Schlagwort-Archiv: Leather

Leather Suspension Harness

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The Blackjump Leather Suspension Harness

Vendor: Blackjump

Construction

Like with all heavy duty bondage items, the first look should always be on the material and manufacturing quality in order to see if the gear will actually detain a struggling sub. This is even more important with a suspension harness because an equipment failure will not only ruin a scene but can potentially cause injuries!

This Blackjump model is beyond any doubt. All straps are made out of sturdy, 2mm thick and 50mm wide belt leather (except the one across the chest which is 30mm wide). Points with crucial load bearing or extreme kinetic stress either feature double leather layers or four instead of just two rivets. Equally important is the protection of fragile and vulnerable body parts from the stiff leather belts digging in. For this thick and stiff foam under soft leather is used so even under a lot of pressure you do not feel the leather and metal below the padding. The hardware is also supreme: The D-rings are welded and made out of thick steel, the buckles are sturdy roller buckles.

Detail of the Double Lay Leather to extra-reinforce the Suspension D-ring

All these ingredients are mixed together into what appears fairly simple design which in the details shows a lot of thought. The torso part is basically two belts with holes on both ends, riveted to an X with one rivet on the back so the angle between the two belts can adjust easily depending on the sub’s body size. To protect collarbone and the shoulders, there are pads which can be attached to the belts with snaps. Though mine have been lost when I have bought this harness from a friend; I need to reorder them again. On the apex of both belts there is a D-ring from which this harness gets suspended. Just above the belt holes in front there is a horizontal strap riveted with a roller buckle to tighten the harness in front of the chest.

Using four buckles, these straps are connected to the piece de resistance of this suspension harness: The roughly bone-shaped, padded pelvic-protection. Since there are no muscles and rarely a thick layer of fat over the pelvis, this body area is very sensitive to abrasions. Because of this it has to be padded, either through a pad (like Mr S does) or through a padded belt (like Fetters does). Blackjump goes further. He extends the padding over the stomach region onto the lower rib cage to also protect this fragile body part. In order to maintain the flexibility and adjustability of the harness, the padding is not only ergonomically shaped, but middle part which goes over the stomach section is with 60mm only 40% as wide as the 140mm wide padding to the pelvis and rib cage. A little drawback of the heavy duty design is that the rivets which connect the belts with the padding are not covered by leather.

Detail of the Padding Protecting the Pelvis and Rib Cage

The four buckles on the upper end of the padding allow to adjust the harness the bottom’s body size. It is very adjustable; I suspended people from 1,69m to 2,05m and thin twinks to heavier bears with no problem. From my experience with leather as a material and without any guarantee I would say the breaking load of this harness is somewhere between 150kg and 180kg. Below the buckles of the back there is also a D-ring riveted. To my knowledge it is the only fetish suspension who has these D-rings but they are very important when the sub is not flying high (see below). On the bottom there is a belt attached which go around the thigh. To also protect this delicate body area (see below), there a 100mm wide and 350mm long padded “sleigh” running on the strap so regardless of the length adjustment is always cover the back part of the thigh.

At least when my friend bought the harness some 10 years ago, it came with a sturdy suspension bar. On both ends quick links are welded onto the bar, the actually suspension is attached to a triangle ring welded onto the middle. From the quick links 350mm of 6mm wire gauge chain are suspended. The actually harness is suspended using pear clips which the avid reader knows I am not a big fan off. Though since they are never actually opened the sharpness does not really play a role. And at least the ones I have a certified for 230 daN. So I can hardly imagine a strong, heavy muscle bear exceeding the dynamic breaking load of 469kg + safety margin…

Detail of the Back Buckle with D-ring

Playing with the Suspension Harness

For me suspension bondage, especially in a harness and using rope, is the ultimate form of mindfuck bondage: You are free to move around yet unable to escape. To achieve this level of mindfuck, the sub needs to be suspended so high that his toes can’t touch the ground and his hands can’t touch anything. If you do not have a gymnasium for a playroom, this can be difficult. The extreme situation is my playroom where some subs have to crouch to get into the harness with the suspension bar above them. To still get the sub helpless, put ankle restraints on him and connect them to the D-rings on the back. Depending on the degree of helplessness, fetter the hands using suspension restraints to the suspension bar or to the D-ring to which the thigh belt is connected. In the latter position for added stress, upper arm restraints can be connected to the back D-rings. However, I would not recommend to subject to sub to too much pain in this situation because due to the limited upper arm movement  he can quickly pull something.

The design of the straps and belts allow for maximum accessibility for sensation play over TT and CBT to spanking and even flogging. Particularly fun are e-stim scenes with movement triggered units like the Electrastim Flick Duo or Axis. Once the sub starts to work the pain out, self-sustaining system of constant movement is set in motion which keeps the stimulation coming and coming.

