Other switch woods?

The only trees in my yard are maple, but we've been wanting to try a switching. Normally with switches you hear hazel, birch, willow, etc. Would a maple switch work? And what about other woods - anyone have any experience with say, oak, pine, etc?

My husband has sliced 3/4" oak into thin slices 1/16" to 1/8" on his table saw, sanded them and polyurethaned them to beautiful smoothness. They made great punishment sticks. The 1/16" by 24" long has a great sting but leaves no marks. The 1/8" by 24" will leave red marks but won't cause hematomas or break the skin unless you really beat the crap out of the person. They have some flexibility, but bend them a lot and they will break. The good points about willow and birch switches are they are very flexible and won't break. They will create fine cuts in the skin especially if they are thin.

I think pine is too light and too weak--it will break easily. Maple is similar to oak but it has a finer grain and is easier to same smooth. The hard woods will break easily if bent acutely or abruptly.

If you have actual trees in your yard cut a few thin branches and try them out. Perhaps try it against a pillow or post first to make sure it doesn't shred into sharp bits, but based on my experiences pruning/trimming/cutting maples they seem to be pretty springy and probably would work. I haven't had one used as a switch (yet... who knows, I'm making my first paddle to give to my wife right now so anything can happen), but have had them whack me in the face, back, etc. during yard/woodlot work and they pack a punch.

I've also dealt with conifers and there's no way I'd want one of those used as a switch. The bark is sharpish and the branches are knobby and break way too easily. Not nice to have hit you in any way. Oak - don't have as many oak trees over here, but it seems to be more in the maple class. Again, try it out on a post/sawhorse, then try it out (lightly) on a butt.

At least with the maples over here you get a bunch of small switch-like branches growing up from the base, so access is easy.

Actually, live wood will be more flexible and not break when striking than dried lumber.

Forsythia branches grow quickly and are good--I tried a couple this morning!

Lenin, welcome to the zity biz funhouse!

Also look for lilac, hazelnut, apple, pear, other deciduous trees sprouts.

Use no conifer sprouts or limbs or anything with resin/pitch, please.

No need to.

Caragana bushes have a rapid growth rate and make great switches... An Elder berry or golden elder bushes work very nicely too... but hate the thought of cutting an elder berry bush unless it needs pruning.

I always thought of switches as being green wood, I'd never considered dried lumber - I always figured that in small sizes it would split and splinter and basically be very nasty.

I might have to try Susie's sticks at some point.

I don't know if this counts as a switch, but a 1/4" dowel from Home Depot makes a really nice whacker that leaves nice lines and welts, without much chance of breaking. Just ask anyone who's felt one!

Well dried woods are usable in a few ways...I have heard of people making woods extra supple by soaking them in a brine over night. This also adds an extra sting if there is any break in the skin for sure....

Here where I live oak is usually used. A thin and slight flexible oak switch stings and burns like crazy plus leaves stripes across your butt that last a day or two. Trust me, I’ve had my fair share of an oak switch.

I’ve had a switch used on my butt. Oak switch, and yes it stings and leaves some nice raised red welts on your butt for a couple of days.

Willow - desert willow here - provides excellent long green shoots that are perfect for switches. Also, Bank's rose [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_banksiae] (does not have thorns), sends out long stems that are about the diameter of your finger and make exquisite switches for striping a naughty bottom.

Any green supple branch will work. Willows are very flexible but they break down rather quickly and lose their flex. The old saying "He wore a switch out on my bottom " means exactly that. After a while the switch breaks down so it is like using a string.

I was once in a Marriot and they had a display in the lobby of wood stacked up. I took one and it was the perfect cane. I never wore that one out and it left a good welt.

Hickory. Felt these a lot in my youth. They had a intense sting across bare legs or bare bottom. Granny had one in her yard and just a look at it reminded you it brought about pain if a branch were gotten for use on you.

Never been switched but pine, fir, and the other conifers seem to break much more easily than maple, willow, fruit trees and the like. I'd imagine any of those would probably be satisfactory for a switch.

Conifers also tear up your hands more as they tend to have rougher bark. I think someone trying to switch someone with one would be a nasty, unpleasant experience and not in the way either of you are looking for.

Speaking of switches years ago someone told me that all switches needed to be peeled to get the rough knobs and other things that can break the skin so has anyone actually been made to peel switches before they was used on you

Fresh apple cuttings do not need peeling - they are very flexible, quite smooth and REALLY sting with serious tramlines. Not to be used before going to a nude beach unless some serious exhibitionism is planned!

Where/when I grew up, it was traditional that naughty boys and girls would be sent to the apple orchard or the riverbank to cut a switch.

The apple switches were did not need to be peeled. It was easy for naughty boys and girls of all ages to find and cut a suitable apple switch. An apple switch was usually about 2.5-to-3 feet in length and about 0.25 inches in diameter. The apple orchard was right behind the elementary school and the Bible Church, so even grade school teachers (grades 1-6) and Sunday School teachers would send naughty boys and girls to the orchard with a pair of prunning clippers.

A riverbank switch was used when older boys and girls got too big for their britches (seriously disobedient, disrespectful, and/or dishonest). There was a certain type of shrub that grew along theriverbank. These shrubs were so close to the river that they were often growing up out the water when the river was at-or-above flood stage. I have no idea what the proper name is for that shrub, but it should go by a name like Welted Bottom Bush or Lesson Learned Lilac (lol – because it did flower in the autumn). These switches were usually 4-to-4.5 feet in length and almost 0.5 inches in diameter. They were the perfect combination of stiff-but-flexible… and, they were indestructible! It wasn't absolutely necessary that these switches be peeled, but it was tradition. This was because the bark was relatively easily peeled off in long strips, revealing an extremely smooth and moist-but-stiff implement of correction. I think the secret behind the riverbank switch was that it grew right at the river's edge and absorbed a LOT of moisture into VERY tightly woven wood fiber.

When junior high school or high school boys and girls were sent to the riverbank with prunning clippers, they were definitely not going to sit comfortably for several days! On one occasion, my dad told me to cut two riverbank switches, because he thought that he might wear out the first one across my hide. He gave me a thrashing that I will never forget and I didn't sit comfortably for over a week. But the switch was still in perfect condition when he was done with me!

Mom always used a pussy willow switch on me in the spring/summer when I was in trouble. They left painful welts on the back of my legs as she chased me around in a circle while holding on to my arm and yelling at me to stop running!

Mom always used a pussy willow switch on me in the spring/summer when I was in trouble,they left painful welts on the back of my legs as she chased me around in a circle while holding on to my arm and yelling at me to stop running!

Tounge in cheek @codjer …but pussy willow, really. Just being a jerk here. Funny visual you described. 😀

@codjer as she chased me around in a circle while holding on to my arm and yelling at me to stop running!

Doing that circle spanking dance - takes me back to growing up the early 1950's…

I've use maple switches and they've worked well, but my favorite is apple (at least among the trees growing in my yard).