Floggers are one of the more versatile types of toys, and can be made from a plethora of materials ranging from buffalo to elk to deer hide, and features can greatly effect how they feel.

In the interest of keeping our survey as brief as possible, we presented two types of floggers: suede and chain.

We had 31 respondents to this survey (18 bottoms, 4 Tops, and 9 switches).

The falls on a flogger can vary greatly in design (flat, braided, knotted, and petal or flower-shaped) and a flogger’s thud or sting can change depending on the thickness of the falls, as well as how many are on the flogger. For this reason, we asked respondents to rate the sting and thud of each type of fall, as well as how it may change with additional falls or making the falls thicker.

As a point of reference, respondents were to assume that all floggers had falls that were 1/2" (1.3 cm) wide and 20" (50.8 cm) long, with a total of 25-30. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being all sting and 5 being all thud, participants ended up rating most floggers at about a 3 (equal sting/thud), but knotted falls fall on the stingier side of things:

Mostly Sting: Knotted Falls: 2.79
Equal Sting/Thud: Petal or Leaf Falls: 3.00
Equal Sting/Thud: Braided Falls: 3.07
Mostly Thud: Flat Falls: 3.71

Increasing the number or thickness of suede falls, regardless of the style of these factors, will create a thuddier feel. We threw in a chain flogger for this series, just to make it a bit more interesting,

Our Recommendation for play: If you want a toy that’s in the sweet spot between sting and thud, more than likely a suede flogger will do the trick. Be aware that the thickness and the number of falls will affect how it feels.

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