Wow, what a great turn-out! Our topic this week was who buys the spanking implements. As you shall see, the answers varied quite widely.
Lori: I guess I would have to say that we both add to our supply. Joe has made some paddles and bought some paddles. I have purchased implements too. We were together in the store when we bought the dreaded bath brush. So we both play a part in building our toy chest.
This Girl: He makes most of our implements. It's partly what attracted me to him in the first place. It was like “Wow, look at all the possibilities here... and they came out of his imagination and his shed... Wow.” LOL
It means too that everything is designed to be completely right for the purpose and fit correctly, and has a bit love put into it as well and we don't have to worry if the quality is going to be worth the price!
OK, so he doesn’t make everything. Sometimes he buys things. Sometimes I buy them. Sometimes we shop together. Regardless, it’s fun adding to the collection and playing with new things!
Wilhelmina: Mostly, I buy them, or tell him about them and then I buy them, or we shop together. But still, it is mostly left up to me.
I am beginning to think I should be the one to use them too. *wink*
Michael: My wife is not the spanko in our relationship, so it is down to me to purchase the implements if I wish her to use them on me. The only things that she will take on her bottom (and with moderation) are my hand and a hairbrush.
She is, however, more than happy to use whatever I buy on my bottom.
Natty: A. bought the first two or three when our relationship first started. But since then, I've been the one to do implement shopping and purchasing. It’s sort of fits into our traditional distribution of labor (i.e. I like shopping; he does it when we're about to starve).
Greenwoman: I do most of the online purchasing at my house. We buy some toys online, but those are mostly sex toys, not spanking toys.
Our spanking toys are either household items purchased for a spanko purpose or my husband makes them.
The paddles he's made lately have been made of mahogany and rock maple, and are really beautiful to my eye. I really enjoy them. The more he makes, the better he gets at making them.
We have something like two dozen of different shapes and sizes.
We are going to do some purchasing this next year for some more leather paddles and I'd like to own one of Patty's paddles and I'm really interested in some canes for OTK. Those will all be online purchases, of course.
Mike: We have both bought different items to use. The most fun is when we are out together and find something that looks promising. Whether it's a hairbrush, or some implement at a kitchen store, or something hanging in an aisle in the grocery store, it's fun to see that look of recognition in the other's eyes.
I've also made a few paddles for our use. My favorite is a small hairbrush-sized one where I rounded the back to feel more like a spoon. That one is lots of fun, and I've been meaning to submit it for the implements articles you've been posting.
Bet: Since I'm the only true spanko here, I'm also the only one who has ever bought or made an implement. Since I was too shy (or cheap) to buy, I decided to make my own. So far, I have made two paddles from hardwood and sanded an old worn Jokari paddle I found. I also created a folded 16 inch strap made from a nice wide old leather belt that I came across in a recycling store. The only bought item is a boar bristle hardwood hairbrush that I bought in a brush store in Vienna (that's right, only brushes and combs). Unfortunately, my husband doesn't use them as often as I'd like, but just looking at them stirs my fantasies, and that's not all bad.
Sally: I buy the actual toys intended only for spanking. Usually, it’s as a gift for an upcoming occasion (like an anniversary) or he would never consent to the cost. He, however, will go through the kitchen stores and select items we don't necessarily need for the kitchen! He also enjoys finding something in the garage or elsewhere that he thinks will work for taking care of my backside! When he does the above, it makes me happy because it shows that he too enjoys this thing we do.
Prefectdt: Apart from one short, slim, and amazingly painful white plastic cane that was given to me as a present, I have purchased or made everything in the toy box.
I never buy toys on the internet. I like to feel the weight and texture of an implement before it is acquired, searching out the quality BDSM shops in the back streets of the larger towns is a big part of the fun and has become a bit of a hobby.
Luna: For us, it's always been a joint venture. I make the floggers, but he and I love shopping for paddles, slappers, crops, tawses and other stingy/thuddy fun toys!
Paige: Though I'm the spankee, I usually do the purchasing of the implements and surprise my hubby with them!
Mary: We both buy toys. I guess it is an "as the mood strikes" kind of thing. I don't recall, other than online, getting a chance to shop together.
Hermione: I've ordered a few items from riding equipment and kitchen supply web sites. Most of our wooden toys came from local thrift shops. I love to browse the shelves and find a salad spoon or back scratcher in need of a good home.
When I travel to a larger city, I try to visit at least one adult toy store to look for new implements although I seldom find any on display. Our wood collection is more than ample, but I'm on the lookout for more leather implements.
swan: He purchases most of what we have/use. He is a stickler for "quality" implements (professionally crafted), and honestly, since they are going to be landing on my ass, I prefer good quality as well.
Our new cane is from Adam and Gillian's. The floggers all came from DeTails (back in the early days). Most of the paddles are either from Hanson Paddles or from The Toybag. His single tail (my one purchase) was chosen especially for Him from Snakepit Leathers.
We have some furniture items: a spanking bench and a wooden stock that were purchased online. Likewise, the massage table was an online purchase. Our flogging frame is my design, and is homemade.
PK: As Nick warmed up to the idea of spanking, he made some wonderful toys for us, a crop, a flogger and a paddle to name a few. Most of the store-bought items I have bought. That’s mostly because I am the one thinking about it as I go through stores and I am the one in the family who buys online.
But I love, love, love when he brings home something he has found. It makes me so happy to know that he is thinking about me in this way. It really means a lot!
