March Question Month- Singletailing

What does singletailing mean?Great question!Its that moment when you realize you are using insider language, right?Single Tails, also known as signal whips, also known as short bullwhips, also known as snake whips, also known as single handed whips with only one "tail", are a 8, 10, 12, 14 or 16 plait (or piece) tool originally used for such things as dogsledding, inspiring horses to move faster, herding cattle, and beating the snot out of people that "needed" a beating. Ranging in length from 3 to 6ft (over 6ft and they are considered bullwhips I believe), they have been "perverted" by the kinky sex community away from being a tool of destruction or just loud noises (or fancy indiana jones moves) to being used for sensuality or erotic pain. Some are leather all the way up, some have lead weight in the handles, and some have wood handles. The variations come from the different types of single tail whips used in different cultures around the world, plus the creativity of the individuals perverting them. Each has their pros and cons.Thus, singletailing is to whip someone with a single tail, though to be honest, I'm not sure its a real word. Its slang.Single tails cost anywhere from $80 (nylon, like the ones from Coyote Whips), up to $700 for high end custom color evenly weighted world class pieces made from kangaroo hide. Most people spend around $200-300 for theirs. The more you use them, work them, lovingly care for them, the more supple their movements become, thus the term snake whip is another term for the 4ft types, for the movement they develop.Training to use a single tail, most Tops I know end up hurting themselves a lot the first few times out. Do not start practicing on humans- start out by trying to strike a target on a wall, standing up saltines in clamps, hitting a pillow- aim is amazingly important with this tool. Thus, many people who get into this get a bit obsessive, ok, a LOT obsessive, as they have to spend hours perfecting their craft before ever hitting someone with this tool.When hitting the flesh with a single tail, understand that that "crack" noise is the whip breaking the speed of sound. Doing that on someones flesh WILL break skin, and perhaps more. Most people do stuff other than cracking when it hits the flesh- even movinging at medium speed, these can be very painful, and at high speed without cracking can cut open flesh (like the picture I posted). Moving slowly, however, it is just a very sensual sensation.Here are some links about Single Tail use:http://www.bullwhip.org/faq/sm-links.htmlhttp://www.singletailsinthescene.com/enter.htmhttp://www.amazon.com/Bullwhip-Art-Single-Tail-Whip/dp/B0013HZH8OAnd lots of other stuff out there, but thats a start. Many big BDSM events nowadays have a "whip lounge" to come to, ask questions, practice. My favorite whip lounge guy is a hottie named Sebastian from Texas.I personally have owned 3 single tails, but now only own my coyote whip one. I gave the other two to Ryan, my girlfriend Coral's Boy. He wanted to learn, they did not have the cash to buy them, I gifted them to him. I was given all of my single tails- 1 as a gift from a friend (coyote) and the other 2 as work gifts because as a Top in the BDSM adult film industry everyone thought I should know how to use one. Personally, I hate them as a tool as a Top. I can do some basic sensual moves up to high speed moves, but I find cracking in dungeons loud and pretentious (personal opinion- they get annoyed when I laugh loud in dungeons, but cracking whips a lot isn't seen as disruptive???), and my biggest pet peeve is that you have to stand many feet away and then focus on the flesh as a canvas to target rather than a human to interact with. No thanks. I don't do floggings in play either for that reason, because I have to separate myself from my partner. However, I do use my whips, single tail and multi-tail (floggers), as a tool in my work as a shaman for exactly that reason: I can separate myself physically from someone during an ordeal, and thus it is their journey alone with me as the conduit for opening a door, rather than me tackling them through a door by sheer force (like with punching, intimate breath work, etc).The "cracker", by the way, is that last inch to 6 inches at the end of the whip. It is usually replaceable, which means if someone does get cut open, the cracker can be removed and replaced without having to replace a $200 whip because it got someones blood on it. For the most part, except for sensual moves, in actual painful hitting only the cracker touches the flesh.Example of a single tail, from Details Toys:Great question! March is Q&A Month, so feel free to ask questions here:http://passionandsoul.livejournal.com/1029879.html