It's taken me a while to get to this review because...well..for a while I had no bums to smack and no one willing to wield it either, but I'm happy to say that I've now experienced both ends and I'm pretty in love with this paddle. It's much sturdier and thicker than I expected, not flappy and floppy, no not at all. This is a tough old boy: about 1/8th of an inch thick and just about the size of my hand (which are small, but still). The paddle is made of tough, very heavy, thick leather with red stitching. The handle is metal and a bit less than the length of the average forearm with a little d-ring on the end for convenient hanging. This makes this toy compact enough to fit in just about any toy bag or box, but also a pretty powerful instrument.
It should be noted that the leather that this toy is made out of means that it is POROUS and therefore can transmit STIs and STDs. Keep that in mind! It does, however, mean that if you're into it you can black your own paddle (*happy boot black sigh*).

It's weight makes it not so much of a beginner's toy, but I would say intermediate. Advanced impact players will probably scoff about it in some way or another (and then secretly go try it out themselves). I enjoyed the heft, however, as it really allowed for a range of sensations. At the lightest, this paddle feels like a human hand giving a soft spank but at it's hardest...well...there were welts. Such versatility is pretty rare with impact tools. From a bottom's perspective, I felt as though this toy if used correctly by the top could be used on anyone of any experience level with impact. However, from a top perspective, the toy proves a bit tricky to wield and so is not recommended for novice tops and especially not for a beginning pair. The reason I say this is that the weight combined with the short handle does through the toy off balance. I think this is a con outweighed by pros, but it is worth mentioning. It's pretty easy to not know how hard you're hitting with this toy until you really get to know it well, so be mindful that it takes some calibrating. This toy is

All in all I find this an extremely useful toy to have in my toy chest: intense when you need it, nice and intimidating-looking, but also small and innocent. It forms a nice bridge between the traditional wood/metal/hard paddles and riding crops. Nice and thuddy like a flogger but with the after-sting and bruising of a paddle! :)