In A Nutshell: Ball chain floggers provide a unique and decadent offering of sensations.

What’s Awesome? This one is nicely made, with a tight handle and minimal frills, keeping the price down.

What’s Not So Awesome? Nothing, actually. I love this toy! I actually think that if I had tried to make my own, I’d probably pay as much as this costs, easily, in time wasted and materials consumed…

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This Ball Chain flogger is a lovely piece, made of ten strands of ball chain doubled over, secured into a handle by a wrapping strong, plastic-rubber material. Because the strands are doubled over, there is a key ring fitted into the end, giving a “hanging” attachment point at the base of the handle. The handle is long enough to allow easy use of the flogger for a comfortable range of handle sizes.

As a flogger, it beats mercilessly. Flesh becomes tenderized in its wake, aching in that way that deep and serious thud aches. Deep reverberations course through flesh awakened by strikes laid moments before. Take care when wielding – this flogger will bruise as much as it thuds – and as the one holding the flogger, that’s your responsibility to know.

But wacking isn’t all this toy is good for – in fact, it’s a lesser use, if you ask me. For a luxurious, sensual experience, the ball chain flogger can dragged slowly across skin, dropped slowly into a cool, quivering pool of balls, or allowed to run slowly down the side of the body. To up the sensations, drop the flogger in a bucket of ice, or in a glass of warm water, to add in sensations of cool and hot. Mix into a ice and wax scene, and you’ve got an amazing tool that can provide a wickedly wide variety of sensations.

Want your own? (Yeah you do.) Grab your own from sextoy.com

And because it’s worth pointing out, John’s prices are amazing. Through normal online sex toy retailers, the paddles you can get for the same price as John’s paddles are a fraction of the quality, and nowhere near as lovely. So hold off on getting that heart-shaped furry blue paddle, for god’s sake, and invest, instead, in a Leather Thorn Paddle. I promise (for serious!) that you will be THRILLED.

Now without further ado, lets talk about the Brat Loop…

In A Nutshell: Another beautiful hand crafted leather implement from Leather Thorn paddles.

What’s Not So Awesome? Well, it’s mean, so it’s probably not for everyone, right?

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

In my quest to find the ideal implement of sensual/painful impact play, I have learned a lot about my tastes as both a top and as a bottom. The things I like as a bottom, I tend to like as a top as well. As a top, I like applying sting (oh, I love it!) and do so readily and liberally whenever possible. As a bottom, however, I really dig thud most of all. Don’t get me wrong, sting is great and all, but it just hits me hard and deep – wakes me right-the-fuck up and become hyper aware. It pulls me from anything resembling subspace and keeps me wavering on the edge of a “Hey, what are you gonna do next????” attitude that some might call “topping from the bottom”.

Hey, at least I know it about myself, right?

Anyways, as such, stingy looking impact toys tend to appeal more to the top in me. Yet strangely enough, when I first saw the brat loop on leather thorn paddles, the bottom in me got absolutely captivated. Rarely am I so taken by such an obviously stingy impact toy, but this little wonder made me dream of feeling its bite.

When it arrived, I was a little surprised at how large it was. The picture online makes it look very compact, sharp and sadistic – but in actuality, it’s quite long and elegant. A test wack across my jean clad rump confirmed my earlier suspicions, however. Sharp and sadistic is a fitting, albeit mellow description of this toy.

Crafted from two thick leather loops, the Brat Loop features a compact yet ergonomic leather handle. My handle is a very fetching reddish brown color, but John can make this toy with a variety of handle colors to suit your tastes. The leather loops are laid out in a concentric fashion, with the inner loop being a bit more rigid and inflexible than the outer loop. The leather is rounded on its edges and so it always hits smoothly. It is challenging to wield precisely, as it is long and floppy – but by the same token, it delivers quite a bit of bite even with slow purposeful strikes.

Sensation wise, it’s similar to a loop of cable wire, and also not unlike a simple leather strap. It is able to snap and leave a welt, but at the same time, its caress and kiss are one of beautiful smooth leather. If flicked slowly with a loose wrist, it dances wonderfully about an exposed behind, alternating sharp stings with soft flicks depending on how the loops hit. Wielded hard, however, it demands attention and is anything but serene. When it hits, the two loops can hit at different times, depending on the topography of the target, so care should be taken to select the point of impact to avoid (or NOT avoid) pesky snapping from the loops wrapping around. I have found that I can be adept at placing the strike of the inner loop, but the outer loop is more challenging, which makes it overall quite fun to be beaten with as there’s an element of surprise built into every strike. Because really, who doesn’t like surprises?