Detail of the Suspension Bar and Chains

The feeling of flying can also heighten the sensations of more traditional play like getting fucked or fisted. The free movement of the harness creates a way stronger swinging action than a sling does. While a suspension harness seems like a natural match for a milking machine, I made not the best experience with my Venus 2000. The body’s natural reaction to an intense sensation is flinching, pulling the penis out of the receiver. Just suspending the receiver from the chest strap also proved to instable. I have seen people converting cock sheaths into attachment points for the receiver so this might work.

Detail of the Thigh Padding

As hot and fun suspension bondage is, it is also one of the most dangerous forms of bondage due to the risk of suspension trauma. In short suspension bondage is the blood gathering in the legs when being suspended for an extended period of time which will cause a circulatory collapse. Symptoms are sweating, breathlessness, dizziness, feeling sick, dropping blood pressure or numbness. If any of these symptoms occur, get the sub out of the harness but NEVER LAY HIM DOWN! During suspension trauma the heart tries to pump the blood up with ever increasing force. Laying him down would cause the blood to shoot into the torso and brain, basically killing him! This is called rescue death. To prevent this, for the first 20 to 30 minutes, keep the torso in an upright position. A suspension trauma is not a “miner circulation crash” but a serious medical emergency and requires professional help! Drugs which increase blood pressure and/ or open up the blood vessels like poppers can increase the likelihood of suspension trauma. While the thick padding on critical areas makes the appearing of a suspension trauma unlikely, a suspended sub (like all bound subs) should never be left alone and a suspension scene should never go over extended periods of time. Furthermore it is important to talk with the sub about the potential symptoms before a scene so he can draw the top’s attention to problems early enough and does not dismiss them out of mislead will to be obedient.

Speaking of safely suspending someone: If you want to really lift the sub after fettering him in the harness, I highly recommend getting a professional winch for liability reasons. Considering dynamic loads, you should get one with over 1,000kg carrying load!

Conclusion: Bes fetish suspension harness I have come across yet.
Pro Cons Where to get Price
Great craftsmanship out of high quality materials Takes forever to break in Blackjump Ca. 250€
Thick and ample padding for comfortable and safe scenes over extended periods of time
D-rings in all relevant places
Comes with suspension hardware

 

Leather Straitjacket

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The HML Fetish Leather Straitjacket

Vendor: HML Fetish

After the past weeks were all about anal toys, the Sundays will follow a different tune: It will be all about heavy bondage. So expect reviews of sleepsacks, hoods, extravagant restraints – and straitjackets.

One of the most common questions in the realm of heavy bondage is: Where do I get a good, reasonably priced straitjacket? Despite most heavy bondage items like sleepsacks or straitjackets are once-in-a-life-time purchases, not everybody can afford the mid-four-digit price tags of Mr S or Fetters straitjackets. On the other end of the price spectrum there are cheaply made models from Asia which cardboard-like leather from questionable sources and unreliable metal fixtures. So I did some research for something in between and found this model from HML Fetish in Bremen.

Detail of the Straps for Tightening the Straitjacket at the Back

Construction

Since a straitjacket is most likely be worn on the bare skin in order not to overheat, let’s talk about the material first. HML Fetish uses high quality, European sourced cow hides so you do not have to worry about Chrome-6. The leather of the jacket itself is 1mm thick which is a good compromise between the feeling of being clad in leather, the leather fitting well around the body and temperature control .The inside of the jacket is not lined but since all metal fixtures are made out of stainless steel, neither allergies nor rust should be a too big problem. Knowing HML Fetish I am pretty sure they can line the jacket with leather if you ask them. Despite the price point just below 1.000€, you get premium features like thickly quilted leather on the elbows which is a nice touch and keeps the elbows protects when the sub is made to crawl on the ground while being fettered. Another great feature are the nipple flats which measure roughly 10x10cm. Six sturdy snaps are keeping them in place so even a very actively struggling sub cannot get them off.

Detail of the Quilting over the Elbows

Like most straitjackets, the HML Fetish one is closed by a zipper. Then going down from head to waist there is a belt around the collar, one going around the chest and upper arm and one around the waist. These straps are led but leather straps riveted onto the body. On the back, two additional belts going over the zipper to tighten the jacket properly around the body. Like all straitjackets the arms are crossed over the chest with a belt strap on the end of the left arm and a buckle strap on the right arm. Once they are closed together behind the back, there is a strap in the middle of the front to secured them tightly and limit any potential wiggle room. Finally, there are two straps which run through the crotch to prevent the more than unlikely possibility that with crossed arms the jacket could be pulled off.

All straps are made out of 1.5mm thick cow hides which is doubled, glued and sowed all around which gives the straps a nice quality feel and touch of craftsmanship. The belt holes are reinforced with stainless steel rivets so the buckle’s pin does not damage the leather. The strap around the waist, the collar and the once securing the arm in front of the torso are about 40mm wide, all other straps are 25mm.

