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FTLOI Learning Center
BDSM
Impact Play Equipment
Hurts so good! Learn more about the array of tools that can leave their mark on your partner.
Selecting an impact play tool can present a unique challenge as the differences on what each feels like are significant. Yes, they can all dish out some pleasurable pain, but it is really a question of HOW do you like your pain? Do you want it on the surface of the skin, with a sharp sting? Or do you want deeper into the tissue with a forceful thud? Focused or broad? Easier to control? These, and more, are factors to consider when selecting your next impact tool. If you are new to impact play, be sure to TAP/CLICK HERE to learn more about how to get started. Read on if want to learn more about some of the most common kinds of implements available for use in impact play.​​​​
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Floggers & Whips - A whip is a long thin flexible piece of material (ex: cord or leather), attached to a handle, used to deliver sharp stinging blows. A flogger is commonly defined in this area as merely a cluster of these pieces similarly attached to a handle. Whips and floggers have a history rooted in animal training and control (whips) and human punishment (flogging). Floggers are excellent choices if you are looking for smaller blows spread across broad area and a degree of use flexibility. Depending on the type of material used for the falls (the individual strands) and its thickness, stiffness, shape, and weight, a flogger can deliver lighter, sharp "stingy" blows or deeper, heavier blows referred to as "thuddy". The advantage of a well constructed flogger is in the right hands it can deliver a wide range of sensations and pain levels. For example, not only can a flogger dish out some delightful pain, but it can be draped or dragged across the skin for much softer, teasing sensations. This makes floggers a popular choice for impact play in addition to the visual appeal of this classic punishment tool.
Floggers might be one of the most challenging tools to master as the giver or top. They require more practiced aiming and space to use. Fore example, a common consequence of a misplaced flogger strike is "wraparound" where the tips of the falls hit beyond the aimed for zone. A flogger is simply harder to control, especially if it has specific design elements. Often a large amount of space is needed for swinging the flogger more easily. The great part of floggers is there are a wide variety of materials and designs available to match your specific wants and needs. Choose softer, broader falls for a gentler, but still stingy session. Grab a flogger with stiff, dense and narrow falls for a more punishing experience.
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Type of impact: very thuddy to very stingy
Intensity: gentle to extreme
Ease of use: more difficult
Space needed: high
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Paddles - The paddle is thought to come from a dark history attached to slavery, but also known to have been used as an early American education system punishment device. It delivers high amounts of surface pain, but with much reduced likelihood of any more permanent or lingering damage. A paddle is really any implement with a broad, flat blade or face attached to a handle. Some are round shaped while others are rectangular. While most of the time paddles are inflexible, some do have a slight flex to them. Most paddles deliver high levels of sting, especially if made of light, smooth materials or holes are bored in the face to reduce air resistance. There are less common paddles made of denser materials (like silicone) that can add a more thuddy element to paddle play, but the lighter designs tend to be far more popular.
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Paddles are much easier to handle than floggers and are great for spaces with limited room to move. A short swat with a paddle delivers a great amount of surface sting and is accompanied with a delightfully loud smacking noise. Speaking of noise, you may see some types of paddles, or paddle appearing, being called "slappers". A slapper is designed with the face split into two, or looped to create two, large flexible faces (often of a leather style material). The effect of this is less intensity, but a louder slapping noise when the two faces connect during use. You will also see "impression" paddles that have a word or symbol carved out of one side of the paddle. The word or symbol will then be visible on the skin after impact.
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Type of impact: some thud to stingy
Intensity: gentle to moderate
Ease of use: more easy
Space needed: little
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Crops - If a whip and a paddle had a baby, a crop would be it. Technically a whip, crops come from animal training and communication, especially the equestrian world. A crop will have a handle attached to a long, flexible shaft, ending in a flat blade/flapper or thin loop of material. Often modern crops will have a solid piece of fiberglass at its core for best stiffness combined with flexibility. While crops were originally created to deliver non-punishing taps for communication while riding horses, people have discovered that striking the soft skin of human is wonderfully stingy. The rod itself can be used for a cane-like use, but most often it is the small flexible tip used for contact. This creates a focused sting without a high level of intensity. Short crops make for very approachable beginner impact tools as they are easier on the receiver/bottom than others. Crops association with animal training also make them great domination accessories. They can be used as simply a symbol of power or the tool communicating that power through touch and taps.
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Because of their length, and the functional part being the tip, crops do require a bit more space for use than paddles but can be used in closer quarters than whips. They are excellent for touch play with their small but flexible tips pleasing to run across the skin. These small tips also allow for high precision strikes or delicate power taps on a broader range of body parts. Similar to paddles, there are many designs that split or loop the tip for louder slaps or cutouts for impression play.
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Type of impact: stingy
Intensity: light to moderate
Ease of use: easy
Space need: medium
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Canes - The cane has existed through history as a corporal punishment device in education systems, but also as a form of criminal punishment in some countries. The cane is a simplistic yet very effective impact tool combining the velocity of whip fall with the potency of a bamboo paddle. Basic canes can be made of a length lightweight woody stemmed plants like rattan or bamboo. More sophisticated canes are comprised of a handle for improved gripping and a plastic or fiberglass whipping rod. The rod can also be coated with leather like material to change the look and feel. Canes are able to dish out extreme high intensity strikes, combining high sting with a deeper thud. The high pain ceiling of canes, and damage risk, means they may be best enjoyed by experienced tops and bottoms. However, like any impact tool, in the right hands even canes can be used for gentle impacts.
Canes require as much space as whip for best control and range, but can be used closer in for lighter impact. They can also be used to add audio power to your play, creating that intimidating "whoosh" when swung in the air. Similar to crops, the can also serve as a tactile dominant tool by running it over the skin or administering precision, commanding taps.
Type of impact: thuddy and stingy
Intensity: moderate to extreme
Ease of use: medium
Space needed: medium to high
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Hands - No purchase necessary! Hands are nature's paddles, ready to use wherever and whenever we want! Spanking with our hands is a much more personal way to experience impact play, bringing an intimacy and skin-to-skin feedback not found with any other method. Hands are capable of being stingy, but can bring a very deep, heavy thud to impact play. Despite how easily we can use our hands to spank our lovers/bottoms it takes practice and skill to gain control over the intensity or type of impact. How loose or tight your hand and wrist are, direction of movement, or when you pull the strike, can all dramatically change how it feels to the receiver. The joy of spanking with a hand is it requires little space to engage in and can be switched to soothing touches in moments. Still, we emphasize practicing because of hand spanking's personal nature and higher risk of damaging the bond between the players.
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Type of impact: some sting to very thuddy
Intensity: mild to high
Easy of use: more difficult
Space needed: little
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