Review: MEO French Leather Paddle

So, I love the German-based manufacturer MEO. They offer wonderful service and have an enormous variety of BDSM and kink-related gear available. Although their target market is the gay male market, they were kind enough to send me a giant box ‘o fun a while back in exchange for honest and unbiased review, yet somehow I neglected to review one of my most-used items -- the French Leather Paddle (NSFW link) from their HURTME range. Astonishing! Once I started flicking my way through our BDSM archives with increasing alarm, finding nothing, I had to rectify this immediately.

The paddle itself is very clean in appearance – no fanciness, no frills; just pure functionality. Straight to business. I really enjoy its simplicity because I'm a traditional gal when it comes to this sort of stuff. Many similarly-styled paddles have designs like hearts, text, or other fancy little cut-outs that may leave impressions in the skin – which can be fun to play with; don’t get me wrong, but it’s not quite my preference. Give me minimalism and clean lines, or give me death! Okay, maybe a little bit of glitter is acceptable too.

Other than the appearance, another pleasing pro is that it feels solid and sturdy in the palm without being too hefty. The edges are smooth and well-finished, with no nasty ragged bits or sharp areas that might break the skin (unintentionally, at least). This paddle has a pretty rigid core and is coated by a smooth, stiff black leather that gives it a very traditional BDSM appearance and provides a solid surface for spankings. Its surface area is nice and wide -- 36 x 6.5 cm, which spreads out the impact zone nicely. This means you can easy work larger areas like thighs or the butt without needing to cover them multiple times – efficient! The handle includes a little leather cord you could use for hanging storage, but is too short to be looped around the wrist for additional security/hands-free convenience between use. The stitching is really secure and well-finished; I really don’t think it will fray or unravel any time soon. MEO offers high-quality products and this is no exception -- a little bit of leather conditioner will go a long way in preserving and maintaining this toy.

The grain of the leather feels light and really good when dragged against skin, and despite not being quite as shapely as the one on the rubber strap I reviewed previously, the handle feels comfortable and easy to grip on to. Basically, it’s really simple but well put together. As to how it actually feels, this paddle is good and rigid, creating a pretty thuddy sensation during light impact play. It builds up nicely to a more stinging sensation the harder you hit, however – I think it’s the smoothness of the leather that helps create that stinging, slap-tastic burn. Nevertheless, this paddle provides a solid feel without allowing the impact to go too deep into the tissue like a harder substance such as wood might, and I enjoy the “just right” balance between thuddy/deep and flexy/surface sensations. Because it’s not floppy enough to create a wraparound effect like with the rubber strap, it’s better for accuracy and aiming straight off the bat – no need to science out some flap-physics.

I really think this would be a great investment piece for anyone looking to get into the scene. It’s such a great, basic, effective item to have in your toolkit. Anyone in the scene is going to know how to use it, and it’s visually familiar enough so that even n00bs will know what to do with it just from pop culture osmosis. This is my personal go-to paddle because it’s such a great balance of extremes. It is simple and unpretentious and does the job perfectly and I love it for this.

Like what you see? Check out MEO at the links below, and be sure to say hi on social media because they are super nice! Just be aware that their site is NSFW so visit when on you’re on a safe network. Happy smacking!

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