This article was originally published, in slightly different form, in Issue #61 of Bound & Gagged magazine.

In honour of our favourite magazine's 10th Anniversary, 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 get some back issues and "bone up" before your next scene.

1. 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.

 

2. 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.

 

3. 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.
   3. 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.
   4. 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.
   5. Immediately let you loose and prepare a tub of hot water with Epsom salts to soak your injured leg.
   6. Alternately apply an ice pack and a heating pad for five minutes each to the affected leg until the cramp goes away.

 

4. 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.

 

5. 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.

 

6. 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.

 

7. 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.

 

8. 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.

 

9. 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.

 

10. 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 here

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