Also see the in-stock page, which shows only the ball-chain floggers currently available.
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uses
- fidget toy
- It's hypnotic to twirl a chain flogger in the air. It feels absolutely luxurious to puddle the tips of the tails in your hands.
- tickle toy
- On the back of the neck, etc. Barely brushing the tips.
- temperature play
- I kept two by the desk this summer for hanging around my neck in hot weather. At room temperature, these things are already cold. Evil people store theirs in the refrigerator. For that matter, the stainless steel ones can sit in ice water (the rest, nickel-plated steel, will just need some care and drying). The heavier tails hold a bit more of a chill, it feels like.
- electricity play
- The grip floggers conduct high-frequency violet-wand AC through from the knob to the tails (via the hardware inside). If you've a violet wand probe in one hand, you can just loop a finger around the forward end of the handle, among the tails. Most of the dip floggers (exceptions noted in the listings) conduct as well, high-frequency AC right through the dip. Yay, capacitance! The electrical contact is a little sketchy, so you don't get the full effect of zero sensation for the top. The sparks arc when you make and break contact between the tails and the skin, so a long dragging motion won't produce as much sensation as a jiggly dangling.
- percussion
- I'm told these can leave rows of tiny, round bruises, but I'm too timid to have seen this myself. We're tremendously proud of the sturdy construction, so knock yourself out. Smaller beads tend to be stingy (with some thud), larger ones more thuddy (but not stingless). The tails stay impressively coherent for the swing and strike-- although when their momentum's mostly spent they spray off rather crazily.
details
- grip
- Most of these are made with my favorite grip in the world - Whee! - the black recycled-rubber one. Very comfortable grip to match such heavy tails (all of these floggers weigh about 3/4 lb). The balance is nice because the grip holds the connecting hardware and the back ends of the tails, and is lined with a length of 3/4" pipe, which makes for a sturdy, unmushy feeling, and protects the inside of the grip from abrasion. The combination of metal (chromey nickel-plate, or stainless steel!) and tire-tready rubber is perhaps very industrial/biker/punk?
- dip
- The rest of the flogger handles are dipped in black or clear rubber, so you can see the crystalline alignment of the chains. (The balance on these has more to do with the length of the handle.)
- caveats
- Folks with mild nickel allergies (and stainless steel fetishists) may prefer these in stainless steel instead of nickel-plated steel (e.g. leftmost flogger of the four in bottom two pics, above); slightly pricier.
Also, ball-chain may catch lightly if dangled about one's furriest bits.)
The tiniest (discontinued) models are almost small enough to be key fobs, which is very silly.
Fools Errant is out of business. The floggers still on hand have a disabled "purchase now" PayPal link and are listed here as well as separately elsewhere.
Sending specifications for a custom flogger is a matter of noting the chain weight (e.g. nickel-plated steel in #3, 6, 8, or 10; stainless in #6, 10) and the handle treatment. That information typically determines the number of tails. For most purposes, 12"ish tails work well; all the regular-size floggers on this page are within an inch of that. (In the pic top left here, the chain sizes are: 8, 2, 3, 10; top right: 10, 8, 6, 3.)
FE has much of a spool of nickel-plated steel ball-chain in these sizes:
so these sizes are what you'd call readily available.
- #3 (quite fine)
- #6 (keychain thickness)
Almost any chain flogger will cost $90.New price schedule:Grip floggers price chart:
tail size tail number cost in nickel-plated steel cost in stainless steel 3 60 tails $95 3 30 loops $90 6 32 tails $85 $90 6 16 loops $80 $85 8 25 tails $75 10 16 tails $65 $70 Dip floggers are more or less priced as marked. The grips cost us certain amount extra, but the dip requires precision, and one can of the stuff only does a few floggers.
(Exceptions: clip-ons $15ish when available; tassel mini-floggers $35; a new line of shorter floggers will be about $70; $5 additional to substitute stainless steel for nickel-plated steel-- as in the size 10 flogger shown twice above) If we have the parts in stock (see above), your flogger typically can ship in three days, and only a few more otherwise.
Most of what's shown is feasible (exceptions: 1. dipped-handle floggers are always a little unpredictable, so I rarely make those to order; 2. I haven't been able to get a hold of the snaps for the clip-whips). Approximate tail-counts that will fit in a pipe-lined grip are: 16 strands of the #10 chain, 25 of #8, 36 (or 18 loops) of #6, or 60 (or 30 loops) of #3. (#13 chain doesn't seem too interesting; I've found #2 chain only in nickel-plated brass, so I don't want to use that in anything heavy duty.) The chrome-sphere knob is the most feasible end-treatment for a grip-handle flogger-- trying to put an elegant hanging-loop or wrist strap has me flummoxed-- but we can do some R&D if you insist.
$90 (one available)
60 tails of #3 chain, chrome sphere knob, tready grip
$95 (none on hand, but parts in stock for more)
The cut tails are a little more slidey on the skin, and easier to detangle, if you're a fidgeter.
16ish loops of #6 chain, chrome sphere knob, tready grip
$80 (one available)
email if interested
The tails stay coherent under typical use (in fact, it's hard to get looped ends to twirl); but here are some art-for-art's-sake photos that involved some pathological wiggling and spinning.
32ish tails of #6 chain, chrome sphere knob, tready grip
$85 (none on hand, but parts in stock for more)
This is another of the current generation of our floggers; pipe-lined handle, and as many strands as will fit.
16 loops of #6 stainless steel chain, chrome sphere knob, tready grip
sold ($85)
Most of the floggers on this page have tails of nickel-plated steel. But stainless certainly has that special something... One bonus is you can be especially lax about drying it after chilling or cleaning it.