Highly recommended – only $35 from leather thorn paddles, and wonderfully unique!

John “crafts high quality leather paddles and tawses”, and they are certainly beautiful. Each implement sports lovingly rounded edges – polished smooth, of course – and incredibly robust stitching. There is an artisanal quality to these implements of punishment and delight – I cannot help but fantasize about John sitting in a farmers market selling his wares at a stand in between a cheese maker and a baker. Come to think of it, if there were leather paddle makers at farmers markets, I would certainly frequent them religiously. But I digress…

In A Nutshell: The Small Rose Paddle is a deceptively innocent looking hand made leather paddle of the highest quality.

What’s Not So Awesome? Absolutely nothing. This would be a great paddle for anyone from a beginner spanko and a seasoned expert.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The small rose paddle is sweetly innocent. The business end of the paddle is approximately circular, with a diameter of four inches. Of course, it has a handle, so its overall length including the handle is ten and a half inches long. For the dimensionally challenged, that’s slightly wider than a big fist, and about the length of a forearm. The handle of the paddle is made of three layers of leather, glued and stitched together so tightly that the only reason I know it’s three layers is because I can see the layers with a side view of the handle – they are smooth and seamless otherwise. The central layer of leather tapers off towards the business end of the paddle, the spanking surface being only two layers thick. The paddle is decorated with the design of a rose – and John was happy to do it in any color my little heart desired. I chose metallic blue, which is quite fetching on the tan paddle.

When wielding, this paddle is quite light but quite sturdy the handle is a nice with to wrap your fingers around to get a firm and secure hold. Having the smacking surface of the paddle thinner than the handle helps to keep the weight centered towards the grip, allowing faster and sharper strikes to be applied with ease. I found the paddle extremely easy to use effectively – small enough to use in tight quarters, but powerful enough to get a lot of effect out of well placed controlled strikes. When used on me, however, my bum complained wholeheartedly amidst my squeals of pleasure, because this little bugger stings while it caresses.

Everyone that I have introduced this paddle to had been taken – first with it’s beauty, then with it’s bite. Perhaps it looks too innocent for it’s own good – but then again, that’s the kind of toy I love to use. This is a wonderful paddle at an excellent price. I think my favorite thing about it is that it looks professionally made and perfect – till you examine it up close and discover small asymmetries here and there. Nothing major, by any stretch of the imagination – but enough to show that it’s not mass produced on an automated line. Thanks again to John (and Happy Man) of Leatherthorn Paddles for this delightful paddle.

In a Nutshell: I can’t imagine a better way to spend $25 on yourself (or a loved one). As an aside, so many people on my xmas list are getting Bongers this year…

What’s Not So Awesome: Not much. Bongers may be too intense for those really really sensitive to hits on their body (a.k.a. ‘wussies’), and Bongers are not – of course – heavy BDSM implements. But they’re good for everyone with interests that lie in between!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Bongers are rubber balls on flexible metal/wood handles. As soon as you pick them up you can see what they’re meant for. They come with some instructions, explaining how to wobble them and saying to avoid the kidneys. It’s good stuff to review, but really, what you do is wack them anywhere you want to feel good – and like magic, it will!

So first off there’s the totally vanilla use of Bongers – as a self massage tool. I regularly give one of my Bongers out as a massage tool for stiff muscles when friends and family mention some ache or pain. They can be used through clothes – so they make a good addition to an office (Roi has a set at his office). Bongers feel really good on the back, but any muscle will like them. Beat a little more tenderly on the smaller muscles of the arms and legs, and go slowly – every muscle feels different. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like the sweet agony of deep beats on the calf muscle.

As a massage tool, Bongers provide a unique sensation and provide exact percussion when hands need a break. As the intensity of the bonging is upped, the sensation moves towards pain – Bongers make an excellent warm up toy before something more intense is used. They provide a wonderful deep thud, diffused over the surface of the big, squishy rubber ball. They can hit quite hard when wielded wildly – best keep that to the ass – but with less accuracy, so do be careful.

But to me the best thing about Bongers is if you turn the Bonger in your hands so the metal cant’s flex – precision becomes easy. They become a formidable hammer for use with…well all sorts of mean things. One could imagine: bonging needles (mind the blood, thank you!), bonging off clothespins, bonging on bruises and sore spots, bonging on rope knots…and so on and so on. Note, best cover your bonger with a condom if you feel fluid contact might happen – rubber is pretty porous, and the condom won’t interfere with the use if you tie off under the ball.

So there you have it. Bongers. Get some. They rock.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars