Despite my long interest in all things spanking I have not had much exposure to the traditional English cane. I do remember a movie in which a cabin boy, the captain’s son I believe is wrongly caned for carving his initials in a table. The movie is called Damn the Defiant. The clip is available on YouTube. You can find it here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk75TMKVfeI
I had recently come across the phrase “Kiss the Gunner’s Daughter” from this clip and following the trail read that this meant to bend over or be tied to cannon for beating. The least severe punishment of that time was a bare bottom caning. Caning was thought to be so minor that it was often unremarked. From there thing escalated rather quickly, a midshipman could be sentenced to up to 48 lashes with a multi tailed cat which the junior office had to make himself. An account can be found here
http://www.thedearsurprise.com/?p=897
A short excerpt “A boy sentenced to be flogged was often required to make his own cat, binding the whipcord lengths to the handle. It was applied across the naked buttocks with a pause of 10 or 15 seconds between lashes to ensure that the boy fully experienced the pain, and also because the tails could become entwined and required separating. The flogging of a boy with 48 lashes (the maximum) would probably take 12 minutes.”
Wrong Try Again
Anyway I have never used a cane or been caned myself. I have experimented with rods of various materials, wooden dowels, plastic, wire and metal. I assume that the principal is rather similar. When you swing a flexible rod it bends and releases the energy when it strikes the target. I don’t think that you have to swing a cane really hard to impart lots of stinging especially if the cane is flexible. If I am wrong here I would like more information especially if I get the chance to try it out for myself.
Thats More Like It!
I am very curious about caning since the use of the cane is so unusual here. I do think that the effect of a caning can be very mild to extremely intense depending on how the rod is applied.
CS
crankyspanker 
Enjoyed that 😉
Hi CS,
I have done some calculations regarding the physics of the cane, but they are too lengthy and complicated to present here. I did post a few preliminary (and somewhat flawed) results on the CSR Forum, mainly on the question of thickness. Actually, the flexibility of the cane does not store any extra energy, as many people seem to believe, unless you bring it backward and then immediately forward the way a fishermen casts with a fishing rod.
You are correct in your surmise that “the effect of a caning can be very mild to extremely intense depending on how the rod is applied.” I recommend you begin with only a light wrist stroke, then gradually increase as necessary, bringing the forearm into play if needed. In my opinion, male caners should never find it necessary to bring the more powerful muscles of the upper arm and shoulder into play. There was in fact a tradition of holding a book (sometimes the Bible!) under the caning arm to prevent the upper arm and shoulder from being used.
It’s interesting that you have experimented with so many materials. I can only recommend two: rattan (preferable) and plastic (specifically, nylon, delrin, and lexan which are all extremely similar). Plastic is actually too dense to be ideal, tending to wrap around the right hip causing bruising, but it has two advantages: ease of sterilizing and unbreakability. Wood dowels, and especially metal, are simply too dense – that is, too severe in practice. Bamboo, which you didn’t mention but turns up every now and then, should not be used because it can split, which is dangerous. Rattan is best, having only two disadvantages: it’s hard to sterilize (not a problem if each canee has his or her own cane), and sooner or later it will break (but unlike bamboo, rattan breakage leaves no sharp edges so is not dangerous). I recommend a rattan cane of 5/16 or 3/8″ thick and 30 to 36 inches long, but you can experiment to find out what works best for you.
Anyway, that’s my little caning primer. Hope I didn’t go on too long.
web-ed
I will have to find someone willing to be caned first. Any volunteers?
Emanuele
Crankyspanker. I trully love using the cane on a naughty woman’s bare bottom. And I do mean love it. Most joyfully love it. It is my favoirite corporal punishment implement. Forever, and ever, and always will be.