These days, many adult shops and online shops sell rods made out of several types of materials as canes. But one material is the only choice material and that would be rattan. As an English caning purist, I discard every other material and rods constructed out of them to where they belong… in the rubbish bin. An authentic English school cane or anything worthy of being called a punishment cane should not be crafted out of anything other than rattan and I don’t sell anything as a cane that is not made out rattan with the possible exception of Whangee which is not a rattan but a special type of Asian bamboo root and it has special characteristics of its own and needs to be handled with care and caution and it’s not a material for everyone.
Rattan is the collective name for about 600 species of climbing palms that grows primarily in South East Asia and we won’t be delving into every type of rattan that is out there. Not all rattans are suitable for making punishment canes as some are stout and heavy varieties of rattan that typically are over an inch thick and unsuitable for our purposes. The ideal rattans for making canes typically come in smaller diametres, usually 6-15 mm and while many species of rattans might suit this description and might be available somewhere in SE Asia, procuring them and knowing if they possess the ideal characteristics such as strength, durability and flexibility for making a good cane is a very difficult task. If we do come across rattans that fit the bill and available to us in the future, we will gladly craft our canes out of these rattans. But for now, we craft our canes out of known and tried varieties of rattan in the caning subculture and we offer less than a handful of rattans as the choice material for our canes.
Both my online shops, Englishvice Canes and our sister shop Stripewell Canes primarily offer canes crafted out of these rattans I am going to address in this article.
And before we get into the type of rattans, let me offer you a valuable piece of advice in picking the right material for your cane. Don’t buy a cane made out of Rattan reed or Rattan heart. Both are the same but called differently on either side of the pond but what they are is shaved and machined rattan. So technically it is rattan but Rattan Reed / Rattan Heart canes don’t possess the inherent strength and durability of rattan with the skin in tact. The skin imparts strength and durability to the rattan and this is a critically important and essential feature of the rattans used in making a proper cane. Cheap play canes sold in adult novelty shops use rattan reed / rattan heart and while they are still rattan, you don’t want a cane made out of them if you are looking for an authentic punishment canes that were used in English School of yesteryears. They may be machined for uniform diametre and smooth skin but an authentic English Cane was never made made out of rattan reed or rattan heart. These are play canes sold in adult shops and by cane makers who want to sell something cheap with machined rattan core that is easy to work with but doesn’t nearly have the integrity and strength as rattan with skin. A good quality English School Cane is always crafted out of rattan with skin still in tact. Remember this while you are buying your cane wherever it might be from and be sure to ensure if their canes are crafted from rattan with skin.
On to the types of rattans we use in our canes and their pros and cons and the difference in physical characteristics.
Kooboo Rattan: This is the most common rattan used for making authentic punishment canes. Kooboo is relatively easier to source and moderately priced compared to dragon canes.
Kooboo rattan is a very versatile material for making rattan punishment canes and it’s a lighter grade of rattan with ample strength, durability and flexibility making it one of the common type of rattan for crafting canes. We offer a fairly reasonable choice of Kooboo rattan canes in both our shops and they are moderately priced making it suitable for novices and the characteristics of the rattan also make it an obvious choice for someone who is freshly venturing out into the realm of rattan canes.
That said, here are some drawbacks of Kooboo
- Kooboo is a lighter grade rattan and while it possesses the necessary characteristics for an ideal cane material, it’s also the less durable.
- Kooboo canes are easily expendable. They are less forgiving when you make mistakes and more prone to cracking and breaking if you don’t use them correctly or use improper technique.
- Being a lighter grade rattan, it is not the choice material for serious caning aficionados and professional ladies and men who deploy them in frequent service in their playrooms and dungeons. For this audience, we highly recommend the dragon canes which are the ideal choice for someone who uses canes on a frequent basis and in a professional setting.
So while Kooboo has the price point advantage and the right temperament for novices into canes, be sure to weigh the pros and cons before you make the decision to pick kooboo as your choice material for a cane.
Dragon Canes: Anyone who has used canes for as long as I have or anyone fairly knowledgeable on canes and caning can instantly recognize them. They have unmistakable characteristics that doesn’t fool an experienced user to distinguish them apart from canes made of other types of rattan.
