Toybag Tour, Thud vs. Sting: Floggers and Whips and Such

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Anonymous: What would you say is a good implement scale for impact play? Like, the farther up the scale the more intense it is.

Papa Tony:

Funny that you should ask. I periodically design toys for FlogMeBaby.com - I have NO financial connection with them. Not a single penny. I do this work because I want new Doms to build their own toy bag with solid-quality toys without having to go broke doing it.

 

I invented a two-sided scale for them that shows where a particular toy fits between STING and THUD. You can see it on the upper left, in pink.

That scale has proven to be a very practical way to make valid shopping decisions without being able to actually try out the toy first.

I admire craftspeople who hand-craft exquisite, expensive ($300-$500) floggers. I have owned a bunch over the years. However, I like to recommend toys that are high-quality, but inexpensive. It’s awkward for a newbie Flogging Top to learn proper practices by guess and by golly, with a huge, awkward flogger (or a wimpy one, shown below) sold at the local porn emporium.

That’s why I always steer folks toward my flogging instructional video, and recommend good starter toys that will last a long time, without eliminating the Grocery Fund for a month.

I can’t tell you how many new Sirs that I have met with outrageously rough, inappropriate Instruments of Torture that they thought that might be a good choice, and then no subs will let them go for more than a few strokes… The actual goal is perfect, thrilling power-flow that fluctuates smoothly as the circumstances allow.

This is my leather toy bag, which is a tiny subset of my larger toy collection. I carry the bag with me when I am attending parties. It is also what the slave brings upstairs when he arrives and sets up the scene to my specifications. This is because it contains my collection of favorite, most useful toys. Today, we are ignoring the paddles, crops and canes, and discussing the floggers and whips.

I have arranged a few of my toys to illustrate the range of sensations caused by various toys along the spectrum of “Thud” on the left, and progressively more intense with the “Sting” selection on the right.

Explaining The Tall Socks

When you have a bunch of floggers in a bag or a wheeled, carry-on piece of luggage, the skinny tails can make quite a mess of tangles. So, have the submissive clean up after the scene by pulling a tall sock over the forearm until there is a “sock puppet:”


Use the “mouth” to grab the ends of the flogger tails, and then use the other hand to pull the sock over the entire flogger. Long socks like this can be found at the Junior Miss section at your local Target or Walmart.

The Bunny: Very Thuddy

Starting at the far left of the “Thuddy” side of the scale, the Bunny is made of lengths of rope, covered in bunny fur. It’s at least three decades old. How did I keep it in such great shape? I kept it away from young dogs. They ALL want to shred it!

It’s a very exaggerated toy. I would never use it on a person with a slender frame. I wouldn’t want to break their ribs! The ideal bottom for this is somebody with a wide, well-padded back.

I throw it with a two-handed, “baseball bat” throw, from the side, striking against the UPPER back. Stay far away from the lower back. This one is for piggy bottoms who can’t stand Sting, but adore Thud… the heavier the better.

The Big, Heavy Flogger

Moving one notch away to the right. This category is VERY typical of high-end, more-expensive floggers that are everywhere on the market. The one shown in the picture above cost me $350.

My recommendation for such a toy is the Mister Thuddy. I helped design it years ago. I just checked: it costs 45 bucks. Not a good beginner flogger (I have trained many hundreds of Flogging Tops), but a very nice second flogger. This is what the result looks like, after using it.

My Favorite Flogger - Medium Weight

This is the Thumper, and it comes from FlogMeBaby. I didn’t design this one, but if I had, I would not change a single thing about it. I have raved about them, in detail. If I had ONE toy in my possession, this would be the one for me, hands down. I demonstrate many, many ways to use it, here. This photo shows a nice aftermath.

If you are going to learn how to use it, start by practicing the Loose Grip, shown in the video that I just linked to. I’ve been using it for forty years, and it is the reason why my wrist and forearm don’t hurt after a long night of playing with a dozen eager subs in a bar.

This next section is the kind of flogger that I avoid:

Wimpy, Flimsy Floggers

I snagged this image off of the Internet, because I would never own floggers like these. If I win some in a raffle basket, I donate them back. You see tons of these in the local “Lingerie and Dildo” stores.

Using a lightweight toy like this in an Impact Play scene would be like using a cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels to beat somebody. There’s no release of kinetic energy, followed by increased endorphins.

On the other hand, if your goal is to get in a fight with a toddler that leaves you both giggling, these floggers are pretty nice.

The Tommy Tomcat

Going further to the right side of the scale. I designed the Tommy Tomcat for FlogMeBaby, based upon a very expensive toy that somehow disappeared from a play-party, a few decades past. I imagine that there are many hundreds of Tomcats in the world, as a result.

Imagine that you are at a kinky play-party. There is one piggy bottom that is being flogged by every Top in the building, and is still going strong when the Doms are all worn out. That is a very strong signal that it’s time to switch over to Sting as a tactic. Every time that I have tested that theory, I have been rewarded with a VERY happy bottom.

If you follow the breaking-in instructions on my page, then you will have the most accurate toy in your entire collection. I never strike any further away than a quarter-inch or so from my desired target when I am using it. It’s amazingly precise. This photo shows the aftermath of a heavy scene.

This video always gives me a thrill. Frankly, I get turned on, watching how well I use that Tomcat. I don’t usually get to see myself from such a different angle.

The Dragon’s Tongue

My two Dragon’s Tongues were hand-made by a buddy. I would love to find a more durable replacement. I will be investigating the purple and red ones that FlogMeBaby sells for twenty bucks each. Mine have been through hell, as you might imagine. I use them a lot.

They are deceptively mild as you warm up the sub, but a sharp “flick” will raise some serious welts. Definitely not to be used on beginners.

Singletail Whip

We have now arrived at ONE of the ultimately “sting-y” toys (not counting fiber-optic floggers - Those will be featured in a future article). The one in the picture above cost me three or four hundred bucks. It’s an Axel whip. Other Tops will stop me when I walk by, and they will say “Oooh! That’s an Axel, isn’t it?” It IS exquisitely made, and it throws like a dream.

HOWEVER. Again, the average beginner can’t seriously buy something like this, and trust that it’s right for them. Singletail whips are DIFFICULT to learn by yourself, to the point where other people trust you to throw whips around without damage to yourself and others.

Luckily, I have posted a Singletail 101 instructional video, for just such a purpose. Once you know how to achieve a perfect spread of singletail strikes on a pillow, you are a good bet to able to do a really good job on a human being.

For those on a budget, I have designed am inexpensive singletail that I can happily recommend. It is called the PTSM - The Papa Tony Signature Model. I just checked. It’s eighty bucks.

Again, I get no special considerations of any kind from FlogMeBaby. I just want to see more safe, fun kinky play happening in the world. It’s the Approving, Kinky Grandpa in me.