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Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 16 Jul 2018, 17:53
by hormidas
Let me be frank about it, Self-Bondage is fun, we enjoy doing it, and that is why we do it. Like many hobbies, there is an element of danger involved. Sky Diving, Skiing, White Water Rafting, and other semi and extreme sports have risk elements involved.. But we mitigate those risks with training, practice, and taking safety precautions.. As a skier, I ensure that I ski safely, within bounds, and I wear a helmet. When I am kyacking I wear a life jacket. I don't sky dive, but I know they typically have reserve chutes.

When I practice self bondage, I know safety is paramount.. I don't want to die, or be injured practicing my hobby. Here are some of my key elements to safety.

#1: Forgo any kind of breath play whatsoever. I will never restrict my breathing in any way. I do not ever gag myself, or put anything at all around my neck. I never block either my nose or my mouth. Keep your airways open and unrestricted...do not take breathing for granted.

#2: Whatever your chosen release method, always have a backup plan. There are so many out there, but know that anything can happen at any time, and you may need to release yourself from the bondage at a moments notice. Your back up plan should have you able to be out in under 30 seconds, so whatever it is make sure it works.. The cost and annoyance of having to clean up red paint (for example) certainly beats, being burnt up in a fire, or caught in an earthquake. If you feel a medical emergency coming on, just get out. There could be an emergency away from your scene that requires your attention, you need to get out fast, have that available.

#3: Resist last minute urges to "punish yourself more" by imposing more restrictive bondage than what you planned.. Go with a well though out, and practiced plan. Make sure everything works, and that you will get the experience you want, safely. If you fail to plan for your mission, you plan to fail, and that is no fun at all. I remember an old management adage, i retain to this day in my business.. There is never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.

Enjoy your sessions. I will post in a more appropriate forum a description of a session I have been planning for a while.. Watch for it soon

Re: Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 17 Jul 2018, 01:09
by bound_jenny
Well written, hormidas, and welcome to the forum! :hi:

One more cool head around is certainly not too many. 8)

Jenny.

Re: Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 11 Aug 2018, 19:28
by vm1971
That's all sound advice but also contradictory to the nature of selfbondage which is inherently dangerous.

Most people who practice will use many methods of mitigating the dangers but outright safety isn't going to accomplish the desired goal for most.

Personally, I get no pleasure from merely being chained up with backup keys in a bucket of paint. I prefer to be strictly bound with very limited mobility. Being able to scream or yell for help ruins any feelings of true helplessness so a gag is essential..and the more sound eliminating, the better. Knowing you can get free in 30 seconds means I'm not actually bound. The whole exercise would be pointless for me.

I prefer to hogtie myself with rope and multi-layer gags. Backup knife will still take me 20 minutes to get free. Primary knife will take at least an hour as I'll have to slither through the house to get to it. I've made that scenario last as long as 12 hours with various obstacles and predicaments added. I'm a little extreme that way but much less than that and I'd never get any satisfaction and eventually I'd do something actually stupid.

The real mantra is "Do as much as you need to in order to find pleasure but don't go overboard."

Re: Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 11 Aug 2018, 23:46
by KinkInSpace
I for one think that backups and easy releases are essential.

I do understand that some crave for the ultimate bondage scenario where you really can't get out until a certain criteria has been met.

If you are one of these, then I urge you to do many trial runs without being helpless. Make sure every detail is planned and thought out for and tested in safe conditions.

Yes, I know, if you are bound with a method to escape, that session does not do it, but its not for the session, but simply to test that your idea works.

Do not just test the method, but do a dry run of the entire session where you are bound like you want to be, but can escape easily still.

If all goes as plan, then you can redo the session without that last release.

Also, it really does help if you do have a human backup if you go this route. Someone you can say to: I am going to play. I want you to come over if you have not heard anything from me after <insert time stamp here>, which is 30 minutes past the time you expect the session to be over and get you fully mobile again.

Re: Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 12 Aug 2018, 00:14
by RADER123
Slave_L ;
You are so correct; You must have at least two means of escaping, besides a Human one.
What If you get stuck, and the Human one forgets to go check on you, or is delayed.
We do not want to read about you in the News Paper.
Please practice safe bondage.
Rader

Re: Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 12 Aug 2018, 01:02
by bound_jenny
So, so true.