Dragon Canes are the Gold Standard of rattan punishment canes. Any professional or serious caning aficionado would be remiss to be without a few of them in their collection. They are the “ crème de la creme” of rattan canes and highly sought after and offer the perfect combination of strength, durability, flexibility and longevity. These are heirloom quality canes for any caning aficionado or professional disciplinarian and they can last for years if not decades and offer day after day and year after year of faithful service.
These are the most sought after canes by professional disciplinarian customers of ours and caning aficionados and our dragon canes adorn the skilled hands of many a professional ladies all over the world.
We at both our shops, offer the widest variety of dragon canes in several styles and types including the traditional English school canes, the premium single knot school canes, Knotless dragon canes and the very rare and highly sought after smoked dragon canes.
This is rare and prized variety of rattan among the caning aficionados but it is rare in availability these days due to habitat destruction where they grow which is only in the Sumatra and Java islands of Indonesia and these come to us from our preferred sources in those islands.
These canes are not cheap due to the price and sourcing costs such as international courier charges , import duties and taxes and the need to source them in a fairly big order to our suppliers costing us tens of thousands of dollars. However, we go over and beyond to keep sourcing this rattan from half way across the planet to bring our customers the best quality of rattan punishment canes and school canes.
These canes are a long term investment and have exceptional durability and longevity and they are semi-finished at the source by cooking them in oil and imparting a beautiful skin patina and a rattan that has long spacing between nodes and the perfect strength, flexibility, weight and stiffness.
If you’re seeking the best rattan canes, this rattan would be your choice material and canes crafted out them will last in your dungeon or playroom for years if not decades. Just take care of them and follow our cane care instructions and you’ll have the best canes your money can buy.
Dragon Canes, including our supremely rare smoked dragon canes, are the best canes we offer in our product range.
Malacca Rattan: Malacca is a heavy and stiff rattan and we use this rattan exclusively to craft our Singapore and Malaysian prison canes in addition to offering them in dragon cane variation as well.
Malacca is a golden yellow rattan characterized by medium length nodes, extremely stiff character with little flexibility and girth and quite dense and heavy grade rattan. We use this rattan exclusively to craft our Singapore and Malaysian prison canes but we also offer them in our dragon canes so depending on your needs and personal whims, you can pick the type of prison cane you want but we don’t use this rattan besides our judicial/prison canes.
Whangee Canes: Whangee is type of Asian Bamboo root and a highly specialized material and few in the caning community have affinity for these so we stick Whangee Canes.
Though called a cane, this is one exception to the “ all canes should be crafted out of rattan” rule. This is a separate and distinct animal of its own.
As I previously mentioned, Whangee is not rattan. It’s bamboo root and has characteristics of its own. It’s not nearly flexible and pliable as rattan and doesn’t have a smooth surface. Whangee has a rough and gnarly surface texture and can leave nasty marks. And it is the most unforgiving material and if you don’t know how to use one or have never used one, think hard before taking the plunge into Whangee Canes.
Whangee is brittle and prone to breaking easily and if not used properly, this cane will be short lived in the hands of an inexperienced user. It can also leave quite nasty marks and while we sand down the knots to make it as smooth as possible, this is still not a cane for the inexperienced user. We have a fair warning educating the buyer on Whangee canes before they decide to buy them so read it carefully before you buy them.
Conclusion: So as the resident expert and Housemistress of both our shops, I have tried my level best to explain the rattans we use in our canes and the difference in characteristics of each type of rattan.
The objective of this article is to educate the user on different types of rattans and whether you decide to purchase from our shops or elsewhere, make it a point to enquire about the type of rattan used to craft the canes.
If you are looking for authenticity, avoid any material other than rattan and always make sure your canes are crafted out of rattan with skin. Rattan heart and rattan reed are poor substitutes for natural rattan with skin and the canes crafted out of them don’t possess the strength and durability of canes crafted out of rattan with skin.
if you decide to buy from one of our shops, you can be assured you will be getting an authentic English style rattan punishment cane crafted out of genuine rattan and each cane is artisan crafted in our studio in the United States and gets the personal attention and high quality standards demanded by me as the housemistress / shopmistress.
.