Bondage Safety I.Q. Test

by David Stein and
Richard Sommers, MD

Here are ten questions to test your bondage preparedness. If you get all ten right, you're a regular Bondage Scout. Fewer than five, and you really ought to work with a Bondage Master to "bone up" before your next scene.

Questions:

You've tied your buddy standing up with his legs spread and his hands pulled up over his head. He has a nice fat gag strapped in his mouth, but you can still hear him moan as you pull on his balls. Suddenly his knees give way — he's fainted! What do you do?
1. Shake him and slap him until he comes around. If he doesn't revive in 15 minutes, call an ambulance.
2. Ungag him, release his wrists, lower him to the floor, prop up his head, and blow air into his lungs until he recovers.
3. Wave smelling salts or ammonia under his nose until he revives, then continue the scene.
4. Release his hands and lower him to the floor, then release his legs and prop them up so they're higher than his head. Finally, take off the gag.
5. Release all the restraints, drag him over to a chair, and apply cold compresses to his forehead.
You've been struggling and straining for an hour or more against tight ropes around your ankles, wrists, biceps, and thighs, loving every minute of it. When your partner finally lets you loose, however, you have nasty red "burn" marks everywhere. How can you alleviate this unintended suffering?
1. Wash the "burns" with alcohol, followed by soap and water, and then bandage them snugly.
2. Paint the "burns" with Mercurochrome, then wrap them carefully with multiple layers of gauze.
3. Nothing. Relax and enjoy the pain until they heal on their own.
4. Apply warm compresses, changing them every hour or so.
5. Wash the "burns" with cool water, pat dry with sterile gauze, and lightly apply a sunburn lotion or aloe-vera cream.
You're in a tight spreadeagle, writhing and moaning in pleasure/pain as your partner spanks your ass or plays with your nipples and balls. All of a sudden, one leg cramps and you shriek at the excruciating pain. What should he do to help?
1. Nothing. It'll go away by itself, especially if he's giving you pain elsewhere as a counter-irritant.
2. Gently bend your foot toward you to stretch out the tightened calf muscles. After the acute pain eases, he should release that leg and lightly massage the calf. If you're standing, he should get you down in order to take any weight off the affected limb.
3. Release the affected leg and stretch it out as straight as possible for a count of five, then bend it back at the knee for a count of five, repeating these motions several times.
4. Immediately let you loose and prepare a tub of hot water with Epsom salts to soak your injured leg.
5. Alternately apply an ice pack and a heating pad for five minutes each to the affected leg until the cramp goes away.
He tied you to an old bed frame with duct tape, then teased and tickled you until you both got off. When he starts to release you, however, the tape rips your body hair out by the roots and peels off your top layer of skin! How can he minimize this post-scene torture?
1. Pull the tape off as fast as possible so you'll have less time to feel it.
2. Soak the tape with alcohol to help dissolve the adhesive, then rip it off.
3. Apply solvent or cooking oil a little at a time while slowly pulling the tape outward, holding your skin down along the receding edge of the tape with his other hand.
4. Cut you loose from the bed frame. The tape will fall off by itself in a few days.
5. Carefully remove the tape from your wrists so that you can get the rest of it off at your own pace.
You've mummified him with plastic wrap and duct tape, and laid him on the bed for a nice long session. He drank a big glass of water before you started, but how do you prevent dehydration during an extended scene (more than three hours)?
1. A man can survive up to 48 hours without water, so unless you're going to keep him wrapped for more than a day, don't worry about it.
2. Don't gag him, and let him tell you when he's thirsty.
