# Strap > A strap is a broad flexible leather implement that spreads impact into a heavy thud rather than a line. Easier to take at force than a cane, harder to aim. - Canonical URL: https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/strap/ - Section: A–Z - Updated: November 2026 (2026-11-01) - Audience: consenting adults over 18 only. Everything on this site concerns consenting adults over 18. Broad flexible leather. The strap is the middle of the implement range and the one I use most, because it delivers real weight without concentrating everything into a few millimetres of skin. --- ## In short - A strap spreads force across a wide band, producing a deep thud rather than a sharp line. - Thickness gives weight and length gives trouble. Short and thick is more controllable than long and floppy. - The main hazard is wrap: the far end curling round the hip, which stings badly and lands off target. - The Scottish version is the [tawse](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/tawse/), split into tails at the end. Everything on this page concerns consenting adults over 18. ## What it means A length of leather, usually between two and three inches wide, used flat against the buttocks or the upper thighs. The family covers a lot of ground: a heavy bridle leather strap, a doubled belt, a Scottish [tawse](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/tawse/) with its split tails, a razor strop, a prison-style leather paddle. What they share is behaviour. Leather flexes on impact and spreads its energy over a broad band, which produces a heavy, deep, slightly delayed sensation. People describe it as landing somewhere further inside than a cane does. It also produces a satisfying noise, which is doing more work in the room than anyone likes to admit. ## In practice Thickness is what you want, not length. A short heavy strap of around fifteen inches carries plenty of weight and you can put it exactly where you mean to. A long one has to be aimed a hand-width short of the far edge or the tip curls around the hip, which stings out of all proportion and lands on a place with bone under it. Belts are what most people have to hand and they are the worst version of this. Thin, floppy, unpredictable at the tip, with a buckle that must be wrapped in the palm and gripped rather than allowed anywhere near the swing. If a belt is what you have, fold it once, take the swing right down, and understand you are using an improvised object. Leather needs a little care. Keep it out of the sun, keep it dry, wipe it down, and treat it occasionally so it stays supple. A dry cracked strap gets stiff and bites in a way it should not. Marks are a wide dull red band that goes purple over a day or two if you have been enthusiastic. Straps bruise broadly rather than leaving the tramlines a cane produces, which some people find easier to explain and others find harder to hide. ## What people assume Treating a strap as the safe option and swinging accordingly. It spreads force, which raises the ceiling rather than removing it, and a heavy strap used hard on a cold backside will end an evening quickly. Ignoring the wrap. This is the single commonest strap error and it is entirely avoidable: stand so you can see the far side of the target, aim short, and check where the end is actually landing for the first few strokes rather than assuming. Going near the wrong places. The strap covers a wide band, so a stroke that is a touch high catches the small of the back and the kidneys underneath. Keep the whole width of it inside the fleshy part of the seat. The [safe zone](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/guide/where-it-is-safe-to-strike/) is smaller than it looks with a wide implement. ## Read next - [Implements and what each one does](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/guide/implements/) - [Tawse](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/tawse/) - [Where it is safe to strike](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/guide/where-it-is-safe-to-strike/) - [Welt](https://consensualspanking.co.uk/glossary/welt/) ## Common questions ### What does a strap feel like compared to a cane? Broader, duller and deeper. A strap spreads its force across a wide band of leather, so it lands as a heavy thud with a spreading heat behind it rather than the thin bright line a cane produces. Most people find a strap easier to take at higher force and easier to keep taking, because the pain arrives as pressure rather than as a cut. ### Can you use a belt for spanking? You can, with the buckle wrapped in your hand and the tongue end doubled or discarded, but a belt is a poor first implement. It is long, floppy and hard to aim, it wraps around the hip easily, and the free end can catch somewhere it should not. A short, thick, purpose-made strap is far more controllable.