Make an Impact | Level Up Your Caning Game

Caning is a central element to many kinksters' BDSM practice. Fetish.com’s very own Victoria Blisse gives useful tips for mixing up your caning game to get more out of this beloved activity. 

The cane has such a place in the hearts (and kit bags) of sadistic dominants. You'll meet many fetishists who found their love of kink through reading erotica about caning, before they had ever experienced impact play. It’s often a favorite for tops and bottoms alike, but how can you add a little spice to your classic caning scene? 

Love a caning? Up the intensity

• Change material – Try a metal or plastic cane (such as delrin) to create even more sting and a louder thump. 
• Change width – Try a super thin cane with a bastard/misery stick, or go wide to add more bang for your buck. Try a kendo cane (they come in various widths), which is the classic bamboo’s bigger sibling. 
• Go in cold – Not advisable for anyone except masochists, because a hard hit against skin that hasn't been warmed up will really hurt. However, if you're looking for long-lasting marks with an intense burn, this is one way to get them!

Not keen on caning? Take it down a notch 

• Fast gentle hits – Even the meanest cane can be used gently. The recipient receives the joy of the cane noise but without all the sting. It’s all in the wrist: let the cane drop and bounce off the bottom and keep repeating the rapid strikes.
• Wider canes – This is a bit of a cheat because it still causes pain, but the addition of a thump takes some sting away for those who are averse.
• Intersperse with preferred pain – Use a flogger, paddle, hand slaps for a while before getting that cane going again.

Bend over – or not?

Canes can be used on various parts of the body, not just the butt! Obviously, there are the thighs, but with a short cane and the right position inner thighs are game too. The same goes with breasts and chest. Of course, caution is needed and positioning is important, but it’s another fleshy area you can try out. With care and precision, hands and feet can receive a caning too – but only do this if you’re confident in your skill. This can hurt a lot, but it's a good option for those who don’t like being bruised. 

Craving a caning but none to hand? 

What if you’re craving a caning but can’t get to the dungeon, or don’t have one lying around at home? There are household items you can pervert to your purpose! 

• Wooden spoon - Hold the wide end and use the handle as a cane. 
• Garden cane – Always check for splinters first, though. 
• Walking stick – Thicker and sturdier than a cane, but will work well for a beating.

If you have other kink items like crops and floggers, check out their handles. They can often be used as a cane in a pinch. You might find a way to double the fun that way too. Crops work especially well when employed as a cane because of their thin, bendy handles, making them flexible enough to do double duty. 
 

Other ways to change up a cane scene: 

• Do you normally get the sub to count out the strikes? Try the other way round. 
• The traditional caning position is bent over with the bottom out, but by employing some bondage practices, the sub could lie on their back for their caning. 
• Don’t cane them. Build up to a caning and then don’t use the cane. Now, this will most assuredly wind up an eager masochist. Sometimes delayed satisfaction is the best.  

So you might think caning is all been-there-and-done-that, but there are so many ways you can shake things up and give your scene a fresh stripe of pain and pleasure. 

Victoria Blisse was an erotic author and sex-positive Reverend. She helped shape fetish.com and FET from the very beginning and we're eternally grateful for her passion and creativity. Sadly, she passed away in January 2024. We hope that whenever her articles are read, she'll be honored.
 

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All images (unless otherwise stated): model released from Shutterstock.com