3. Catheterize him and connect the tube to his gag so that he recycles his own piss.
4. A good rule of thumb is a cup of liquid every hour.
5. Make him drink a quart of fruit juice or Gatorade every three hours.
How can you be sure rope, leather, or metal restraints don't cut off circulation?
1. As long as you could make it tighter and he can still wiggle his fingers or toes, it isn't too tight.
2. You should be able to work two fingers between a rope tie or leather cuff (or collar) and the subject's skin; rope or leather cock-and-ball bondage can be a good deal tighter as long as you can still remove it easily if he swells up.
3. Handcuffs and other metal wrist restraints should be loose enough to slide up half an inch or more. You should be able to rotate metal ankle cuffs at least 90 degrees and a metal collar all the way around the neck. Metal cock and ball rings or restraints should be looser than comparable leather or rope bindings.
4. If the skin below a restraint (that is, away from the heart) loses color or turns cold, the restraint is too tight and should be loosened or removed immediately.
5. If a limb goes numb, the restraint is too tight and should be loosened or removed immediately.
You were tightly handcuffed during a scene, and after you're released, you notice that one thumb is completely numb. What can you do?
1. Very little; eventually it will get better by itself. You should see a doctor if it gets worse or there's no improvement after a week.
2. Soak your hand in warm water for a couple of hours every day until the feeling returns.
3. See a doctor immediately, because without aggressive treatment the numbness could spread.
4. Vigorous exercise, like squeezing a rubber ball, will gradually restore sensation.
5. Bandage the hand so that you can't move it at all for at least 48 hours.
You've stuffed his mouth with bandanas and sealed it with gaffer's tape. His nose is unobstructed, but while you're busy with more interesting parts of his anatomy, he starts shaking his head violently and screaming into the gag. He can't breathe! What should you do, and how long do you have to do it?
1. Spray nasal decongestant into his nose to eliminate the stuffiness.
2. Get the gag off fast, because he could suffer permanent brain damage in as little as two minutes.
3. Using cotton swabs, coat the insides of his nostrils with a mentholated salve to clear his sinuses.
4. Put Vaseline on the ends of short (5- to 6-inch) pieces of rubber tubing and slide them up his nostrils as far as you can without forcing.
5. Don't panic. As long as you get the gag off within four minutes, he'll be okay.
Your favorite bondage position is the classic hogtie, with hands and feet tied to each other behind the back, but you've read that prisoners in police custody have died while restrained that way. What should you do?
1. Never use this position. It's not worth the risk.
2. Don't believe everything you read. If you, or your buddy, are in good physical condition, being hogtied won't hurt you.
3. A hogtie is dangerous only if the subject is placed face down and left alone. If someone else is present and alert to deal with any breathing problems that develop, the risk is minimal.
4. If your partner has any trouble breathing while hogtied face down, just turn him on his side, or tie his hands and feet together with his hands in front of his body, a variation that many guys can handle better for long sessions or overnight.
5. A face-down hogtie is no problem as long as there's no additional pressure on the neck.
What are the three most important pieces of safety equipment every bondage player should have handy?
1. A flask of brandy, genuine amyl-nitrite poppers, and smelling salts.
2. Blunt-tipped EMT (emergency medical technician's) shears, a separate ring of duplicate keys for all locks, and at least one quick-release ("panic") snap.
3. An icepack, bolt-cutting shears, and Goo-Gone solvent.
4. A heating pad, lock-picking tools, and a first-aid manual.
5. A sharp knife, isopropyl alcohol, and Ace bandages.