Detail of the D-Ring at the Bottom of the Body

There is only one D-ring on the entire straitjacket: In the middle of the torso, just above the waist seam. Again, when ordering this straitjacket, get in touch with the guys at HML Fetish and they will place D-rings where you desire and need them. My recommendation (from the way I play) would be at least three at the collar (center, left and right) and replacing the leather leading loops on each side of the waist and just below the shoulder so you can tie the sub between two posts.

The straitjacket comes in sizes from S to XXL and are pretty adjustable. So when you are a top who entertains different body types of subs, I recommend getting a largerish size; you can always tighten it afterwards.

Detail of the Tit Flaps

Playing with the Straitjacket

Being put into a straitjacket is probably one of the most intense bondage experience once can have. Unlike a sleepsack where the sub is still somewhat in control of the putting on process (like slipping the arms into the arm pocket, adjusting the leg divider, etc.), once he has put the body one, the top is in control. He can move around the arms and with a leash even the sub at his will. While in a sleepsack the sub will most likely remain in the area where he lay down, in a straitjacket the sub is mobile and can be forced quiet easily into environments and situation the top wants him to be – regardless of how much the sub dislikes it. This mental aspect is one of the greatest appeals of a straitjacket.

Detail of the Jockstrap-Style Crotch Staps

An important element of it, is the fettering process; the straps being tightened around the subs, gradually limiting the control over his arms and torso. While the HML Fetish straitjacket technically does this well, it falls a bit short on the sensation side. Since most straps are only 25mm wide, the tightening sensation is not as strongly felt as on most other straitjackets. I would describe it this way: Compare the impact sensation of a wood paddle and a thuddy flogger. The pain intensity might be the same, but the flogger with the sheer amount of kinetic energy will shatter and thrust you against the St. Andrews cross while the paddle “just” hurts. Quantity wise the effect it the same, but the quality wise there is a lot more going on with the flogger or in regards of straitjackets with wider straps. I have talked to the guys at HML Fetish about this and they the thinner belts are an aesthetic decision, leaving more of the body visible. But most of my testees said that the fettering process was disappointingly unspectacular so I guess you again have to ask during the ordering process if you can get wider straps if you prefer them.

Detail of the Strap Fettering the Arms in Front of the Torso

Again compared to a sleepsack a straintjacket is the perfect combination of active play and intense bondage sensation. And the HML Fetish one excels at that. With the relatively large tit flaps, you cannot only attach clamps easily but even do wax play when you are a bit cautious (and the sub is sound tightly enough so he cannot move). Due to the not too thick leather, lying on a spanking bench is comfortable and the crotch straps make a nice jockstrap-like framing of the cheeks for impact play. This straitjacket’s collar is even soft enough to just be loosely closed if you are putting a hood or muzzle on which already has a collar.

Conclusion: High quality made straitjacket with too few D-rings and a little bit too thin straps.
Pro Cons Where to get Price
Great craftsmanship out of high quality materials Straps are too thin HML Fetish 995€
Great value for money Too few D-rings
Large tit flaps
Quilted elbows as standard

ToyTorture’s Stocking Stuffer II –Riding Crop & DD Strap

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Nikolaus Day 2018

The German Christmas tradition knows many rituals. One of the is Nikolaus Day on December 6th. On December 5th you place a well polished boot – or nowadays well cleaned sneaker – in front of your door, hoping that Sankt Nikolaus will come by at night and fill the footwear with candy and small toys when you have been good. But in the German folk lore he does not travel alone. He is accompanied by Knecht Ruprecht, a sinister and violent helper of Nikolaus who will leave a bushel of birch twigs in your shoe when you have been a naughty boy, warning you he will return to spank the naughtiness out of you.

The London Tanners Riding Crop

Looking at my Shox ID, apparently I have been a good boy. But this doesn’t stop me to put some toys on my wish list that would make Knecht Ruprecht’s duties easier. A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the London Tanners Mill Strap which I like a lot for being well made. Having a growing urge to spank a greedy, noisy bottom on a regular basis, I wondered what is missing in my collection – and my readers‘ and thus worth getting my hands on to review.

First, a traditional riding crop. Already in the iconic drawings of Tom of Finland, many BLUF men had a riding crop sticking in their boots’ shaft. After finally having gotten proper engineer boots as the last piece of a complete leather uniform, this accessory would both be hot and functional. I would choose the London Tanners’ riding crop over equestrian riding crops from sporting good stores because the quality probably higher but with a length of 67cm it is considerably longer than commercial ones which would just look absurdly small on me.

