and floggers, which I’m talking about in this text.
Flogging has been around for a long, long time, although unfortunately it was never really used for pleasure until more recently. If you enjoy participating in BDSM then your box of bondage gear more than likely contains at least one or two different floggers. Even though they’re as common as they are, floggers, alone or part of any set of bondage gear, need to be treated with respect due to their inherently damaging nature.
The BDSM sport of flogging can be an incredibly smooth and beautiful act if it’s being done by a practiced user. On the other hand, it can also be akward or even down right dangerous if done by someone who hasn’t practiced or isn’t fully aware of the consequences of their strikes. However, safety isn’t going to be discussed here, but make sure you do your homework before using any form of bondage gear, especially flagellation devices. Instead I will be introducing you to various types of floggers in order to aid you in choosing the types that will fit your submissive’s style the best.
Each flogger consists of two main sections, the handle and the tails. The tails, being the ‘business end’ of the flogger, come in a variety of styles. Factors that influence the over-all feel of the flogger include the material, the width of the tails, the tail length and the number of tails.
First I will go over the differences between a few materials used in whip making.
Leather: Leather is by far the most common material used and is common in many different types of bondage gear, including floggers. There are many different types of leather used, such as Deerskin, Elk, Moose, Buffalo and of course Cowhide. And although these types have certain characteristics, the biggest impact on how the leather acts is how it was tanned and how it’s cut. So always test it out, don’t trust any guidelines on types of leather.
Rubber: Rubber is also commonly used in bondage gear used in many forms of BDSM, but as far as floggers are concerned it is generally accepted as being more severe than leather. But, as with leather, the density, type and cut of the rubber is the ultimate determining factor in the actual severity of any rubber flogger.
Chain: Chain is also sometimes used in making floggers, however it is much, much less common than leather or rubber not only because it’s more difficult to make but but due to the fact that it makes a much more extreme flogger and shouldn’t be used by the inexperienced.
After you choose the type of material you want your flogger to be made out of you then need to decide on its style.
There are four main factors contribute to the sensations that the flogger produces on impact:
Width: The wider the tails, the more a thud sensation will be produced, the thinner the tails the more sting.
The tails: The number of tails differs from flogger to flogger depending on the sensations that are being searched for. Typically the more the tails you have on your flogger then less of a bit it will provide.
The tips: Pointed tips cause sting, forked tips cause double the sting, where as rounded and square tips are more gentle.
Tail length: Although the type of sensation that is created by a flogger is less dependant on the tail length than the other factors, the length has a very direct influence over the speed of the tip. The longer the tail the faster the tip will be moving upon contact. When using a very long-tailed flogger you should pay extra attention to your contact point, it’s easy to over extend and create a wrapping of the tails which can mean more pain than is desired and damage to the skin or underlying tissue. The average length for the tails out there is 16-24 inches.
There is an incredibly wide variety of bondage gear out there and flagellation devices are no exception. Take your time when picking a product but you should also try out a variety of styles and keep them all within easy reach for when the need arises.