Answers:

d. A faint occurs because fresh blood isn't reaching the brain. The most important thing is to get the victim on the ground and raise his legs so that gravity will help send blood toward his head. He'll almost always come to on his own in a few minutes, but he might not be fit to resume the scene or do much of anything else for half an hour or more. While a faint can occur without warning for many reasons, the most frequent cause during bondage and s/m play is the use of poppers, which dilate blood vessels, reducing blood pressure and making it easier for it to drain away from his head.
e. Rope "burns" (abrasions) will normally heal by themselves in a day or so. Topical ointments can reduce the pain, but the main healing agents are air and light. Bandages can help avoid infection or further irritation, but use only one or two loose layers of gauze. If you enjoy tight rope bondage, the best way to prevent burns is to tie the ropes over socks, boots, gloves, or other clothing.
b. A cramp occurs, most commonly in the calf area, when overextended or overworked muscles suddenly tighten and go into spasm. The best way to break the spasm is to gently stretch them out again, which bending your foot will do in this case. Massage will promote blood circulation, carrying away waste products in the overactive muscles. Applying an ice pack for 10–15 minutes can also help the muscles relax. After the pain eases, it's better to work the affected muscles lightly by walking around than to stay immobile, which generally means postponing any more rigid bondage.
c. Alcohol won't dissolve tape adhesive, and ripping it off fast will only maximize the damage. Various household solvents (such as Goo-Gone from the Vermont Country Store catalog) will work, but the safest way to neutralize duct tape's stickiness is with ordinary cooking oil, especially if he's used the tape on your mouth or eyes — always a bad idea. The best way to prevent problems with duct tape is simply not to apply it to bare skin, but only over clothing or plastic wrap. For tape gags, blindfolds, or restraints on bare skin, use gaffer's tape, which is just as strong but not as sticky, so it peels off easily when you're finished.
d. How fast you use water depends on a lot of variable factors, including your size and condition, the ambient temperature and humidity, and how hard you're working. A man mummified in plastic wrap will sweat copiously even in a cool room, more so if you're increasing his stress level with mind games or by playing with his helpless body, and in any long scene he's going to need to piss. People who are dehydrated don't always feel thirsty, so it's not safe to rely on him to tell you when he needs water. A cup of fresh liquid every hour should be plenty for most guys; a big bear who struggles a lot may need more. While making him recycle his own piss could be a big turn-on, and it's not unsafe in moderation, the piss will get more and more concentrated (nastier and more toxic) over time, and it cannot replace the fluid he'll lose from sweating. It's safer to combine recycling with an adequate supply of fresh liquid.
b, c, d, and e are all correct. If you follow these rules of thumb when applying restraints and checking on them during a scene, you're unlikely to encounter serious circulatory problems. Remember that bound limbs and genitals can retain fluid and swell up, making restraints that seemed okay at the start too tight later on. In a rigid-bondage scene, check the restraints at least every 15 minutes or so, especially if you're playing near the edge with bondage that's intended to be painful or punishing. Prolonged immobility can also reduce circulation in parts of the anatomy that aren't directly bound, such as the thighs and buttocks, so vary your partner's position periodically — turn him over, turn him on his side, make him sit or stand for a while, and so on.
a. Nerves damaged from handcuffs that were too tight or improperly used (such as for suspension) normally heal themselves, but it can take up to six months for symptoms to disappear completely, depending on the extent of the damage. Aspirin or another anti-inflammatory drug may help in the first day or two, and hot packs, cold packs, massage, and mild exercise may also help a little, but there's no quick cure. Normal use of the hand will generally not have any ill effect.
b. While "Don't panic" is always good advice, it's never safe to assume your partner is one of those rare souls who can hold his breath for as much as four minutes. By the time you notice he has a problem, a minute or more may have already gone by — especially if you were on the other side of the room or, worse, outside of it. The safest assumption is that you have only 30 seconds to get the gag off, and any gag that can't be removed that quickly (cutting it off if necessary) simply isn't safe. The other suggestions may all be worthwhile preventive measures if the bottom is prone to nasal congestion, but they won't work nearly fast enough in an emergency.
c and d. Some guys are too heavy to be suspended safely, and some aren't limber enough to be hogtied without an unacceptable level of pain. That aside, there's no reason to avoid this favorite position if you take the indicated precautions. While breathing will always eventually become difficult in a face-down hogtie, even without a gag, short scenes should be no problem, and a tragic outcome is unlikely even in a longer scene as long as the top stays alert. But if you want to hogtie your partner for the night and get some sleep yourself, lay him on his side or tie his hands in front.
b. Using a knife to cut off ropes, straps, a sock gag, or a folded bandana when you're in a hurry is asking for trouble — you're as likely to cut him, or yourself, as to effect a speedy release. EMT shears are designed for the job and can do it quickly and safely. But not all blunt-tipped shears are EMT-grade; flimsy shears designed to cut paper or thin cloth are worse than useless. And while padlocks, handcuffs, etc. generally come with two keys, people have a bad habit of storing both keys in the same box, or else putting one key on a ring and losing the spare. A bondage player who uses his head will make up two duplicate rings of keys, keep one in the toy bag or playroom, and store the other separately for emergency use.
Finally, quick-release "panic" snaps should always be used to attach critical weight-bearing restraints. It is extremely difficult to untie, unlock, or unbuckle restraints that are under tension, as when they're holding up a bottom who's fainted. A panic snap stays shut because of a sliding metal ring held in place by gravity; even with weight hanging from the snap, you can slide the ring up and open it. If you can't find these snaps at a regular hardware store or your favorite kink supplier, try an equestrian shop or the climbing department in a sporting-goods store.

Bondage Safety I.Q. Test

Questions:

Answers:

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