The London Tanners DD Strap

Second their DD Strap. I have many spanking implements. More than I can actually store easily accessible in my playroom. But despite the vast collection, I am actually lacking a basic piece: A leather paddle large enough to hit both cheeks. I have bullet-proof and aluminum paddles which do this job but not a leather one. The sound and feeling of high quality leather compressing warm, soft skin is simply something completely different and arousing! So the DD Strap is something that would make my dick hard and my spankees scream.

As much as I love the rich tobacco color of the Mill Strap, both toys being classics, I would want to add them in classic BDSM black to my collection. While the Riding Crop at 79€ and the DD Strap at 109€ are on the higher end of the impact toy price range, if their craftsman’s quality and material is like the Mill Strap, they are worth their money! They are something to bequest.

ToyTorture’s Stocking Stuffer I – Vector Heavy Padded Bondage Sleeves

ToyTorture’s Stocking Stuffer I – Vector Heavy Padded Bondage Sleeves

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From 2012 to 2015 on each  Advent Sunday I presented you some (unusual) kinky Christmas gifts. The last two years due to being too busy with work I let this tradition slip but this year I decided to pick it up again. I did some research – and found only the same quirky stuff I recommended the last years. Since one of the most often asked reader questions is “Is there anything a guy with your toy collection still wants?”, I decided to write down what would be on my kinky wish list.

Detail of the Arms Tied Down on the Sides

The first item on the list are the Mr S Vector Heavy Padded Bondage Sleeves. They are basically the arms of their amazing Vector Ultra-Padded Straitjacket with a harness instead of body. I know, for most bondage aficionados, stricter, tighter, more layered bondage is appealing but I am more a practical kind of guy with a bit of claustrophobia. So these sleeves are perfect for me. They appear to be as effective in immobilizing a sub as a straitjacket does. You can even tie the arms parallel to the body. But instead of enclosing the torso in a layer of leather, there are just harness straps leave all the important parts like the nipples, ass and junk fully exposed. A skilled flogging top might be able to hit the shoulder blades between the harness’ leather belts. Each roller buckle strap on the sleeves to runs through a D-ring, providing enough anchorage points to fetter the sub down tightly for example to keep him from moving too much when being exposed to wax play. Otherwise the hot wax might tarnish the leather.

Detail of the Harness and the Straps holdign the Bondage Sleeves in Place

Besides the play aspect, I like the aesthetic component of it. When being bound in a straitjacket, the entire torso is covered, hiding the leather uniform, rubber gear of body writing the sub is proudly displaying or forced to wear. This limited coverage is also great for outdoor play in the summer or street fairs like Dore Alley, Folsom (Europe) or pride marches when a straitjacket over gear might cause the sub to overheat.

Being made out of a lot of leather and needing a lot of manual work to create the beautiful vector-quilted padding, the Vector Heavy Padded Bondage Sleeves are on the more expensive side of gear purchases at $879.95 but I am certain I will get my money’s worth once I add this piece of bondage gear to my collection.

Mill Strap

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The London Tanners Mill Strap

Vendor: The London Tanners

Construction

As the name of the impact toy already implies, the basis is one long 4cm wide strap of 5.5mm thick leather. The overall length of the toy is 36cm of which the lower 13.5cm are folded together by another, narrower strap and two sleeve nuts forming the grip. The narrower strap does not wrap tightly around the broader one but forms a little loop which houses a d-ring for easy storage. The toy features some nice details like the saddlers’ crease both on the broad and the narrow strap and the embossed hallmark on one side of the broad strap. Regarding the color, you can choose between a classic black or tobacco brown which I bought.

Detail of the embossed Company’s Hallmark

While this sounds pretty standard for an impact implement, what sets the Mill Strap apart from other is the leather and finishing quality. The leather quality caused some discussion in my testee panel. It is top notch pure vegetable tanned British hide. This means there is no risk of allergy due to Chrome-6 for example which is important when doing heavy impact play since the bottom’s sweat can wash out the Chrome-6 and the tormented skin can easily reabsorb it. However, since the oak tanning process is very gentle, the hide does not get softened. So now after almost three months of regularly using it, my Mill Strap is not even close to being broken in. What helps to facilitate the breaking in process is kneading the loop. This does not make the Mill Strap a bad toy, just for a relatively long time, it performs more like a paddle than a strap. Furthermore, the oak used for tanning the leather gives it a distinct, strong smell which – in my case luckily – will fade away over time while some testees liked it very much.

Detail of the Strap forming the Grip and housing the D-Ring for easier Storage

The finish quality is one of the best out there. The surface is oiled and waxed for a super-smooth finish and the edges are burnished for no unintentional abrasions.

Playing with the Mill Strap

The Mill Strap delivers what the name promises: An easy to control, stingy impact toy. Since the strap is flexible, it can even be used for warm-up when carefully and lightly tapping the bottom’s cheeks. While the strap is long enough to hit both cheeks, due to the thick leather’s weight this strap is rather loop-heavy. Because of that I would recommend targeting single cheeks.

