If you're talking about legal punishments like caning and flogging I'd suggest looking at British Naval discipline - there were strict rules about the types of whips used and the number of lashes for each offence (http://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol09/nm_9_1_53to66.pdf)
Can't remember the source, but I read - years ago - about how legal systems going back thousands of years would have regulations on the requirements for whips used for different purposes. Width of leather strap, total weight of whip, type of leather, and so on. The idea was to carefully regulate what was used for which purpose. A rhinoceros hide whip might be used where huge amounts of damage were allowed, for instance.
Often, whips for controlling animals were designed for less damage than those used for human punishment.
Corporal punishment was part of the English penal system until 1948. you could try searching under caning and birching, and as mentioned, the cat o'nine tails.
speaking from the BDSM world here . . . lolmacDecember 19 2012, 18:44:02 UTC
"Brand" has nothing to do with it. Type is only minimally important.
Expertise is what matters: a given kind of whip, in expert hands, can be controlled so as to do exactly as much, or as little damage, as desired. The exact same whip, in the hands of someone untrained, can cripple, maim, or kill. This is why, in the BDSM world, newcomers need to be taught by experienced people (and they are).
For judicial corporal punishment, the cat o' nine tails, birch, and cane have been most commonly used. A cat is most like a whip, so might be what you're looking for -- there should be lots of information available on punishment with the cat in the British Navy. The Roman version was a scourge with weighted tips, and probably inflicted more damage than you're wanting.
Single-tail whips (bullwhips, etc.) are trickier to use, and less often used for punishing people -- they're often mainly for making scary noises, and it takes an expert to control how much damage you do with one if you actually hit someone with it.
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Can't remember the source, but I read - years ago - about how legal systems going back thousands of years would have regulations on the requirements for whips used for different purposes. Width of leather strap, total weight of whip, type of leather, and so on. The idea was to carefully regulate what was used for which purpose. A rhinoceros hide whip might be used where huge amounts of damage were allowed, for instance.
Often, whips for controlling animals were designed for less damage than those used for human punishment.
Reply
Reply
Expertise is what matters: a given kind of whip, in expert hands, can be controlled so as to do exactly as much, or as little damage, as desired. The exact same whip, in the hands of someone untrained, can cripple, maim, or kill. This is why, in the BDSM world, newcomers need to be taught by experienced people (and they are).
Reply
Single-tail whips (bullwhips, etc.) are trickier to use, and less often used for punishing people -- they're often mainly for making scary noises, and it takes an expert to control how much damage you do with one if you actually hit someone with it.
Reply
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