This story appeared in Issue 11, July/August 1989. It was written by my friend Mike, who writes more about his self-bondage turn-on in my blog post dated 1/19/06. BW
As a boy I read all I could find about Houdini (it seemed to be the only socially acceptable way of learning about restraint). As a result of this early research my interest in bondage really centers around escapes. As I was growing up I did everything I could to initiate tying up games with other boys, and while I managed to be the victim quite a bit, it wasn't enough. I made up for this by tying myself up.
At first I wasn't convinced it was possible to tie yourself up for real at all. From my learning experiences with other boys I knew what happened when wrists or ankles were bound too tight—it stopped being fun. The problem was to devise a tie that held but didn't stop circulation. I spent a lot of time and effort researching this. Most of my self-ties were never really secure—they would just have dozens of knots and take forever to untie. I soon found that slipknots, one of my first areas of experimentation, could be unpredictable. Too loose and they weren't secure; too tight and you could get into real trouble.
I remember the day a boy at school showed me how to make a hangman's noose. That night at home I practiced making them, using a piece of rawhide I had. I left my last effort intact, and after going to bed I slipped my wrists into the loop and pulled it tight with my teeth. To my astonishment, no matter how hard I tugged the knot held fast. I tried to use my teeth to undo it, but all my practicing had paid off—the knot was coiled smooth and tight, and gripped the rawhide like it was glued. In desperation I started tugging and yanking—but it was dark and I pulled in the wrong direction, only tightening the coil more. I almost panicked and called my father (I was nine at the time), but I caught myself and decided on one last try, figuring hurt wrists were preferable to the task of explaining this strange night time activity to my parents. I mentally counted to three and yanked my wrists apart...it hurt, but the rawhide loop opened up. I sank back trembling; incredibly relieved. I had escaped.
I had no interest in chains and locks. There was no challenge: you either had a key, or you didn't. I wanted something I could struggle and pit myself against, like Houdini. Even today this artifice on my part continues. The Challenge: Can I outsmart this guy; defeat his bondage, escape? (Or will he be there ahead of my probing fingers, mental cunning wrapped smoothly, inescapably around my wrists and limbs? Will my eyes be forced again and again back to his waiting face? Will I be owned?)
I, too, saw the statues of the slaves in Florence [see BOUND & GAGGED, Issue 1, p. 15]. I was thirteen. I couldn't believe them. The bondage was real (so rare in art); their bodies were classic: life-size, nude, perfect. After all my skirting around the actual subject of bondage as I was growing up, reading on the sly through hundreds of possibly related topics, weeding through tons of chaff and bullshit for rare bits of information—to have this whole museum hallway filled with life-size statues of bound nude men right there in front of me, with my family right beside me and people just walking by...I almost flipped. It was overload. I glazed out, walking along, trying to linger without lingering, pouring over the statues with my eyes, force-feeding my brain with all the details I could, and still have it look like everyone else glancing at yet another hallway of statues.
Until I experienced the constrictor knot I had never come up with a truly successful self-applied rope tie. I was always searching for something that was secure, but wouldn't hurt me (I was a musician, and had no interest in damage to my hands or wrists). As a young teen I had reasoned a spread-eagle tie with slipknots could be self-applied and very difficult to escape from; but what if things pulled too tight? There would be no one around to help...
Which brings us to the central paradox of auto-bondage: You don't dare really tie yourself up. To do so without recourse to outside help is to invite death. And, as death is presumably not your aim, auto-bondage becomes of necessity an exercise in discretion.
There are two ways to practice auto-bondage and still live a long happy life:(1) You never really tie yourself up; you are restrained, but you can release yourself. (2) You really do tie yourself up, but you make sure a key will be available to free you should escape efforts fail. Key is here defined as anything that will effect your release. This can range from the real thing (to a pair of handcuffs, for example), to a tool (a knife, a lock pick, a match), to simply alerting another person that you need help.
I myself prefer a two key system.
The first effort I call the game key. The game key releases you should escape efforts fail. Naturally, its acquisition is delayed for whatever period of time turns you on (see last section).
The second key, the emergency key, is available at all times. Naturally, there is a substantial penalty for its use. Calling a neighbor for help is a good illustration of the dual-edged nature of an emergency key. This is something you normally wouldn't do (the embarrassment, the explanations), but if you're tied to a chair starving to death it's an option worth having. Another, not so extreme example: I like to use Humane Restraint locking leather straps and accessories. When doing so my emergency key is simply a knife. Having spent a lot of money on these restraints, I'm not about to cut and destroy them unless it's absolutely necessary.
Once you have worked out a number of self-applied, secure ties, real "enjoyment" of auto-bondage depends on a reliable key release mechanism. Because long or short, random or precise, the bondage interval must come reliably to an end with the key in your hot little hands, or the game will go sour.
I have tried many devices to release keys. The one that follows is dead reliable in its simplicity:
Items needed: key, styrofoam cup, thread, ice cube.
Theory: Ice melts at room temperature. Nothing will stop this—no gears will jam, no pulleys will bind, no lines will stick, no drain holes will clog, no electricity will fail...ice melts in a foolproof way, and this fact can be used to your advantage.
Method: Tie the key to one end of the thread. Tie a slipknot loop in the other end, and tighten it around the ice cube. Put the cube in the cup with the key hanging over the edge, so the weight of the ice is all that holds the key up. Put the prepared cup overhead and out of reach of the location where you will be secured. Set it up so when the ice cube melts the key will fall within your reach.
Watch out for: Keys that release, fall where they're supposed to, and bounce out of reach (Surprise!). Solve this with a second anchor line that leaves the released key suspended level with your hands. (The same anchor line can be used to swing the key from an out-of-reach cup site to the location where you are restrained).
Fine points: Make sure the key is heavy enough to pull the thread out of the cup in the first place. Make sure there's no way the slipknot can catch on the rim of the cup.
Comment: It is difficult to time this release reliably, because sometimes the thread slips off a partially melted cube for an early release; sometimes it stays attached to the cube until the bitter end, making the wait seem like hours. (I personally find the random factor exciting).
Variations: Pile on additional ice. Use a thermos bottle. Hang a looped thread in a container of water (you pick the size) and freeze the whole thing. Secure the key to the free end of the thread, set the container in position, tie yourself up, and wait (and wait, and wait—a solid chunk of ice melts a lot slower than a pile of ice cubes).
Well, that wraps it up for now. These are some of the techniques I use—what are other people doing?
i have also shared great interest in Houdini. he was always getting naked and tied up. i think he did the escaping part just to justify what he enjoyed doing. i have also been tying myself up for many years. i can remember as a child going to a fair and there was a ride that had bondage on the front wall. it was a dungeon/torture ride and the people on the front were all tied up and in pain. as a child i also volunteered to be the one that got tied up every chance i got. over the years i have ridden by old, abandoned houses out in the country and fantasized about being tied up and hanging from high beams. it was only as an adult that i experienced bondage with another human. as long as the person is someone you can trust there is nothing better than bondage.
Posted by: slave v | August 13, 2009 at 05:11 PM