selecting a switch

I need help with a story I am writing, and I'm hoping someone in the library can provide me the information. How do you select a switch to be used in a spanking? What characteristics do you look for? Is one type of tree better than others? How do you trim a switch?

Many thanks in advance, Beth

Beth, I can't help you with the switch, they scare the bejeebers out of me. I will be interested to see your story though and maybe it will help me when I occasionally use a switch in my own work.

In my experience, the saplings of the Silver Birch make the most effective switches, but the usefulness of hazel, willow, alder and others are such that those make fine candidates.

What the top hopes to be provided with is something that is about three feet long, thin enough to swish, thick enough to last a full session, and very straight.

Getting it right comes from trial and error.

Those about to receive the impact of one on their bottoms, tend to like short, wimpy, crooked switches that are totally ineffective.

Putting them right comes from instant feedback.

beth83,

Guyde's suggestions are correct. In addition, the way you trim a switch is with a very sharp knife cutting off all twigs and whittling it to make the switch as smooth as possible. A fresh green switch is best. One useful way to have a green switch always available when needed is to cut several at a time beforehand and keep them in a freezer.

Keeping them in a freezer has another advantage. You have to thaw out the switch which gives you time to cool off so that you don't punish in anger.

A switch can also be used on the thighs as well as the bottom. A good scenario would be a girl who wears a pair of unacceptably short shorts and is switched on the legs and calves as punishment. That not only disciplines her but also leaves thin weals on her legs meaning that she can't wear shorts or short skirts until they completely fade. And the backs of a girl's thighs are very tender. A switching there is exquisitely painful.

I hope these suggestions are helpful for your story.

Tiptopper

You can ask the soon-to-be recipient to cut her (his?) own switch. The standard I've heard used is to cut a switch of a thickness that the base is as big in diameter as the intended recipient's little finger (so for a smaller child - if it's a child - the switch would be thinner).

Beth, to select a switch you merely ask the person if they like spanking you, if they say yes then you ask if they would let you spank them. If they again answer in the affirmative you have your switch. The charactertics with a "switch" vary from one person to another however you want one who shows a good understanding of the spankings you either expect to give or receive, depending on your mood on any particular day. Since you are clearly a lady, it is likely, but not always, better to find a man around your own age group and with similar interests as you beyond just the spanking thing.

As far as your question on "how to you trim a switch", I suppose a good diet would give him a trim look, or you could try changing his fashion sense to see if it makes him look thinner however this in my opinion should not be a major concern at this time.

I do not understand the answers given by others above this post, they are all talking about some sort of tree branch, clearly they have misunderstood your question and you will be pleased at least one person got the correct answer to you. I wish you the best in finding your "switch".

Purportedly, apple and peach trees can also supply very whippy switches, although I've heard that willow is the most effective--I don't know if the 'weeping willow' has a name relevant to being the receipient of a good switching, but a supple willow branch does very often have that effect on the person receiving strokes from it.

Assuming that the switching recipient is sent to cut his/her own switches, the disciplinarian should make it clear that any inadequate switch will be replaced by two more-than-adequate ones. So if you're sent out to cut (and possibly prepare) two switches, but one of them isn't deemed suitable (too thin, short and/or inflexible), then either you or your punisher will replace that one with two more effective ones--meaning that three switches rather than two are going to be worn out on your bare bottom before your chastisement is completed.

Depending on the amount of privacy available and/or the degree of semipublic embarrassment desired, the victim may even be forced to cut his/her switches while evincing partial or total 'southern exposure'... --C.K.

There was once a phrase quite widely used "Keeping a rod in pickle" which implied a switch was cut and then preserved for future use. Can any of you switch experts expand on this?

I've heard of birch branches being kept soaking in brine (salty water) to preserve their flexibility so that they'll be immediately available for action.

AFAIK birch rods are generally employed in 'bundles', that is a number of them tied together at their bases, so a person receiving a 'birching' is having his/her behind 'scourged' by a number of switches at the same time--which is even worse than a 'switching' with a single whippy branch.

It also means that the punisher has less control in precise placement with numerous rods in a bundle, so the victim's genitals should somehow be protected from accidentally being caught by the flicking tips of the switches. That's supposedly excruciatingly painful, especially for a male punishment recipient, and IMHO goes well beyond the presumed intent (in terms of pain) of even a severe birching.

AFAIC a single supple branch hurts quite enough if applied with enthusiasm... --C.K.

My mother made a switching real simple. Take child to the backyard. Break off the first small green branch you come to - tree, plant, shrub, whatever. Rub hand up and down it several times thus taking off all leaves and smaller branches. Apply to the back of the child's legs. It was very effective with a bad sting and a longer-lasting itch.