Suspension: Fantasy vs. reality

Well, I find nothing more erotic than suspension scenes. So, I go to war building a mammoth suspension rack that can be relatively easy to disseble as needed. Then I research suspension techniques and safe equipment--gather it from various sources and assemble the whole rig.

Party time! Bring my little slave to the rack and afix her and begin her flogging--after five strokes she wants down--numbness sets in at the attachment points. I get her down and wonder, disbelievingly, how this could happen. "Hook me up!" I yell--after a few minutes I'm dizzy and ready to be uncoupled as well--nuts!

Anybody else had luck--good or bad--with suspension?

We've never tried this, the only thing I have been told about was a different setup than this.

It looked very much like a regular swing - 2 hanging chains, with a strip of leather between them at the bottom. The strip of leather was only a couple of inches wide. The slave was put on the swing sideways, like wearing a thong, so all of her weight was focused on her, ah, pleasure points. Her hands were chained to a point above her head. I know sliding back and forth on anything can be very erotic for some women; whenever the cane or flogger hit her back, the feelings were supposed to be very intense.

I don't really know if having all her weight concentrated on one spot would be pleasurable; but it might be worth trying, assuming your slave is female, of course. I have no idea what it would do for a male ... although it might be interesting to find out! Either way, it sounds a bit painful to me - which could be a good thing!

suspended upside down by there ankles. In most of these images, the Model (sub) has special Anklets that has a strap that goes up the ankle to support the load. They do not look very happy but they do not look like they are in any pain either.
I have seen this also done on incex rm's that have lasted over 30 min

Any one else have any real world experiance?

So, Bruce - i wanna know. Did you try any other sort of suspension?

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Originally posted by LadyAmanda
So, Bruce - i wanna know. Did you try any other sort of suspension?

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No I haven't Amanda--I think the winter ennui has me so lethargic, I just want to hibernate. Plus, I really worked hard on that rig and it was such a disaster, I'm gonna really think through the next project.

You live in TEXAS! What winter? What ennui?

Come up here and say that. LOL I'd like to see you walk around the block on one of our -16 (3 F) days.

Tell me about ennui. LOL

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BDSM_Tourguide
[B]You live in TEXAS! What winter? What ennui?

It's all relative--I live in Texas so I expect it to be be warm and sunny--here it's 25 degrees F and dark today--no good dammit! I want it 80! Too many years in Alaska and the Aleutians--I deserve warmth always! Hell, I might as well be an Edmontonite--at least I could lurk at the mall :)

Uhhh, master? You haven't seen cold yet. Just wait until it gets down to....ohhh... let's say -35 celcius. THEN we will talk cold. Of course that is if it ever gets cold here again.

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Originally posted by BruceBoxer
Well, I find nothing more erotic than suspension scenes. So, I go to war building a mammoth suspension rack that can be relatively easy to disseble as needed. Then I research suspension techniques and safe equipment--gather it from various sources and assemble the whole rig.

Party time! Bring my little slave to the rack and afix her and begin her flogging--after five strokes she wants down--numbness sets in at the attachment points. I get her down and wonder, disbelievingly, how this could happen. "Hook me up!" I yell--after a few minutes I'm dizzy and ready to be uncoupled as well--nuts!

Anybody else had luck--good or bad--with suspension?

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Hi i am new here and have been reading threads for a couple of weeks, but when i saw this one, i wanted to put my two cents worth in. Master and i have been experimenting with suspension for a while now. We have found that the suspension boots are great for inverted suspension. No pressure points and the feet don't hurt at all. We have a pair of suspension cuffs for the wrists also, which are not bad, but we need to use a piece of lambs wool underneath the cuff so it doesn't dig into the wrist. BruceBoxer, i am sure that the suspension rack you built was probably fine, might have just been the type of cuffs that were used.

Do you mind sharing the details of the actual suspension that caused this numbness? Disorientation is not surprising, seeing as one of suspensions intents can be to lend that off-balance sensation. There are plenty of variables that can mitigate or add to that sensation, including attachment points, amount of sway, blindfolds, etc.

In terms of the numbness issue, additional surface area will help mitigate any immediate nerve pressure. Rather than abandon this from ennui, I'd suggest trying a variety of ties and media. At very least, you can use this frame for a sling.

--SJ

i'm quite new here too and saw this post and just had to respond. MasterN loves suspension as well. It's a fantasy He's had since He can remember. For Him it's the very simple suspension that gets His blood boiling. The kind where a woman is hung simply, by cuffs or rope on the wrists and ankles.
Unfortunately for us the reality wasn't much like the fantasy either. We've tried various types of cuffs and rope yet nothing has given me the ability to stay up long enough for a nice flogging or caning. The weight of your whole body being hung by your wrists/ankles is just too much for the average slave.
If you're looking for a more comfortable type of suspension, i've seen girls stay in a horizontal position for a long period of time. They were hung from many ropes that pretty much cradled the body.
slavegem mentioned suspension boots, i'd love to know where to get a pair of those.
Also let me caution you on comparing what you do to professional sites such as Insex.
#1 They have professional "riggers" who tie these women up.
#2 Bondage models are in great shape and physically used to being suspended.
#3 A lot of the time it's what you don't see that makes the suspension possible. Such as the girl being let down periodically to rest.
Lastly, before this gets even more longwinded...Do not use panic snaps on cuffs that are close together. The possibility of them rubbing together and coming loose is too great.
And good luck, if we find something that works well, i'll defintly post about it.

