SM 101: A Realistic Introduction (30 page)

A winch can be an excellent alternative. The better ones for this purpose allow you to keep control without assuming the load’s weight when both raising
and
lowering. I once saw a fairly bad accident occur when the handle on a less-than-ideal winch slipped from the dominant’s hand while lowering a submissive. This winch required the dominant to “control” the handle during lowering. When it slipped from their hand, the submissive plummeted down. The submissive was hurt by the falL The dominant was hurt when they tried (unsuccessfully) to grab the winch’s whirling handle.

I have seen several block-and-tackle arrangements that I like. These allow gradual raising and lowering with excellent control. The ones sold in hunting stores look especially good. (Just make sure the load-securing line can’t unexpectedly come loose!)

Suspension can be one of the most intense forms of bondage, but its much-greater-than-average riskiness requires knowledgeable instruction and close attention to detail.

I want to know that you will if I want you to.

Chains, Locks, Etc.

It’s difficult to bind someone using only chain. I suppose some people can do it, but it’s not a generally useful bondage practice.

In general, you should use welded-link chain. Light chain is strong enough for most ordinary bondage. Very heavy chain tends to be more trouble than it’s worth.

Chains tend to clank a lot. One way to deal with this is to coat them with a velvet or rubber sleeve. Some people pull their chain into a length of light plastic tubing.

Before you buy chain, you should have some special idea of what you wish to use it for, and have it cut to that length in the hardware store. Many people use two-foot and three-foot lengths. The links allow for a wide and very fine range of adjustments.

Some dominants reward their submissives by allowing them an extra link’s worth of freedom if they do something pleasing.

Chain safety measures.
Chains are unforgiving and unreasonable. Unlike rope and leather, in an emergency you cannot simply cut them off with the nearest sharp instrument. Furthermore, locks sometimes break or simply wear out. For this reason, you need to have the following safety equipment handy if you play with chains.

1. A hacksaw and at least six blades hard enough to cut through the type of chain you have. Ask the hardware store clerk if you aren’t sure. Using your new saw and blades to saw through an expendable link “for practice” is an excellent idea.

2. A pair of bolt cutters. Get a little extra chain and practice cutting.

3. A pair of vise-grips or a vise. These can help steady the chain while you cut through it, speeding up the cutting process.

4. A metal file. You can use this to make a shallow cut as a guide for the hacksaw blade.

5. Quick-release “panic snaps” that allow the chain to be instantly loosened.

Padlocks.
Padlocks are used to lock chains and cuffs securely together. They are generally either combination-operated or key-operated. Key-operated locks are faster to remove — always helpful in an emergency. (How well do you think you could accurately dial in a combination if your submissive were chained to the bed with combination-operated padlocks, especially if each lock had a different combination? If a fire or medical emergency occurred, you — not to mention they — would be in major trouble.)

Some dominants, as a mind game, leave their submissives alone in chains with the combination lock within reach. The submissive has a certain time to free themselves, or they get “punished.”

Combination padlocks are fun, but they have a sharply limited range of safe use. Most people use key-operated locks.

How to deal with the different key needed for each lock.
Some people use colored dots to match keys to locks, but that’s cumbersome, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous. A much safer, more efficient practice is to buy locks that are “keyed alike” and can be operated with the same key. You can either do this at the time of purchase or have a locksmith do it for you. Again, you’ll want lots of spare keys.

Special links.
One excellent way to attach a chain to either a cuff or an eye-bolt is to use a “quick link.” These links have a side that screws open and shut, thus allowing the chain to be attached. The link is twisted tight then, if the dominant wishes, further tightened by a small wrench. This tightens the link enough that a bare-fingered submissive will never be able to twist it loose even if they can reach it - a nice touch. A good safety aspect of this is that such a mechanism is much less likely to break or wear out than a padlock mechanism. (Oil them lightly once in a while to help prevent jamming.)

quick link

These links are an excellent combination of simplicity, security, and safety. I would like to see them much more widely used. Also, I think the sight of a small wrench hanging off somebody’s left hip could come to have an interesting significance. The quick links can also, of course, be used alone to link two leather cuffs together, or to link a cuff to an eye-bolt.

carabiner
(shown open)

Carabiners.
A carabiner is a device used for mountain climbing and similar sports. It is a large oval, D-shaped, or pear-shaped metal device, with a spring-loaded side that snaps into place. Some types “lock” with a rotating latch that prevents them from opening accidentally.