As written above it takes some time to break the strap to get the slapping effect of this kind of toys. Once you have reached that point, the sensation of thick upper half back lashing turns the medium sting into an intense one. Also, the cracking sound of slappers and straps then appears, adding another sensual dimension to the impact play.

Detail of the Strap’s Loop with the Saddlers‘ Crease on both Sides

To my surprise, the Mill Strap does not color as much as I did expect of such toy. It will redden the skin quickly but not as much as a paddle and the red will quickly fade. Also none of my testees managed to produce bruises with it. While naturally this depends on the sub’s body, the Mill Strap seems to be a good implement for sessions which should not leave lasting marks.

If you prefer a little bit of thud, simply turn the toy around and hit the sub with the grip. The stiffness of four layers of tightly folded leather will still sting but the sheer weight will add some thud, giving the Mill Strap even some bruiser potential. Especially when the strap is broken in, flinging the grip forward will develop movement momentum, allowing to hit the sub with little force. Especially when doing this more or less uncontrolled hitting, the d-ring hitting the bottok might become a problem – or an appreciated backlash.

Conclusion: Premium stingy impact implement which take a long time to get broken in.
Pro Cons Where to get Price
High quality materials meets superior build quality and attention to detail Takes long time to break in The London Tanners 79€
Intense pain with little coloring Intense smell for the first weeks
Some thuddy potential when hitting with grip
D-ring for easy storage

Leather Handcuffs

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The Mr S Leather Handcuffs

Vendor: Mr S

Construction

The Leather Handcuffs are made out of two slim cuffs made out of belt leather. The belt leather strap is 25mm wide and lined with soft leather. 50mm behind the flap which houses the lockable roller-buckle the strap widens to 40m. This section is 120mm long and is padded with soft foam. Into the last, also 120mm long section of the strap holes have been punched for the buckle. The spacing allows the cuffs to adjust for almost every size of wrist; starting at a tiny diameter of 50mm up to a massive 100mm wrist diameter.

Detail of the Padding

The two cuffs are connected cross-over by two strong rivets. This way the cuffs don’t twist. Between them is an 80mm long and 25mm wide strap of leather which has welded D-rings on both ends. The Handcuffs come with a pair of keyed alike Master Locks.

Playing with the Leather Handcuffs

Handcuffs are one of the most common pervertable and thus bondage means in BDSM scene. Widely available they come loaded with fetish fantasies and are easy to use. But long-term wearing of tightly fitted handcuffs can lead to serious nerve damage and wrist injuries. So as hot as – carefully! – snapping handcuffs around the bottom’s wrist, they should not be worn during an entire scene. Through the wide strap and the padding these cuffs can be worn indefinitely long.

Detail of one of the D-rings

Unlike professional handcuffs these leather ones have to anchor points to incorporate them into a more elaborate bondage layout. My testees most often used them for rope bondage setups because the rope ran very smoothly through the D-rings. In combination with leather or rubber gear and toys I used them for impromptu shoulder-to-wrist restraints by locking them to a harness or connect them to a ball stretcher with a D-ring for an interesting feedback loop. The wide strap and padding provides some support for the wrist. So the handcuffs can be used for stress bondage like a hogtie. Unlike in a traditional hogtie the wrist are not in line with arms but oblique and over-cross. This adds extra stress to the arms and shoulders once the sub starts to move his legs. The leather handcuffs can even be used for limited suspension like keeping the sub on the tip of his toes, though they are not made for real suspension bondage.

Detail of the Locking Buckle

The large holes for the lockable buckle require rather large spacing between the holes. This makes a secure adjustment sometimes difficult when the wrist is just too large for the tighter hole and the next hole makes the fettering considerably looser. A locking pin with the consequently tighter spacing would have been better and more secure. To tell the truth this only happened once during the 6 month testing period. The cross-over design makes it really difficult to find a point of application to wiggle out of them.

Conclusion: Simple yet versatile handcuff like restraints.
Pro Cons Where to get Price
Comfortable to wear over extended periods of time Spacing sometimes too large for secure fettering Mr S $79.95
Locking
Two D-rings

 

Fetters Padded Fist Mitts

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The Fetters Padded Fist Mitts

Vendor: Regulation

Construction

The basic design of this toy are mono mittens which enclose the entire hand. They are conically shaped for a tight fit around the cuff. The mitts are padded all around with a medium firm padding.  The overall length of the body is 21cm and comes in two sizes: Small/Medium for a clenched fists circumference between 22.5cm and 27.5cm and Medium/Large a circumference between 28cm and 32cm. Regardless of the size, the cut of the mitts is rather restrictive. It is not possible to enter them with a clenched fist and even after they are broken in, putting them on takes a bit of strength – which bothered none of the bondage bottoms in the test panel.