32 tails of #6 stainless steel chain, chrome sphere knob, tready grip
$90 (sold)
25 tails of #8 chain, chrome sphere knob, tready grip
$75 (one available)
email if interested
The #8 chain is a good general-purpose weight, a little heavier than typical keychain. These tails seem to hold more of a chill. The chrome knob matches the finish/reflectivity of the larger chain balls nicely.
16 tails of #10 stainless steel chain, chrome sphere knob, tready grip
$70 (sold, parts in stock for one)
Mmm, stainless. Heavy!
4 tails of #HUGE ball-chain, chrome sphere knob, tready grip
sold
This is made from ball-chain that I don't even know by number (it's not #13; balls are about 1/3inch across). On this one, not only is the link metal at the tips clipped off flush with the end ball surface (to disappear inside), but also I've filed the edge of each end-ball down so it's really smooth.
This one is actually some fun to play with. It's really not just a reductio ad absurdum executive toy for the Top Who Has Everything... although that's a valid use for it. Other non-standard uses: you can give yourself a great over-the-shoulder backrub (wearing a jacket) with it while passing time at the club. (Now that I mention it, I guess that is pretty standard...)
It really isn't the gentle relaxing liquidy sensation you get from a size 3-8 chain flogger. Thwackwise, you probably want to hold back a little-- it's pretty easy to get it swinging pretty hard. Don't even try it out on your palm-- or at least make sure not to bonk the boney bits of your hand, yaaaagh.
32 tails of #8 chain, latex-dipped handle
sold
More pictures here. Just once, by chance, the tails all happened to align perfectly when I gathered them together (lengthwise and widthwise)-- the pattern was beautiful. Four panels of alternating beads, meeting in edges of aligned beads. To leave that visible, I finished the grip a little differently, for the first time.
I thought I'd never be able to reproduce the crystal pattern-- and indeed it hasn't arisen again randomly-- but by stacking the strands one at a time, applying an adhesive each layer, they can be coaxed into it.
(A large hand may find the 4" by just-over-3/4" handle a little small. On the other hand, this is a great for travel. The handle is small and you can tuck the tails any way you like.)
32 tails of #8 chain, latex-dipped handle, ringy knob trim
mine!
A similar flogger, but with some extra definition to the handle. This is a good design for electrical play, since where you want to hold it anyway is with a finger forward of the knob. And with a finger or two among the strands, you can also disturb/delay them such that they fall consecutively rather than coherently. Ba-da-da-da-da-drrrr... Yow.
A good travel flogger (easily pocketed!), but general purpose as well.
32 tails of #8 chain, latex-dipped handle, siney rings/knobs trim
sold
The rings of the trim and "knobs" sine around all-parallel. Handle almost 6".
15 tails of #10 chain, latex-dipped handle, ringy knob trim
sold
Thickly-dipped-- does not conduct AC through handle-- but pattern still clear.
16 tails of #10 stainless steel chain, latex-dipped handle, wavy/ringy knob trim
Mine now.
The rings around this handle follow the bead pattern and sine up and down a bit.
New line coming soon! Clear-dip handles, 8" tails of #6 chain.
45 tails of #6 chain, clear dip handle
sold
Lush. LOTS of thin tails, compact handle (<4"), dipped in clear rubber.
45 tails of #6 chain, clear-latex-dipped handle, ringy knob trim
sold
Similar, longer handle.
32 tails of #8 chain, clear dip handle
sold ($90)
5.25" handle, thicker-ringed knobs, and 12" tails.
21 tails of #10 chain, clear-latex-dipped handle, ringy knob trim
sold ($90)
Stripey rings, more than built-up knobs.
21 tails of #10 stainless steel chain, clear-latex-dipped handle, big knob trim
sold ($95)
Very substantial! This is probably the flogger with knobs that come closest to leather flogger turks-heads.
Handle about 5.5", tails just under 12".
Tassel flogger with 45 tails of #6 chain, 5" or 6" long, plus knob end
$35 (sold, but parts in stock for more)
Inchish ball dipped in clear latex, black keyring.
This is a swingable flogger in disguise as a tickle-toy. Most of the functionality of a larger flogger but at far less expense (the handle is the particularly labor-intensive part). For use with a violet wand, grasp it around the ball with fingers among the tails. For percussion, loop a finger through the keyring.
6" (left) and 5" tassels pictured. One 5" tassel on hand, parts in stock for more-- often can be in the mail the next business day the one after.
20 tails of #2 chain, a "clip whip"
sold ($15)
Unfortunately, I can't get these little snaps any more. Updates when available.
You can really get this little thing moving, if you work at it a little. Well, a lot. With some effort, I've gotten it stingier than I was really interested in on the palm of my hand. Also, the clasp is swivelly, so it's great for spinning. And this thing really comes into its own as a dangly tickly thing. Back of the neck, toes-- come on, try harder! It can be chilly, too...
The whole thing is just over 7 1/2" long; the tails are 4 1/2". , but effectively longer when needed, since in that case you'll most likely hold the clip. The texture of the balls shows through the hard rubber handle extremely well. The clasp is trivial to get on your belt loop, though it might take a little fiddling to get off the first few times (perfect clasp, just little).
I've found #2 chain only in nickel-plated brass, but that's fine for the light-duty applications you expect to see this in.
12 tails of #3 chain, a "clip whip"
sold ($15)
This one is similar. The whole thing is just over 7 1/4" long; the tails are 4 1/4" past the gathering.
Find more pictures here.