Master ordered ours off of ebay...they cost around $80.00. Well worth the price!!!! :D

I have this:
www.egymequipment.com/ezinsys.html

Very convenient, comes with boots. I use it for my back, haven't tried to scene with it, but hmmmmm.

You can get the whole deal for $150, and the rack easily comes down to hide.

Alaric

Ah goody, a topic near and dear to my heart. ;)

Bruce building the frame is only half the job. Unfortunately people don't come with built in rigging points, so we have to get creative.

A couple of things to keep in mind. When doing suspension by the arms blood flow will be reduced because of the force of gravity, reducing the time available. Also the shoulder joints and muscles are used to having stress applied with the hands over the head and the position causes reduced blood flow as well. Also the weight of the person and physical condition play a large role. As a general rule if the person you are truing to life is over 150# or so you could have problems with muscles, tendons and possible dislocations. :eek: While this varies greatly with the physical condition of the person. Our main goal when trying to fly a person is to apply the force over a large area as possible and to locations where the body is able to withstand it.

You said you were using cuffs. If they are the common kind with a 2" piece of leather and a strap and buckle you will have problems as all of the force is being applied to the skinny strap in the middle and the wider piece isn't doing anything for you. You need to find or make some suspension cuffs that are wider and have the D ring attached to the edge so that it fits in the palm of the hand. This will distribute the force along the entire cuff and arm and by having the D ring in the palm prevent force from being applied to the inside of the wrist. It also gives her something to hold on to and steady herself.

As for suspension from the feet, the same applies. While the position of the legs here isn't as much of an issue and the joints and muscles are much stronger they still have the same limitations. slavegem's suggestion of suspension boots is a great one. The main characteristic here is that they lace up the leg a ways. This distributes the force and aligns it. Keep in mind though with inverted suspension our old friend gravity will be pulling the blood to the head. This can cause headaches and unconsusness so keep an eye on the clock and check your sub regularly. About a half hour is the max.

So now everyone is disappointed by the time thing, I'll let you in on a couple of secrets you won't see in pretty pictures. :)

They actually make harnesses to do this and you can buy them. :) They are called fall arrest harnesses. They go around the shoulders, waist and upper legs. One of their main purposes is, as the name applies, is to keep you from falling to your death if you work up high. They also have a variation with positioning rings that allow you to hang on the side of a building and work safely. Many of you may have also seem the repelling harnesses used for repelling and mountain climbing that just go around the waist but those aren’t useful here. These are available at your local Dom Depot type store and from such online catalogue stores in the US such as Grainger. If you go in person, particularly to a safety store don't tell them about BDSM, as with medication, this is an off label use and becomes a liability issue and they may refuse to sell to you. These can be used safely to lift the biggest of subs and with a minimum amount of wear and tear. Once the harness has the weight you can get out the cuffs and take care of positioning the arms and legs.

A few other things to keep in mind when doing suspension, all gravity related. Probably the most important and the most overlooked is the hardware and its limits and ratings. Lets say for the sake of easy math that your sub weighs 200# and you have them suspended off the floor when you come along and give them a sharp whack with the new paddle. The sub pulls up in glee and then drops down from the effect. The force due to gravity and inertia is several times the 200# weight of the sub. In the entertainment business, when lifting people, we generally use a factor of 4 to 5. So using a factor of 5 that 200# sub just applied 1,000# of force. :eek:

So what does this mean hardware wise. First you should only buy rated hardware, shrives (pulleys), rope, links etc. When you buy look for a rating stamped on the piece in pounds or kg. It will usually be listed as SWL (safe working load). For rope look for the same and keep in mind that the rating is with no knots. Knots reduce the strength of a rope by 50 to 75% depending on the knot. You can find these type of things sometimes at the Dom Depot and boating stores. For quick connections we all like the snap rings. Ratings are important here too. I use carabineers used for climbing, which will carry a rating. These are available at the camping store. Remember no rating no buy. The last thing on hardware is the eye bolt. You can always find the bent metal ones that screw into wood. These have a bad tendency to pull open and pull out of the wood. The better choice is to use forged ones with a closed eye and with a machine screw that goes all the way through the wood and has a big washer and locking nut to keep in place. This arrangement will prevent the eye from opening and the threads from pulling out. Never use hooks.

So there you go the very condensed version of the suspension class. Now go play safe, play often and remember to :bondage: have fun.

I am looking at dungeonoutfitters.com and at tetruss.com.
I have built my own in the past. But when I tried to kick it up to
full two person suspension with a wench, etc. I was far from
happy with the results. Basically it was DOA.

Now I am looking to just buy one. But I want a good one.
Anybody have experience with these or others.

Thanks,
Master David

Wow! Great info on here. Suspension is something my Dom and I are interested in doing too, but I do worry about being able to dangle and not have my arms feel like they are falling off or being upside down and having all the blood rush to my face so I can't stand it for more then a couple of minutes.

I will send this to my Sir so he can read it too. I know we don't want to waste a bunch of money on something that isn't going to work for us.