Until I received Spartacus' heart bat|Heart bat - Bat by Spartacus my experience with flogging devices|Flogging toys had been limited to Sportsheets' animal print rubber whip–a decent, well-constructed toy that is absolutely incapable of inflicting anything more than a sting.

The Spartacus heart bat is designed to do quite a bit more than deliver a straightforward sting, and in that respect it certainly didn't disappoint.

Being someone who believes in what's good for the goose is good for the gander, I decided to give it a try on myself first. I slipped into the bedroom, took off my pants, bent over a bit and gave myself a good, solid thwack on my right butt cheek.

I can't even begin to describe how much that first swat hurt. It didn't hurt in an “I'm about to die” way. It didn't hurt in a “something is seriously wrong here” way, either. It was simply an incredibly sharp, painful slap.

When it came time to share the heart bat love, I found the heart bat to be incredibly responsive. I could go from a light tickle to bright pink skin with the flick of my wrist–and the memory of that pain on my own bottom reminded me to check in with my partner to see how he was faring.

I found the length of the crop to be ideal. It was long enough for me to achieve some distance between my partner and I. At the same time, it wasn't so long that I felt I would lose control of it or be compromised in terms of the accuracy of my strikes.

Before receiving the crop, I had a sneaking suspicion that the heart at the end of the crop would look lame. That couldn't be further from what I found with the bat. The heart is certainly prominent, but the black leather and the overall aesthetic of the crop made it seem perfectly natural–more like a triangle with rounded corners than a cutesy heart.

I've got mixed feelings about the drawbacks to the crop. When I first received it and was examining it in some detail, I found that the two pieces of leather which made the heart had begun to separate. The silver cap at the end of the bat also popped off when I was removing the packaging. These problems certainly didn't make the bat less functional and both could be solved easily with a dab of glue. At the same time, these little construction foibles did strike me as being completely, irritatingly unnecessary.

At the end of the day, I liked the Spartacus heart bat. I don't anticipate it revolutionizing the way I have sex, but it's a fun addition to the bedroom. It's an option that allows me to add some variety to those nights that include some light bondage. I feel sexier and more powerful holding it and I know without a doubt that any partner on the receiving end will be feeling exactly the amount of sensation I want him to.