So I have a photoshoot tomorrow – with the amazing Zelko Nedic. He took the beautiful photos of me a few months ago that you might have seen just before I went to DomConLA.
I’m not usually known for a lot of preparation for anything really – I’m very much what you see is what you get – but in this instance I’ve got a slave (potential personal in fact) – to come and give the dungeon what I refer to as a “corner clean” – Mistress Jadis and I mop the rubber floor with disinfectant after each session, but the bars of the suspension frame, the corners behind things gather a little dust and even the occasional cobweb. One would never notice in regular lighting – but photographic lights tend to shine into those corners a little more than one would like!
Anyway I was chatting to the slave and he asked me (very deferentially) what the difference was between a bullwhip and a singletail – this made me smile because a) I will talk about whips all day and all night if I get a chance and b) he has such lovely whip marks on his back from a recent session with me.
So I took down my whips and explained – All whips that only have one long strand are singletails (as opposed to floggers, or cats which have multiple tails). A bullwhip or mini-bullwhip has four distinct parts a stiff handle that is covered in the braided leather, the leather then continues into the body of the whip which is the longest part, this ends in a knot which attaches the fall – a much thinner single piece of leather, to which the nylon cracker is attached. This is what makes the sound
A snake whip doesn’t have a handle – it is sinuous as it’s namesake from the turk’s head knot at the top all the way to the crack where it meets slaveflesh 😉
A signal whip has a shorter handle and no fall – the cracker is braided into the main body of the whip.
I’m very lucky to have beautiful examples of all the above…
I made this little video several years ago now where I go through a few of my favourite whips – though since then I’ve added substantially to my collection! I think my very favourite whip is my beautiful 16 plait Murphy signal whip – it moves like it’s alive and it’s also rather brutal in effect… happy sigh.
I think that there is something so very primal about bullwhipping – being strung up and whipped. The very phrase sends shivers down my spine. The whip is one of those very – emphatic – implements. Similar to the cane in many ways but with a completely different set of archetypes to go along with it. Instead of the Headmistress or master you get Cat Woman and Indiana Jones… The sensation can very intense – but also very different to the cane – more like a sharp sting. It doesn’t have to be a brutal flaying of the flesh – it’s possible to experience lighter whips at a lighter level. It’s never going to be soft however… Though like all BDSM play written descriptions are always slightly pointless – the beauty of what we do is that it’s beyond words and explanations – it all exists in the moments of breath, and heartbeat, crack of leather, the intense connection of trust and flow of energy between the WhipMistress and the whippingboy.
My advice to anyone who wants to experience this is seek our an authentic WhipMistress – someone who is expert enough to be safe with such a potentially extreme implement but more importantly someone who truly cherishes and understands singletails and what draws someone to seek them out. There are a lot of ladies out there – especially at the moment where it seems as if a majority of regular sex workers are happy to add a little kink to their service – sure some kinky sex might be fun – just probably not an untrained lady with a bullwhip!