Detail of the Locking Post to close the Mitts and one of the D-rings

The mitts are closed with a thick belt leather strap. It is attached to the body with two rivets. Between them there is a welded D-ring. There is another one at the end of the strap. What makes the strap special is the way it is closed: Unlike most other restraints, the mitts are not closed with a (roller) buckle but just with a locking pin. The holes in the strap have a 10mm spacing. The tight spacing in combination with the thick padding allows for the mitts to be fettered tight enough to make them inescapable.

I guess at this point I do not have to say much about the material quality anymore. Like every other piece of Fetters bondage gear the mitts are made out of highest quality leather which just smells awesome!

Detail of the Second D-ring on top of the Body

Playing with the Padded Fist Mitts

Mitts are the toy category to go to when the sub’s hand should be rendered useless. And these ones excel in it. The clenched fists in combination with the thick padding makes grabbing objects almost impossible. Grabbing larger, lighters ones like a gym bottle for hydration is still possible but requires a lot of attention and some practice. But most other tasks like operating a door handle or manipulating the toys and bondage gear put onto him, won’t be possible. This includes operation his dick. Even with spit or lube, only one of the testee subs could create enough friction through the padding to jerk off.

Detail of the Padding and the Expension Fold for easier Entry

Naturally the two D-rings are great for creative bondage layouts. The number of D-rings is especially useful when incorporating the mitts in a rope bondage setup. Since the mitts can only be closed using a lock, the sub soon will associate the mitts with inescapability, adding an important mental element to the play.

Another classic layout is for pet play: Simply attach connect the mitts with a collar and the sub is forced to walk on his elbows which is very stressful yet dehumanizing (for this layout elbow pads are a must!). Less intense is walking on all fours using his fists. In this situation the padding is thick enough for most kind of pet play, especially indoor and outdoor on tarmac and paved streets. For cobble stone roads and gravel paths the padding is a bit thin.

Conclusion: Well made, heavy duty bondage mitts
Pro Cons Where to get Price
Thigh and tapered fit for intense and secure bondage experience Padding could be thicker and firmer Regulation £119
Closed through locking posts
Two D-rings

 

Toy Prototype: Whale Penis Flogger

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ToyTorture.com is not only about reviewing toys. On a regular basis small toy makers approach me and ask for advice on market research and product design. Since clever, ingenious toy design intrigues me, I am always excited and happy to bring a new means of perversion into the world.

During the holiday season last year Jonas from Tromsø in Norway contacted me. His primary kink is impact play and in the long dark winters he taught himself how to make floggers. Like his father and grandfather he is working in fishery. After mastering the “traditional” hides like bull or elk, he quite successfully started experimenting with hides from his daytime job, mostly classic aquatic leathers like shark or ray. In October he got his hands on a truly unique hide and started turning it into a flogger which he was very eager to show me. Since he was in Berlin for BLF Easter, we met for a coffee at Romeo&Romeo today. I have seen many extravagant toys and unique designs, but this one blew my mind.

The Whale Penis Hide Tails before Stroking them

Knowing of his passion for exotic hides, a friend from the Norwegian College of Fishery Science gave Jonas a hide of a whale penis and he turned it into flogger tails. When I first saw the flogger, it looked weird. It had a standard sized grip but only six thin and short tails. I know this kind of tails from pocket floggers I sometimes use in spanking scenes. But they have smaller grips for better handling. The tails’ leather is very soft and flowing, almost like Deer hide and has a smooth, slightly grained surface. The magic start when you start stroking the tails: They quickly grow in length and width, get heavier and after a minute of caressing and jerking a full-sized flogger was lying on the table! What first was a light warm-up toy for small areas grew to a big, heavy thudder. This effect is the reason why there are only six tails. He experimented with eight or even twelve, but as soon as they started growing, the knot holding them together burst.

Obviously, this toy has great potential. It is small enough to fit in a pocket and is easy to carry around. The small tails work great for a close-up, intimate warm-up. Once you are done, simply stroke the tails or expose them to vibration to make them grow and continue the scene with full-size flogger.

After Stroking them, the Tails became long, thick, wide and heavy

As excited I am to get to call one of these floggers my own, Jonas still has some major problems to work out. First, there is the right amount of stroking. If you overdo it, the tails get hard as a rock and you either have to use it as a paddle, wait at least half an hour or put them into ice-water to make them soft again. Especially when using the ice-water, it takes a lot of rubbing to make them grow again. The next issue is the grip balance. It is either too small and too light to control the big thudder or cartoonishly large for the small, short tails. Until now, he only managed to make round-cut tail-ends. He experimented with angle-cut but if you hit the sub too hard with them, sometimes the tips squirt, soiling the sub’s back. Last but not least, ethically sourcing the hide is a big issue. But Jonas is determined to work out these kinks and bring this amazing product to the market soon. He is already experimenting with some other exotic hides. He showed me a video of an electric eel hide flogger he is hoping to turn into a toy, combining e-stim and impact play. So I am very certain we will hear a lot from this talented young man in the near future.

