Impact Play Toys: How to Strike a Blow for Pleasure

When you approach someone about doing an impact play scene, the first question you're likely to hear is "Do you like thuddy or stingy?"

It's not a bad place to start. It does establish some broad preferences and common ground. But it's also kind of like asking a wine afficionado whether they prefer red or white wine. Within those two categories, wine experts will be happy not only to lecture you about the differences between red and white, but the merits of cabernet sauvignon vs those of merlot or zinfandel, but also to infodump about the qualities of one vineyard's Merlot above another's, or why the 2010 vintages from France are inferior to those of 2011.

Similarly, as you explore impact play, you'll find that there's a lot more than the classic "stingy vs. thuddy." As you explore our Impact Play section, imagine that you're looking to get just the right wine for a very hot date. If you have a friend or partner who's deeply into caning for example, you may find that they have very clear preferences about whether their canes are made of wood, metal, or plastic. And more than that: they may be very specific about what kind of wood they like to feel on their ass or thighs.

If this sounds intimidating, that's entirely understandable. But think of it instead as a sign of how exciting and powerful the experience can be. Your body is capable of a range of different sensations, and exploring them all can be a great adventure. To get started on that adventure, let's take a look at some of the most common implements, and why you might use them.

Floggers

Even if you've never been in a dungeon or sex club, you've probably seen a flogger — or at least depictions of one. They show up in movies, television, cartoons, and other media as an iconic shorthand for "kinky sex." Because they're so common both in the scene and mainstream media, they're one of the first things most people go for when they put together a toy kit.

Modern floggers are descended from the infamous "Cat O'Nine Tails": A length of knotted rope or leather that's divided into nine separate thongs. Historically, the "cat" is associated with the British Navy, where it was used to punish sailors for drunkenness, insubordination, and other violations of the naval code.

Most floggers you'll find now are considerably less harsh than those swung on the decks of British warships. Floggers tend towards the "thuddy" end of the spectrum and are usually made of leather or rubber. For stingier and sharper sensations, there are metal chain floggers, but those are best left for when you have more experience. It's very easy to draw blood when using a chain flogger, and you need to take special safety precautions for that.

How the flogger feels to the person being flogged depends on a few factors:

• The Material: Not only whether your flogger is leather, rubber, or metal, but what variety of those materials, and how it's been treated. For instance, suede tends to be one of the softest kinds of leather used in floggers, and can be great for teasing and tickling the submissives skin between flogging sessions.
• Width and Length of Falls: The long strands that you do the actual flogging with are called "Falls." Thin falls will feel more stingy on the skin, while wide ones will produce thuddier sensations that penetrate deeper into the muscles.
• Weight of the Flogger: This is an important factor. If shopping in person, test how the flogger feels in your hand. Get a sense of its balance and how well you can swing it.

Riding Crops

Riding crops are as much fun because of the images they conjure up in the mind of powerful, swaggering authority figures. In the twenties and thirties, film director Cecil B. Demille created an iconic image of himself as an all-powerful creative force by marching around on set with a megaphone in one hand and a crop in the other. Like all great kink tools, crops are just as important for their role as theater as how they feel on the skin.

One thing that makes crops an excellent starting tool for impact play is that they're much more precise and easy to control than a flogger. Effective and safe flogging is a skill that needs to be developed over time. With a crop in hand, it's much easier to target just the right point.

The striking part of a crop — usually in the form of a small loop of leather — is known as the "keeper."

While there's a lot to be said about the effect of whether the shaft is made of wood, fiberglass, metal, or something else, the keeper is where the action happens. Its shape, weight, and size is going to determine what it feels like when you bring it down on your submissive's ass, tits, scrotum, vulva, or other body part. A slim keeper made of flexible leather is going to have a little bit more sting than a broad, flat one made of silicone. Below, you can see examples of four keepers in the Stockroom inventory. (Clockwise from top left: our Wide-End Riding Crop, the Silicone Lolly Crop, the Purple Heart Crop, and our basic Riding Crop.)

As always, be careful when using a crop. Light blows on the ass, thighs, breasts, and lower back are ideal, sometimes alternated with light teasing and stroking. But just as when using a flogger, avoid strong blows around the kidneys.

Paddles

You might be picking up a theme here: Most impact play toys are deceptively simple in construction, with an incredible amount of variety possible. Paddles, for example, consist of two parts: The handle and the blade. The blade is the broad, striking surface, and can come in many shapes, sizes, and materials.

If you're at that stage where you're trying to figure out how you like to be paddled (or how you like to paddle someone), the KinkLab Panamorphic Paddle is an excellent place to start your experiments. This one has three different surfaces to take you from gentle to harsh: One side is faux leather for your basic, straightforward spanking scene; flip it over and you get a metal-studded side for a little harsher punishment; and finally, a faux-fur panel that attaches with velcro for sensual stroking.

The Kinklab Panamorphic Paddle is just a single example of all the possibilities that lie within the simple construction of paddles. As one of the oldest tools of punishment in human history, their potential still isn't exhausted. For those who like a traditional, old-school approach, hand-carved wooden paddles like the Floral-Engraved Wood Spanking Paddle or its leather-bound cousin, are capable of delivering a hefty blow to the buttocks that's hard to ignore while evoking old-school traditions.

But we kinksters have benefitted from modern science as much as (or more than?) everyone else, and that's where materials like silicone come in. Silicone paddles are much more flexible than wood or plastic, which puts them more towards the end of the "stingy" end of the spectrum. The malleability of silicone also allows designers to get extra creative with toys. For example, the Plunge Paddle has a flexible, square blade well-suited for a serious spanking; but the handle is a gracefully-molded dildo that serves just as well for anal or vaginal penetration.

Canes

Canes are another one of those instruments that carry a lot of cultural associations that can be as powerful as the physical impact.

Spanking in general has a long reputation as "The English Vice," thanks to the history of corporal punishment in elite English schools. Punishment with a cane evokes the English public school system even more directly and strongly. Victorian-era erotica is full of depictions of the stern English headmaster or headmistress who regularly disciplines with strokes of the cane across the hands, thighs, or ass.

Fortunately, caning is no longer part of the eductational process in the UK or the United States. But the stories remain tantalizing to most. The most traditional version is a simple rattan cane with a crook handle. Some afficionados will tell you that it doesn't actually count as a "cane" if it doesn't have the curved handle. Otherwise, it's just a stick.

We won't contradict those afficionados here, in part because they're known to respond with rather strict punishment. However, many people have a broader, more informal definition of "cane," including our own Marketing department.

Spanking canes (crooked or otherwise) come in a wide range of materials, including fiberglass, silicone, and metal. Whatever material is used, they require a careful hand; canes can be an exciting and powerful part of play, but they can also be brutal when used improperly. Use them with restraint and precision, and listen carefully to the submissive about where and how much force they can take. (Submissives should also be cautioned to listen when their body is telling them "too much!")

Take a look at a few of the canes in our collection for an idea of what's possible. Remember, when choosing a cane, don't just think about what kind of sensation it creates; think of it as part of setting a scene as well. The classic rattan canes are perfect if you want to create a Victorian discipline scene. Our red fiberglass cane might be just right for devising a cyberpunk setting. Kink is theater in the bedroom, so let your imagination soar.

Is That All?

Not even close. Impact play has more possibilities than we can list here, and if we tried, someone would have created a couple of dozen more by the time we finished. If you want to know more, sign up for Mistress Wicked's class on Impact 101 on Saturday, January 31. Tickets are available for in-person attendance or virtually through Zoom.