The advantage of carabiners is that they are designed to bear large amounts of weight (such as people), and are very easy to use. One disadvantage is that if chains are attached to a carabiner, and then the whole thing is twisted by a wriggly submissive, the carabiner may eventually twist sideways and be forced open. (For this reason, it’s not a good idea to attach one carabiner to another.) You can avoid this problem by using a locking carabiner.

The other disadvantage to carabiners is that they’re easy for the submissive to open. If you want to use carabiners, place them out of the submissive’s reach.

I love being in extreme bondage.

Double snaps.
Many people use double snaps to lock cuffs into place. Double snaps are quick and simple to operate but, obviously, very insecure. If a submissive can reach a double snap with their fingers, they can be free of it in an instant. Wise dominants therefore secure “reachable” cuffs with padlocks or quick links. Wrist cuffs joined by a double snap are a farce. Double snaps do work well, however, on ankles - provided the submissive’s toes aren’t too nimble. Double snaps may not be safe for heavy load-bearing such as suspension.

double snap

Eyebolts.
Eyebolts are a very common item. You find them attached to beds, chairs, massage tables, walls, and ceilings. I’ve even seen one set into a fireplace hearth. Some screw into wood, others have bolts and nuts at the end for going through a wall, ceiling, or board.

eyebelt

If you use eyebolts, make sure they’re securely attached. I remember once having an attractive lady tied naked and spread-eagled to eyebolts in my bed. I told her that if she could get loose in ten minutes, I would be submissive to her. Otherwise, she was mine for the night. I figured I couldn’t lose. This session took place during my “bondage days” and I felt certain those ropes were on very securely.

And I was indeed quite correct. She squirmed and struggled for a while (a quite pleasant sight, by the way) and glared at the ropes around her wrists. All this got her, as I expected, absolutely nowhere. She continued to glare at her ropes, and then a small smile spread across her face. She stretched out one hand, grabbed an eyebolt and, grinning evilly in triumph, began unscrewing it from the bed! More than 20 years have since passed, and I still remember that very, very long night.

Be sure to “load-test” any weight-bearing eyebolts you install in a ceiling or wall. Because I’m taller and heavier than average, a professional dominant once asked me to help her do such testing on 12 hooks that had been installed in her dungeon’s ceiling by a submissive carpenter. I was to teach a somewhat formal first aid class later in the day, so when I stopped by I was wearing my instructor’s uniform.

We went into the dungeon and I looped some rope through one of the eyebolts. I grabbed an end in both hands, and was just about to pull myself up when the thought crossed my mind: what if that bolt
does
pull out? It’ll smack me with entirely too much force right on the top of my head.

Obviously, I needed to pad my head with something. We looked around, and the only thing handy that would work was a small, lacy, pink pillow. So, all right. We got another length of rope and I tied the pillow onto the top of my head as padding.

And thus I found myself, dressed in my instructor’s uniform and with a pretty, pink pillow tied to the top of my head, dangling from the ceiling in the dungeon of a Mistress in order to test the load-bearing capacity of her new eyebolts. The things I do for my friends!

Have you bought those new wrist cuffs yet?

And a good thing, too! For eyebolt number three pulled loose, dumping me on the floor and showering us both with plaster. (I felt a light tap on the top of my prettily padded head.) Eyebolt number nine pulled loose, too, as did eyebolt number ten.

Well, she graciously thanked me, we brushed off the plaster, chatted a bit more, and drank some refreshments. After a while, I left to teach my class. The fate of that submissive carpenter remains unknown.

Ribbon. Ribbon can be a very deceptive bondage device, and one female dominant I know uses this to good effect. This lady has a particular interest in the psychology of dominant/submissive encounters and mind games. She therefore asks new male partners if she can tie them up with “these pretty ribbons.” She says that they’ll look real cute that way, and that would really turn her on. The ribbon itself appears harmless enough.