Leather Open Chin Hood No 2411

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The Parus Open Chin Hood

Vendor: Parus

Construction

The hood has a roughly anatomic shape with grommets at the bottom of the nose and a big cut-out for the mouth and the chin. It is made out of soft, fine-grain leather. Because the leather is not lined on the inside, it is very flexible and when tightened really hugs the skull. The construction is a traditional four-panel construction with seams in the middle and one running over each ear. Production-quality-wise this hood follows the high standards you can expect from Parus: All edges are finished with piping so the rough leather edge can’t irritate the skin or be felt uncomfortable; at the seams the leather has been folded, the fold sown together and the flaps sowed onto the body so there are also no rough edges there. To fetter the hood on the sub’s head, you lace it with a piece of leather string. There even is a piece of leather to cover the gap so even bigger heads are completely encapsulated in leather.

While I have bought this hood in classical all black leather, Parus offer this hood in many different colors and with contrast color panels. There is also a version with an attached collar which has a D-ring on the front and can be locked.

Detail of the Mouth Opening, the Breathing Grommets and the Piping and Seam Build Quality

Playing with the Open Chin Hood

The open chin is one of the classic hood designs out there. It not only robs the sub of his sight, leaving him at the mercy of his master, but unlike just using a blind fold, the encapsulation of the face in leather takes away the individuality and just leaves a mouth.

This reduction to just being a serving mouth is a hot turn-on for people. In my circle of friends this hood quickly become popular for leather gimps: While a full hood covers the entire head, it leaves the sub “useless”. With the open chin hood a gag can seal the mouth when not in used and easily be accessed again. One testee uses this Parus hood when bringing new subs into the gimp scene. From a head-harness over muzzle and hood with open eyes and mouth, the open chin hood is the last hood before the completely closed one. The large opening allows for unconstructed breathing so if the sub in training starts to panic, he can not only get fresh air easily but can be comforted by the touch of his master with leather separating them.

Detail of the Lacing at the Back

The most common types of play this hood can be used for are face-fucking and all kinds of tongue worship play, boot-worship and sneaker cleaning.  Unlike similar hoods from other manufacturers the opening for the chin of this Parus model is large enough to not constrict the chin, so the mouth can open up really wide. So taking the entire tip of the boot into the mouth or serving thick dicks is only limited by the sub’s jaw.

For leather fetishists, the open chin hood is a great toy for glove over mouth play. The grommets are easy to cover with a leather glove and the leather around the nose is soft enough for squeezing the nose that the breath play aspect of GoM play can easily be done. Furthermore it is a great mindfuck to have the last piece of bare skin gradually covered by soft leather until the entire head is wrapped in it.

A friend of mine got the yellow version of this hood and uses it for piss play, especially in party situations where his sub is reduced to being the courtesy urinal. While the hood works for this kind of play, I do not recommend it. The high salt-level of piss is bad for the leather. I would recommend getting a rubber hood for this kind of scenes.

Conclusion: Well made hood with isolation qualities which still leaves the mouth usable.  
Pro Cons Where to get Price  
Attention to detail makes this hood comfortable to wear over extended periods of time   Parus 129.99€
139.99€ (either different color or contrast color)
High quality leather
Even larger heads can be covered completely in leather 155.00€ (locking collar)

 

Kinkonomics – Sex Toy Pricing

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Last week sex toy pricing was twice the topic on Twitter: British gay sex shop Clonezone announced a sale up to 75% which lead to a little shit storm because people felt they Clonezone would generally overcharge them. Later this week, Twitter user DiggerPup responded to my review of the Mister B Nipple Claws that you could get the barrels off eBay as diamond prongs for around £3.50 instead of the £30 Mister B charges for the sex toy. Since both topics are somewhat related and the topic of sex toy pricing is a constant one in my reader questions, I decided to blog about it today.

The Iconic Mr S Store on 8th Street in San Francisco. Maintaining such a big presence in a high-rent area is expensive.

Running a business creates a lot of costs beyond the purchase price of the goods sold: Rent, insurance, capital costs, wages, income and value added taxes and many more. When the business manufactures own goods, the prices for workshop equipment, defective work and research & development also needs to be priced into the product price. If you are a multi-channel retailer (which means running an online and a brick & mortar business at the same time), your prices have to have a mixed calculation: Being competitive towards other online retailers, being the same offline and online and still covering the costs of stationary stores (for example store rent in the gay district which – especially through gentrification – is generally higher than the rent in an industrial estate).

