I should clarify my previous post a bit. If you "need" to either get or give a punishment spanking (grins), and want a shallow bruise to be left for a few days, then a firm rubber hose in 3/8" or maybe 1/2" size is for you. I use an appx 18" length of fuel line from my hardware store.
After an appropriate warm-up, apply some lotion to the bottom about to be punished, and swing this instrument like you would a cane, followed by an immediate and very gentle massage of the area. Follow this with maybe 2 more strokes, allowing the bottom enough time to recover before placing the next one. I never do more than 3 well aimed strokes, either giving or receiving, one on the upper part of the buns, one middle, and one lower. Stay on the butt though, and not upper thighs. Injury is for amateurs.
The fuel line implement is more intense than a cane of similar size. It's both heavier and more flexible, so lands with a greater energy, i.e. both more mass and velocity, which is why I limit the number of strokes to 3 and follow them by the very gentle rubbing. The pain, for a second or two, is both intense and delicious. Welts form almost immediately, and the resultant bruise is a perfect stripe across the ass. The bruise is not deep, and will last just a few days. There is a gentle soreness produced, just enough to serve as a reminder of the punishment received, and is normally gone after about 48 hours.
Prolonged use of a cane which causes some substantial injury to the skin is just not for me. It seems to be something which doms who really don't know what theyre doing partake in, or some profit-minded idiot making a video.
Don't get me wrong though! I'm not some kind of pain junkie. When spanking or being spanked, I thoroughly enjoy slow & sensual, bare bottom, butthole exposed, OTK, whatever. It's a great form of foreplay, as you all know.