So what if you're not in an "inescapable" situation? The goal of self-bondage is to eventually escape, is it not? We. as self-bondage practitioners, are in the business of mitigating risk. We don't purposely pursue danger (let's leave that to the thrill-seekers with the go-pro cameras, OK?). We simulate danger, and use our imaginations to fill in the rest.

I never put myself in a position where I can't get out of my bondage at will - even if it takes a little bit of extra will to get out. But I can get out. I know I can get out. But that knowledge won't prevent me from benefiting from the experience - my fertile imagination overrides that and lets me wander into another place, another universe where I am really stuck and at the mercy of the villain (top hat, cape and handlebar moustache, of course 8) ) who put me there. When time expires or reality intrudes, I can get out at will, with some effort. But I'm out for sure.

There's no point in taking unnecessary risks, especially those that can put life and limb in peril.

The place to read of one's exploits is here. Not in the police blotter column, nor the obituaries. :roll:

Let's say the audience here is much more... captive? :hi: :mrgreen:

Be careful, play safe. Because we care.

Jenny.

Re: Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 12 Aug 2018, 20:25
by sweh
This is definitely an area where EPID: Every Person Is Different.

When I click that final lock closed I want to know I can't escape. Indeed the first few minutes of the session are spent trying to find the weaknesses in my bondage to see if I can defeat myself. If I can then I do. Fantasy doesn't cut it.

Until the timer expires, the ice melts, the sun comes up... until then, I'm stuck.

For me, inescapable bondage _must_ be inescapable.

(I may have multiple release mechanisms, so if one fails there's another path, but I'm still stuck until they become available).

We're not solely in the risk mitigation business; we're in the risk _evaluation_ business. My risk appetite may be (probably is) different to yours. Could the house burn down while I'm chained to the bed? Yes... is it likely? No... do I plan my bondage around that risk? No. I'm in more danger crossing the street than I am of the house burning down. (Crossing the road... talk about an unnecessary risk! But that's one society has deemed acceptable, even desirable.)

Definitely understand the risks you're taking. Definitely plan for failure. But you can't get to zero risk.

Kink shaming people who want this inescapable experience does no one any good. We're better off educating people on the risks and the failure modes; on what they can do to mitigate it; on how to evaluate the solution. And then let them make up their own mind.

Re: Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 13 Aug 2018, 13:45
by TNTBound
i want to be safe, but at the same time, i want to be bound inescapably until either the timer runs down, or the sun comes up (just DON'T forget to open the curtains!)

like sweh said, if i can find a way to escape my bondage, then i will get myself out. right now, my typical self bondage last for about 2 hours. so if i really want out in say an hour, i will look for any way to do so, short of trying to break or cut anything. one of my favorite things for me is not being able to get out even if i really want out. once i realize that i cant get out no matter what i do (and usually after cumming), then sometimes i kind of go into a trance like state.

for me, it has to be inescapable, at least for a time.

Re: Safety First-Foremost and Always

Posted: 14 Aug 2018, 12:17
by ruru67
I'm in the "it's not bondage unless you can't get out" camp. Oh, I'll try stuff, but it's not a "real" scene unless there's no way out barring the emergency release (which usually involves breaking something ... or more often discovering some unplanned weakness in the rig - I can be surprisingly resourceful when in trouble).

I have learned to make sure everything''s OK before clicking the final lock. I make sure breathing isn't restricted, nothing is constricting my neck in a way that's likely to interfere with blood flow, there's enough slack in wrists et c that I'm not going to have things go numb, that I'm not going to overheat, and that the release mechanisms are good. I'm likely to be excited by the set-up, so I need to stop, relax and cool off for a few minutes to get back to a safe state, and make sure that the initial excitement wasn't masking any problems. Only then do I click the last lock.

Shorter, more stressful scenes might have a bit less final checking, because stress means unlocked prep time is eating into locked playtime. But I still stop and check that the situation is going to be sustainable for the duration of the scene before committing.