The bark and bite paddle from Penthouse® Variations™ is advertised as a blend of pleasure and discipline. This particular toy was a gift from my submissive and she was excited by the thought of having a sensation toy coupled with a hard wooden paddle.

When I first laid my eyes on the paddle I thought it an interesting piece of equipment. It looks very much like a ping pong paddle that has had fur attached to one side. By this previous statement I mean that it looks to be layered wood that has been pressed and glued together. I began inspecting the toy and noticed some things upfront that I realized could be cause for concern; the first was that the edges of the paddle are finished square and kind of rough. The second, if the finish of the paddle itself is very rough and almost a bare wood feel to it. While this isn’t bad, it’s something to be aware of when selecting your paddles as there is a higher chance of abrasion and perhaps on rare occasion splinters.

After careful inspection to make sure there were not extremely sharp edges and loose fragments that could poke or cut the skin of my partner, and a few practice swings against my arm to confirm the feel of it, we took this toy into the bedroom. The paddle itself handles fairly well; it’s nicely weighted for repeat swings. The faux fur makes for some extra fun because it allows you to excite the skin and make it sensitive before you let the other side do its work. It can also create a broad range of sounds depending on which side of the paddle you use and where you place the blow. This may strike you as something odd to note but for those of us that find the sounds of these things attractive. The fur side creates a very dull thud, while the other side can range from the sharp pop you expect from wood to a little lighter noise depending on how much of the paddle contacts skin.

I would also recommend this type of paddle for people new to spanking. The faux fur side of the paddle creates a much lighter sensation when used to spank a person. For the price it looks like it will hold up fairly well with light to moderate use. If you are looking for something to really get rough with this likely isn’t your toy. So for a starter paddle this one proved to be great, and my submissive made a great choice when selecting it as the first paddle to be used on her skin.

As far as cleaning goes, it is at the very least painted and I am not sure of the seal to the wood. I wouldn’t recommend soaking this toy or getting it wet for an extended period of time and if you need to clean it, a damp cloth should work fine. If you find the wood starting to splinter or get rough you may want to attempt to refinish the paddle or take some other type or wood conditioner to it. These things can generally be found at local hardware stores.

On a side note, because I discovered this later, this paddle can be used through clothing as a great warm up to a good session with your partner. This way the clothing will further dampen the sting of the paddle if you really want something light,

After several years of moderate use this paddle is still holding up fairly well. However, recently the fur started to peel away from the wooden part of the paddle this was easily fixed with a little flexible adhesive. Overall this has held up much better than I anticipated and has been a fun toy to have in my collection.