While all retails have to cover these costs, kinky products come with the same challenges as luxury goods: They are not essential needs but part of the self-actualization so among all the other purchase possibilities they generally speaking rank amid the lowest in priority. Furthermore, once bought, the likelihood of purchasing a similar good again soon, is low compared to other products. So all the costs mentioned above need to be covered by products which are not bought often and are marketed to a niche.

For that reason, the profit margin of most kink products compared to luxury goods which ranges between 60% and 150%. This sounds like a lot, but if you take off the value added tax (in percentage points!) and take into consideration that the average receipt is relatively low because the most common purchases are cockrings, nipple clamps and lube, the profit is not that high.

The S10 Hooded Gas Mask: A good example how Labor and Material Costs increase the Price of a Pervertable

So, how does this relate to the two opening examples? First let’s talk about the Clonezone sale. The initial tweet read “Up to 75%”. The word “up” is important. I went to webpage linked in the tweet on Jan 21st at 6pm and the average discount over all offers was 26.11%. At an average cloth retailer you will get a bigger discount rate at an end of season sale. Looking at the profit margin from the last paragraph and taking into consideration the VAT, the products are not that outrageously overpriced as the 75% discount would imply but priced margin-wise in the neighborhood of average department store or luxury products.

The Mister B Nipple Claws are actually a good example to illustrate why kink products are not as overpriced as they first might appear. If you wanted to make your own Nipples Claws you would need two diamond prongs which cost £9 including shipping and chain and the two bails for approx. £2. The labor time for drilling, deburring and soldering will take about 10 minutes which will cost approx. £4. So a self-made Nipple Claw would cost you £15 – not including tool depreciation and maintenance costs, the labor costs for purchasing the materials and the hypothetical costs of defective work. Taking into consideration scale effects, the Nipple Claws will have a purchase price for Mister B of £10. But Mister B is not only a multi-channel retailer, but also a wholesaler. They need to price their products so they can sell it to other retailers with a profit and they must be able to make a profit covering all the costs of their own business.

The Mr S Four Buckel Restraints and Bishop Head Harness. Two of the probably most knocked-off Piece of Bondage Gear.

While I am on the subject, I want to address a third aspect I often get asked: Why are toys from Bad Dragon, Square Pegs or Oxballs so expensive? Why buy the original products from Mr S or Regulation when there are cheaper version of them from Asia on eBay?

  1. Raw Material Price: Premium sex toy maker use premium, but thus more expensive materials. Silicone for example needs a catalyst which can be the inexpensive metal lead. But for humans, lead is an highly toxic material so body-safe products should use the catalyst platinum which naturally is more expensive. Most leather from Asia is dressed in a way which does not satisfy European or American safety standards. Potentially dangerous chemicals and processes are used among which the Chrome-6 allergy is the most common yet the most “harmless”. Since most leather pieces designed for BDSM are worn on the bare skin, these chemicals are more easily absorbed through body warmth and sweat than when the leather is used to make a cheap leather jacket which has a cloth lining.
  2. Liability Risks and Customer Loyalty: The potential harm through cheap raw materials is only one part of potential liability risk. When selling bondage gear for extremer scenes like suspension, the production quality has to be so good, that an avarage piece being sold must be able to good enough to satisfy safety requirements even when assesed in court.
    Because established companies have become a brand of their own. The customer expects a certain level of product quality. Otherwise through the small size of the kink community, a bad reputation quickly spreads which can easily get a company into big economic troubles. This kind quality control causes higher costs through more thorough manufacturing, quality testing of samples or all products and higher cull.
  3. Lack of scale effects: Most kink products are not made in large quantities. A type of bondage gear is usually only manufactured two or three pieces at a time because the capital tie-cost would be too high to produce them in bulk and just store them. Through the large number of different color and pattern options, firmness degrees and extras, each Bad Dragon toy is individually made. Despite the basic technique of making leather or polymer toys is the same, there is no real chance of gathering much experience making the individual model so there are only little scale effects (for example increased manufacturing speed and reduction of defective work).

  4. The Prototype of the Mountain Drake Dildo, submitted by user Xan to the Bad Dragon Labs

    Labor costs: These companies are usually located in the western world and there in areas with high living costs like London or LA. Through social security systems and generally high living costs than in developing countries, the labor costs of skilled craftsmen like leather tailors are considerably higher causing higher product prices.

  5. Research and Development: The more elaborate the product, the more complex the design process is going to be. For example: Oxballs uses 3D printer to rapid prototype their new toys, Bad Dragon has an entire community dedicated to product design, not to talk about how difficult it is to create a sowing pattern for ergonomically designed bondage gear. All these efforts to design new products costs time and thus labor, sometimes required special equipment (3D printer, CAD programs, etc.) and expensive raw materials.

I know that sex and kink toys are expensive and that there are always more toys a kinkster wants than he can afford. But I hope this little blog entry illustrated well why the products we perverts yearn for are most of the time worth the price in the store.