Recidavist: We keep a limited collection. Greater certainty of knowing what each means and where it fits in the reprimand hierarchy makes it more effective. Those that were not part of the household already, K has bought. However, once on holiday, I was sent out to buy a new belt. This was quite unfair given that I knew what it was going to be used for when I got back.
We recently had walnut flooring installed downstairs using 4 inch boards and K insisted upon keeping some offcuts. She mentioned a DIY project for me when I asked about them.
Papa Woodie: I love making new toys! Wood and leather especially.
She loves leather... Thick, stiff, wide and strong for the most wallop and thud. We enjoy a variety of straps, leather paddles, and slappers.
Though I would never claim that the making is more fun than the using, there's something deeply romantic and personal in becoming fully involved in the creation of perfectly made hand crafted toys!
I even learned to braid leather whips and quirts to add to our diverse arsenal!
Dragon & Tiger: In our house, we both share the joys of obtaining new implements. When it comes to making them, T is usually the one that takes care of that. When it comes to buying them, it's usually me, although most times we discuss it and choose what we want together. Sometimes, I surprise him and that can be a lot of fun too.
Jean Marie: My lover is not "crafty." I can't imagine him fashioning an implement out of wood or leather. He's the head of several corporations and wouldn't think the endeavor was worth his time.
He is generous. If I say I like something while we're out shopping, I usually receive it as a gift some time a little later. Gifts in the past have included a week at a spa, countless gowns and dresses, lingerie, make-up, and a great deal of jewelry.
My lover is the jealous type. I contributed many more implements to our repertoire when I moved into his household, but I made the mistake of relating background stories about my favorite toys, such as, "Brent gave me that hairbrush for my thirtieth birthday... and really gave me a memorable paddling with it after all the guests left the party..." My current lover will give me something nicer, more extravagant, in some way different and more costly soon thereafter. An antique silver hairbrush, comb, and hand mirror was on my pillow the night after I related the story of my favorite old wooden hairbrush. I put the old one away in a dresser drawer so as not to fuel the flames of his jealousy. My butt was flaming enough with the blistering he gave it to initiate the toy into our collection.
My man buys all the implements in our household
Jessica: So far, both Dan and I have both purchased toys. We haven't made any. I can't imagine that I would ever have the skill to do that, but Dan could.
I am still too embarrassed to go into a store, so Dan does those purchases. I am the online girl!
Elle: Well, my immediate response was "He's the man, he chooses what he uses on me." Mostly, he uses his hand or belt He bought a cane that he threatens me with regularly. I get wet at the very thought, but we've yet to play that game properly.
Despite my stance that he controls this, I tend to purchase suggestive things like new belts or new hairbrushes and then feign surprise when he quickly thinks of a new use for them. Improvisation is fun!
When we switch, he's still in control and asks for what he needs. The things used are the same.
morningstar: Let's see now. Some of our toys have been Christmas gifts from me to Sir, or from Sir to me.
Some have been 'perverted' from dollar stores and kitchen stores.
Some have been purchased (like this weekend) together at a specialized shop. We have a favourite one that keeps their spanking toys upstairs out of sight of the regular customers, and they allow you to try out a specific toy (over clothes of course!).
I have made a couple of rather nice floggers. We also receive gifts of floggers/whips etc from other friends who make quality toys.
Abby: Shopping for implements is definitely a shared task between Mr. Williams and me. As I am fond of writing about, one of our favorite weekend and vacation past-times is seeking out shops of antiques and collectibles. We've found barber strops of varying weights and texture, various items that can be used as paddles (clothes brush, butter paddle, a gorgeous lacquered wooden spoon), even walking sticks that double as especially firm canes. For those not comfortable with going to adult shops, this is a very sexy and often rewarding alternative.
We also enjoy shopping together online. Even those items that are presents are chosen together. We can't even decide who the objects are for, they are that shared! I consider them for him, to be used on me. He says they are for me, to be used upon me by him.
I love having a story behind each implement. Although we do not actually handcraft our own toys, I think as much love goes into finding them as would go into making them.
Carye: We both typically purchase the implements. He researches and then we look together on the internet and decide together which would be the one we want to purchase. So he does the most work, but we purchase it together :-)
K: Hubby and I don't have much of a collection yet since we only started talking about spanking around Christmas and actual spanking fun started happening only a few weeks ago. God gets the credit for Hubby's masterful hands. The next toy was a leather paddle that I made from some pieces of leather left over from another project and a plastic kids' paddle. Hubby and I both thought to add his belt to play. Hubby has mentioned he plans to make a few leather toys. I have plans to make a few floggers to try out. Hubby has picked up the odd wooden spoon or dinner plate and swatted me in the kitchen, but nothing of that sort has really made its way into a spanking yet. I wasn't sure whether Hubby was really enjoying the spanking or just doing it for me until he started doing things like that. It's nice to see, and feel, him getting into it too. We've even just started giving each other knowing looks as we're shopping and we pass by seemingly innocuous kitchen utensils and the like.
I guess the answer is really that we both enjoy suggesting new toys, making them, and making plans to shop together.
Bonnie: Both Randy and I purchase spanking implements. He tends to be fond of solid wooden toys that yield a substantial thwack. Not surprisingly, I favor a bit more variety. In final analysis, though, he selects what gets used.
He has made some paddles and we have lots of pervertables (all over the house in fact!). We are saturated with toys, but that doesn’t stop us from picking up something new and different when we see it.
Thanks to everyone who shared their insights this week. I hope you will join us again for next Sunday's brunch discussion.
