Are you ready for something special?
Check this out:
Those of you into bondage may recognize this little beauty as a spreader bar. A spreader bar is a fun and simple little piece of equipment to which you attach cuffs, rope, etc. For example, you could tie someone’s wrists to the ends of this pole and then tickle them! Or your could cuff someone’s ankles the the ends of this pole and then force them to have orgasm after orgasm. Or you could use it as a hanger for some beautiful fiber art! (Though that would surely be a waste.) Point is, it keeps you spread- and it is unyielding.
When I was contacted by Mercury Design to see if I wanted to review their wares, I was really excited. The Mercury Design shop offers a kind of toys I have yet to see elsewhere- canes, spreader bars, cuffs, collars, ice locks, etc. that are something beyond the typical BDSM stainless steel. They’re quite beautiful, and sturdy as well as aesthetically pleasing.
Here is another piece from the site. I’m not a collar girl, but that gorgeous lion piece might be enough to turn me! I keep just coming back and looking at it!
Back to my spreader bar. Ahem.
I loooove the look of these pretty loops. They remind me of old nautical fixtures or drawer pulls or something. To me, the copper/brass combo feels warmer and more gentle than steel- which could be deliciously misleading! I was worried that the end pieces would be flimsy but so far my (quite strong) leg flailing, kicking, squirming, and wiggling hasn’t done a thing to them.
The loops are affixed but can swivel freely, allowing for maddening fruitless struggle. Delightful 🙂
The copper has a copper-y smell and shows fingerprints, which I like a lot. I’m looking forward to seeing how this metal ages over time. There’s something kind of nice about imagining the way it might gain patina over time, documenting experiences in a way that other materials don’t.
Another thing that really delighted me about Mercury Designs is their mission statement. From his website:
” I aim to open an expansive online boutique offering unique, sophisticated, top of the line and totally custom, BDSM, Fetish,and Kink gear. People in the kink community deserve to have a high end alternative to the plastic, synthetic, and sometimes toxic materials used in cheap, mass produced gear.”
In general, I try really hard to support small businesses. I haven’t seen many small sex toy businesses, and I’ve seen even fewer who offer a product that looks safe, looks unique, and looks usable. In my process of deciding which product and which size worked best for me, I was able to email directly with the craftsman and get a really personalized and custom shopping experience. It was really great and definitely a level of connection you just can’t get elsewhere. I really liked it. I also like the steampunk-ish look of these toys and think they’d be really sexy to show off during public play.
I look forward to to seeing what else Mercury Design comes up with next. One thing I’d love to see on their site is some thuddy floggers with big, thick, soft falls- the ones on the site look like the sting-y kind, which are too scary for me. But man are the handles sexy!
5 out of 5 stars. Thank you, Mercury Design, for sending me this bar for review! Readers, I encourage you to pop over to the etsy shop and have a look around. There’s some really neat stuff there.
Those Plums 