Nearly everyone who is into BDSM owns at least one pair of leather wrists and one pair of leather ankle cuffs. Most own more than one set. While it seems so simple, there is actually a lot to say about the most basic of restraining devices.

This may sounds silly, but the first requirement for leather cuffs is that they should fit! The problem is that well over 80 percent of the leather cuffs, produced commercially, do not! Especially not if the slave happens to be female. The vast majority of commercial production is aimed at submissive men and as a result most cuffs are simple too big and too wide for use on women.

You can save yourself a lot of money and (yet another) disappointment if you bring your sub or slave with you, when you go out to buy cuffs and have her fit them in the store. If that is not allowed – leave it. It is not worth your money.

The second important thing is that straight forward handcuffs are designed to connect one arm (or leg) to the other in some way – they were not designed to hang from! Even when standing with the hands cuffed overhead, special cuffs should be used in order to avoid damage to one of the main nerves, the one that send messages to and from your extremities, this is what makes us very different from any other mammal: the thumb! Loose the feeling in that nerve (which is more than a little likely) and you’ll have trouble picking up a cup or a pencil or anything else for a long time to come!

Cuffs should be properly constructed. Cowhide is the best choice for cuffs, since it is strong and durable. Ideally the cuffs should be lined with a thinner layer of leather, so sweat cannot soak into the inside of the leather. D-rings (the ones you use to connect on cuff to another) should be welded for safety reasons and rivets, suds and rings should be steel, not nickel, in order to avoid rusting. Cheap leather cuffs are always a bad choice. Remember they will be on the body of your loved one and at times her well being may depend on them. So only the best is good enough!

Leather collars again are almost always made too big for women, which makes them very uncomfortable to wear. Here again, the advice is to fit them in the shop before buying one and nine out of ten times a simple (and much cheaper) dog collar from your local pet shop will do the same thing and probably better.

Check “The Workshop” section for cuff designs, you can easily make yourself as well as for hints and tips about leather maintenance. Especially if bondage is new to you, it is a good idea to have a few leather belts (straps) around. They are easy to work with and quite handy in many situations, either to use as a bondage tool on the body, or to strap your slave to a table, a chair, or a bed.

Belts are safe, easy to use and relatively cheap. Check with shops that sells luggage equipment for longer straps.

Ideally, they should not have sharp edges. If they do, that is usually easily corrected by massaging a firm dose of Vaseline into the belt, which is very good for your leather anyway.

Do invest in a tool to cut extra holes in your belts (that comes in handy anyway, since almost all leather equipment requires such small adjustments) and make many, so your belts are ready to tackle just about every possible bondage situation.

Different lengths is a good plan, since having a choice will not leave you with ugly long ends if you have only one type of belt.

Go for luggage belts rather than waist belts, since the latter usually have fancy buckles and all sorts of studs and decorations, that has a tendency to get in the way when used for bondage purposes.

The above article is a reprint from our information/educational site Kink Culture.
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