apricot creams sex toy reviews | i like fruit & fake dicks

The Pelt paddle is gorgeous. A smooth curve of charcoal silicone, it looks unassuming but packs a punch that’s unlike anything I’ve felt before. It’s in a league of it’s own, that’s for sure.

The Pelt paddle – made and designed by all-American brand Tantus – is made from a silky smooth matte black silicone that attracts little bits of fluff like nothing else, but I find it easier to clean than my shinier, grippier silicone toys; a lot of the time I just spray this with Lelo cleaner and wipe it down – and you can bleach it, boil it, and stick it in the dishwasher. It’s basically indestructible – I’ve even bitten it a few times (don’t look at me like that) and didn’t leave any dents behind.

It measures just under twelve inches long, six inches of that being the handle, with a little hole at the very end which you can use to loop a ribbon or a nylon string through and keep it hung up with, or I guess you could loop something through it to use as one of those secure wrist loops. Does anyone actually use those things? 

I’m not very well versed in ~kinky terminology~ and I’m not in any kind of scene, all I know is I really love impact play, being bruised, and being hit. I started out with wooden hairbrushes and eventually graduated up through various leather and suede paddles, I’ve had some brief experiences with crops and floggers – crops are pretty fun, I haven’t found a flogger I’ve liked yet, never tried a bullwhip but I want to – but wooden oval paddles (and hands) have always been my favourite. The Pelt pretty much blows everything I just listed out of the water.

The silicone it’s made from is thick, but with lots of flexibility to it – it’s not floppy or flimsy by means but I can bend it over on itself, and this bendiness means that to deliver a really good hard slap you don’t have to put your back into it (figuratively) like you would do with a wooden or leather paddle.

Seriously, you don’t need to put a whole lot of force behind this unless you know what you’re doing, you/your partner has asked for that and you both know how intense this paddle can be – when I first got this, as soon as I got it out of the bag I gave my bare leg a good whack with my arm drawn back how I normally would, which turned out to be a Very Big Mistake. I had a bright red mark come up immediately, the kind I usually get from being spanked repeatedly with a leather paddle. From one whack!

What I love about the Pelt is that with practice, you can easily deliver slaps that won’t sear your skin off – one thing I like doing is using my hand, not my arm, to wibble-wobble it slightly and by doing that you get a much gentler but still pleasantly stingy sensation. Being bruised, though, that’s my thing and that’s what I want from a paddle, and it delivers. I’m left with a big grin on my face and speckly purple skin after a session with the Pelt, and it gives me these beautiful bruises that take days to start to fade. I’m not able to describe the sensations it’s capable of giving as either solely ‘thuddy’ or ‘stingy’ – it really is more of a slapping sensation than anything, with a stingy warmth afterwards. I’m hella curious about what kind of sensation the Snap Strap gives out if this is anything to go by.

My man-thing sometimes calls me a ‘pain slut’ and I guess that’s true because after hearing on twitter about how you can get an even more intense sting from Tantus’ silicone paddles by using them wet, I toddled off to run myself a nice bath, had a soak and then went to town on my thighs. My legs looked like barber poles by the end of it. I aimed to do six hard slaps on each leg but gave up at three because I just couldn’t handle it.

The closest thing I’d liken it to is being whacked with a giant nettle leaf. I’ve definitely hit my limit with that one, but if you want a sharp sting on a larger surface area than a crop can give you, that could potentially do it for you – although, y’know, applying a good lube to the area you want spanking instead of popping in the shower every damn time would probably be more practical.

I’m pretty besotted with this paddle and it’s not going to be leaving my collection any time soon. I wouldn’t recommend it to a total beginner, but if you’re after something with a real good slap to to it, you’ve found it. Just remember to stock up on aftercare goodies beforehand.

The super sweet folks at Tantus sent me the Pelt in exchange for my review, and I’m so grateful for that! You can buy the Pelt, and the rest of the Tantus silicone paddles at Tantus. Don’t forget to check out the offers on my sales page, there’s a great stackable deal lasting through all of August!