Category: Toys

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Broken Links

While I was researching one of my recent posts, I discovered that a fair few places that I had used over the years to purchase items are no longer viable.  The websites are gone, the people that ran them seem to be no longer in the scene, or just gave up on the whole business side of it, because of, oh, I dunno, reasons?

Add in the fact that it’s getting harder and harder to find new businesses that have the quality of product to replace the ones that have gone by the wayside.  Sure, I could shop at established places like The Stockroom, or Damax, but the former does tend to import a good amount of their product from China, or it’s mass produced, so therefore a lesser quality (think Chinese steel) and the latter is overseas, just in the other direction.  And a bit pricier because of location, they’re usually one offs, and I’m probably only going to order one of his wares in the near future.  And don’t get me started on Swedish Collar.

Etsy is definitely a possibility, considering that a lot of people go there to sell their wares, but you have to take a chance with quality as you really don’t know the people, feedback on the reviews can be spotty, so it’s a lot like Internet dating anymore.  Separating the wheat from the chaff can be an expensive prospect.  Honestly, right now about the only things I’d be in the market for would be furniture for the future (BDSM variety) and some metal toys. 

Fortunately, none of the big box home improvement stores will be going out of business anytime soon, and repurposing stuff found there is relatively easy.  It doesn’t always even require the ability to weld.  Kink(dot)com managed to prove with plumbing supplies, one could easily construct a bondage frame that would be inexpensive, very adaptable, and fit almost anyone.  Put it in a room where it wasn’t a problem screwing the contraption into the floor and you’re all set.

I’m certainly not saying there aren’t quality vendors anymore.  It’s just I’m finding the ones I’ve been familiar with, are now gone.  But many more have taken their place, and in spite of the market being swamped with a lot of less than stellar quality wares, the fact that BDSM is becoming more mainstream does mean that there will be more stuff to choose from in the future.  One just has to shop wisely.

 

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Lament

lament  [ləˈment] - noun
1. an expression of regret or disappointment

Of all of the kink-related toys that I’ve either purchased or acquired over the years, I would have to say far and away my collection of floggers are my most prized.  That being said, I somewhat regret choosing the Heartwood elk flogger instead of the Heartwood Leather Pride deer flogger when my second submissive and I parted ways.

Now this is going back more than twenty years, mind you.  The only flogger that I own/co-own that’s older than that is the flogger my wife and I received as a wedding present in 1993.  Yes, from a kinky friend.  That one is purple and was made by a rather famous (for the scene) crafter by the name of Metz.  She is long since retired now.

I was thinking about them the other day when I messaged one of my scene friends that had promised me many years ago to make another Leather Pride flogger just like the one that I passed up on.  I had done some work for her, and we were going to trade expertise.  She’d make me a flogger in partial payment for what I had done for her electronically.  Only, she was in the process of caring for her aged mother, so she wasn’t able to hold up her end of the bargain.  And now I discovered that the website that she had been holding on to for possibly restarting the business lapsed in payment and was gobbled up by a Chinese holding company.  And even worse.  I just happened to look at her profile on FB, did a little digging into it, and discovered that she passed away in 2021.  Well, that does explain why she went silent.  RIP my friend.

Another lament.

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Old Dogs and New Tricks

The other day, I was combing through my email and a Fetlife post caught my eye.  It was from someone that wasn’t on my radar, and they were posting about a steel collar that they had recently crafted in their home workshop and were posting not only pictures but a veritable how-to of how they did the work.

Which is rather unusual, to say the least for the platform, and many places in general.  Most post pictures of their work, or what they have in their toy collections, without really giving any background, just sort of a ‘here’s my thing’ and that’s about it.  I went to this person’s profile and perused more of their pictures and posts.  Commented on some and ‘gave love’ to others, which interested me.

On the collar post, there was a good deal of back and forth commenting between myself and her, and I took the time to follow them on the platform, for future reference.  In another post, I commented that it was nice that she was offering insight on how a certain item was crafted, both in giving insight as well as particular methods.  I’ve often considered making my own toys, and using my imagination to craft things.  Granted I don’t have a good deal of equipment to do anything really detailed (though I bought a 1941 Singer Model 66 last year with the intent of sewing leather cuffs and restraints which I haven’t yet brought to fruition) as of yet, but perhaps in time when I’m not swamped by work and other issues, I can set aside some time to get my act together in that regard.

I may be getting old (58 is rapidly approaching in the next 2 weeks) but I’m not putting myself out to pasture just yet.  There’s more stuff to do yet.