This is one of the first floggers I bought back when I was still looking for floggers on ebay. When I first started receiving Ruff Doggie Styles floggers here from EdenFantasys, they looked the same style, but I didn't think anything of it. Now that I see that this flogger is a Ruff Doggie Styles product, it all makes sense! I do seem to have an older version of the flogger where the handle is patterned a bit differently, but aside from that, the flogger is the exact same! I obviously can't comment on the packaging since I got it elsewhere.

The Gated Barbed Wire Flogger is about thirty inches long and is the same length as most other floggers. It's made from both suede and leather. The handle measures about eight inches, so that leaves you about twenty two inches of tails which, believe me, that is well more than enough for this flogger. All of the red, suede pieces are along the inside of the flogger while all of the black, barbed wire pieces are on the outside edges. The handle is made from pure leather. The hanging strap on the tip of the flogger is also made from braided black and leather and holds in firmly to the braided knot. The flogger only comes in this size, and it only comes in red and black.

So, I know EVERYONE is curious: What are those barbs made out of? They're made out of knotted, braided, and twisted leather. It's rough leather too - it definitely was not softened before being put into the barbs. The leather is braided throughout the strand, then at certain points, the "barb" was placed into the leather. The strands of red are just regular, soft strands of suede. (If you own the Fulfill-a-Fantasy flogger or the Fluffy Flogger, it feels just like those strands of suede.) The strands are nicely softened and feel luxurious.

So how does this handle? Meh. I'm not massively impressed. The barbed wire is a great idea, and it looks great on a flogger, but it makes it handle not-so-well. When swung, the barbs actually catch on the suede pieces. It doesn't make knots of the suede pieces or anything like that, but it does end up picking up some of the "slack" from the red suede pieces so the red suede is rarely free-falling like it should be. However, because of the weight that the barbs provide, this does aim really nicely and falls exactly where you aim it. Because the barbs are constantly grabbing on to other pieces, the tails all swing together. It's relatively weighty, but it's really easy to swing this flogger as well as to swing it for a long time.

So how does this feel? It's okay. The suede tails, when they happen to be swinging with the actual barbs, feel okay on the skin. However, you're honestly not going to feel the suede tails much - the barbs are what the skin will mostly pick up on. The barbs are pretty scratchy on the skin - the first couple swings you won't notice too much, but once the flogger has hit the skin a couple times, you're going to start feeling where the barbs have started to scratch the skin.

Depending on how hard you hit with it, you'll leave harder or softer scratches. If you hit really softly, it won't leave a scratch at all. If you hit moderately, it will leave a scratch, but the scratch won't leave a mark longer than a day (depending on how fast you heal.) If you get rough with it, the marks can end up lasting a couple days. Really, though, it does get pretty scratchy regardless of strength, so I honestly wouldn't recommend this to a beginner. I'd say that you should only pick this up if you know you like things a bit rough. This isn't soft nor sensual - it does have the pain involved. Don't be fooled into thinking it's going to be soft.

It is a neat flogger though. I've never gone anywhere where other people own a barbed wire flogger. It produces an interesting sensation that's hard to find in other materials and designs. It really is a good flogger for the BDSM-lover that's looking for something a little rougher - just don't think that this is a good idea if you are new to floggers. I'd only pick this up if you have experience. The flogger feels scratchy when used and works great for giving extra pain but also looks unique and different from other floggers. It's a unique, attractive flogger that adds a new dimension to the experienced player's collection.

I've had this flogger for a long longer than when I wrote this review - about six months now, and it still looks great. None of the barbs have come undone, the suede is still really nice and sexy, and the handle is still nicely braided. This is definitely a high-quality flogger.