Making quality floggers!

Making quality floggers!

Parts: handle, strands, types.
Considerations: weight ratio, testing, design

Handle:
- Length: between 4.5 to 12 inch. Typical lengths are between 7 to 11 inch.
- Width: between 2.5 to 4 inch: it should be "pleasant" to be held and swung with one hand.
- Weight: about 1/4th to 1/3rd of the total weight
- Finishing: decoration are acceptable if not overly abundant. Meaning too much decoration makes it awkward to handle. Surfaces that are too flat can be slippery and difficult to hold in your hand. Keep in mind that decoration also adds weight and width to the flogger! Some makers add a rubber or leather loop at the end which can be slipped around the hand of the wielder.

Strands:
- Width: the wider the strands, the more 'thud'; the smaller the strands, the more 'sting'. Make sure the stands are all of the same thickness and cut in a straight line: the thinner it is cut, the easier it may break. A typical width is 1/2 inch.
- Thickness: the thinner the material, the lighter the strands and the less 'thud' & 'sting'. If the material (rubber, leather) is too thin, you risk that the strands will break or tear.
- Number: the more strands, the more 'thud'; lesser stands means more 'sting'
- End: rounded or right cut: friendly; v-cut or knots: sting
- Length: the longer the strands, the heavier the flogger becomes, the faster the flogger will hit and the faster/more the strands will fan out. Heavy floggers generally mean more thud but fanning strands mean more sting.
- Material: the softer and the more subtle the leather is, the friendlier it hits. The harder and thicker leather is, the harder it hits. Rope (twined or not twined) is acceptable -- it has the advantage that you can easily knot the ends of the strands. Rubber: the width, length and number are directly responsible for the thud/sting effect. Even small metal chains (e.g. used with curtains, blinds and in bathroom) can be used.

Types: there is an old fashioned way to denominate things:
1 strand means it's a whip.
2 or more flat strands: a flogger
2 or more round strands: a cat. Best known is the old fashioned navy cat o' 9 tails, which consisted of 9 thin (1/5th to 1/2 inch) 40 inch long rope strands where at the end small iron balls were attached inside small knots. Modern variations mostly end with simple sturdy knots.

Weight ratio: handles should never weigh more than half of the total weight of the flogger. Ideal is 1/4th to 1/3rd of the total weight. If the handle weighs less, the flogger becomes hard and too "light" to control and you run the risk that it will fly out of your hand when swinging wildly. If it weighs more,  it becomes too "heavy" to control, risking wrist injuries and incorrect landings.
Two caveats: -1: pleasant and comfortable wielding of a flogger also depends on the body type the flogger was designed for. While a heavy flogger may be very uncomfortable for a slender dominatrix to wield, it may be very pleasant for a 6 ft 190 pound dom. -2: however light or heavy a flogger may be for the wielder, it still has to be "survivable" for the receiving sub. So never make a flogger as mean as possible: even the lightest flogger can become seriously hard during long sessions with lots of hits.

Testing: flogger designers & makers are advised to get themselves a large velvet cushion to experiment on. The cushion will dampen the hit, but the marks on the velvet will clearly show spread and impact patterns. Doing this when the flogger is not permanently finished gives the maker a chance to add/remove or shorten the strands. Only when testing on the cushion was repeatedly satisfactory, can you go to testing on a human subject.

Specialty designs: once in a while you'll encounter specially designed floggers, like a snake's tongue (aka a double rat) which is a braided whip handle with a double tongue strand made from 1 or 2 pieces of leather, split whips (whip handle with 2 or 3 split end strands) or even quirts (look up the design). Some of these designs may look beautiful and even spectacular, but they may not always be comfortable to handle or functional enough for intensive use. So though it may be applauded that you try and invent new forms of floggers or whips, make sure you think intensively about materials and impact before starting to make it! Nicely designed but unbalanced or impractical floggers have no practical use!