The TimeCuff Experiment

Recently, I acquired a set of "TimeCuffs", which are extra-secure handcuffs incorporating a built-in ice-release mechanism. The handcuff chain has been replaced with a steel cable. One cuff is attached to the insulated cylinder that holds the ice. The other cuff cable is attached to a key, which goes into the canister with a rubber stopper. You load the canister with the desired amount of water, and then put the assembled unit into your freezer. The makers have actually calibrated the amount of water needed to freeze the key inside the cylinder for a particular amount of time.

After reading the instructions, I went out to a scientific supply store and bought a graduated cylinder, a sort of scientific measuring cup calibrated with fine gradations. I had bought the unit that had capacity for seven hours duration, but decided to test it the first time with the minimum load, which is for one to two hours. (You are cautioned that ice melting rates are not uniform--).

I had a Saturday afternoon with no obligations, and decided to run a thourough test. Of course, the sensible thing to do would just be to take the cuffs out of the freezer and see how long it took to unfreeze. However, I am of course leaning toward doing the classic self-bondage enthusiast reckless thing, and getting maximum "pleasure" out of the episode by cramming on as much other bondage as possible.

I would make some -minimal- concessions to safety: in my opinion a truly helpless prisoner should be both gagged and blindfolded, but I felt I could go without being blindfolded, as I have generally found sight more use than sound when things don't go as planned--besides, there would be no one to call out to anyway.

As a gag, I planned to use tape, which I find reasonably secure and reasonably comfortable (at least for the short term). I tend to apply the tape over a stocking mask to protect my hair, so if I use an "opaque" stocking my vision is somewhat restricted anyhow, but not enough to keep me from finding a dropped key or tool.

I also won't do the strapped-locked high-heel thing, either. I only have two pair of ankle-strap heels; one is a pair of Fredrick's six-inch pumps that are too uncomforatble for any length of time, and the others have no heel cup, so they're too unstable and I don't want that great a risk of a fall.

That said, if you buy the "max restraint" package, the TimeCuffs come with a set of plastic-coated cables that act as a belly-chain, connect to a collar, and go between the cuffs to make it harder to pull the cuffs apart, and I would use all of these.

So the bondage would be: 
1. Head wrapping gag with stocking-mask veil.
2. Locked metal collar.
3. Steel cable from collar to cuffs holding them at waist level.
4. TimeCuffs
5. Steel cable "belly chain" for time cuffs.
6. Buttplug and harness
7. locked CB restraint.
8. Ankles shackled to two-foot spreader bar.

I also thought long and hard about tethering myself t an eyebolt in my bedroom closet doorframe, using a fifteen-foot steel cable dog lead, so that I could move around, but not very far.

On the day, I pulled the TimeCuffs out of the freezer at about 2:15pm, and set them out to start warming up a bit (as I had expected, the handcuffs were bitterly cold). I quicly stripped down to some black garter-belt style stockings (the kind that are all one piece--I like these because once you have your plug harness locked on, you can't take the hose off either--and additional little fillip). I put on my buttplug, harness, and cock restraint, locking the harness and CBR with small padlocks.

I then locked on my collar and the ankle cuffs. I sacrificed a pair of black tights for the gag, cutting off one leg to be knotted and go in my mouth, and the other to go over my head. These were the "opaque pantihose" weight which, stretched, formed a sheer but vision-dimming veil over my eyes. I wrapped my mouth and jaw with atheletic tape over the stocking, being careful to get it tight enough to be secure, but not so as to cause a feeling of restriction in the blood vessels to the face. No part of the tape went in the neck area. This was actually the most stressful part of the experiment for me. While I like to be gagged, I've never gagged myself for such a long time, and I do have a touchy gag reflex--for example, I can't use a large ball. My heart raced as I just stood still for a couple of minutes and stood breathing deeply, testing the gag. Breathing was OK, so I proceeded.

I wrapped my wrists loosely with tape also to protect them from the chill of the cuffs, but not so as to restrict circulation or flexibility.

I anoited my scrotum, perineum, and around the base of the buttplug with a menthol creme--after all, there needs to be some "entertainment" while waiting around--then washed my hands throughly.

I went to the bedroom and positioned the timecuffs through the waist cable and collar leads so that they hung at the small of my back. The plastic casing was not uncomfortably cool. I hooked the dog lead to the front of my collar, tethering myself to the wall. The last thing I did was add some tweezer type nipple clips before locking my left wrist in the cuffs. The ice tube acts like a short spreader bar, so I had to carefully close the right cuff by leaning against the doorframe. I did so. My bondage was complete.

There I was, naked except for black stockings and the bondage gear. My ankles were schackled to a two-foot bar. My hips were harnessed holding in the buttplug and the locked CBR. My hands were cuffed behind me and to my waist. I was collared, and the collar attached to the wall with a steel cable. I was gagged and my sight veiled, and the only key to get me out of this was locked to my back frozen inside an impenatrable tube. Oh, bliss!

Naturally, I tested my bonds. They were secure. in particular, the Timecuffs were as solid as though they were one piece. I paced (or rather shuffled) to the limits of my tether. I could lie on out bed if I chose. I could get into the bathroom as far as the sink or the shower, but not the toilet--which didn't matter as I wasn't going to "go" as I was. i could get into out computer room, but of course not operate the computer bound as I was.

I concentrated on my "tortures". The menthol creme was a dull flame at my groin. My anus clenched and twitched at the plug. My caged penis strained at its bonds. Nipple clips were a nagging pain at my chest. Surprisingly, the most exacerbating thing was the gag, althought not in the manner I might have expected. It was not terribly uncomfortable. The wad of cloth in my mouth absorbed saliva, so I wasn't drooling nor plagued with thirst. However, the tape that went under my chin holding my jaws closed created a pressure that was a slowly growing discomfort.

Finding a comfortable position was also, even though I could move around, and shift weight. I found that perching on the edge of our bed made the buttplug's presence known uncomfortably, and trying to lie on the bed was no better. I could not lie on my back due to the handcuffs, and would not try to lie on my front due to the cock cage and the awkwardness of trying to get up with the spreader between my ankles. Lying on my side put uncomfortable pressure on both my gag and my metal collar.

I shuffled back across the hall to the computer room where I found I could sit on the chair there. I had left a radio on in another room to act as a talking clock, and it was about 3:15PM (about an hour after removing the cuffs from the freezer) that I discovered that I had been zoning out, the plug of the key canister was loose, and there was a dribble of cold water running down my bare butt.

The ice in the canister had begun to melt. I tested my bonds carefully. A very little slack had been added as the cake of ice melted loose in the canister, but the key was a long way from being free yet. However, I now had a hobby, which consisted of more or less continually fiddling with the cable of the timecuffs, both to make sure it was continuing to thaw (it was) and to see if I could speed up the process at all (not discernably). I got up and wandered around while fiddling, which also aroused me more. I could not help making occasional pelvic trusts at the air just to ease muscle tension, but of course I had no hope of "release" there either.

Eventually, more of the cable came out of the canister as the ice continued to gradually melt, which gave me more play in my bonds, but not enough to excape any of them. it took about a half-hour more for the ice to melt sufficiently for the key to come out of the tube, which also allowed me to bring my hands fully in front of me, a good thing, since the stiffness of the cable attached to the key is such that is is rather difficult to manipulate.

Once my hands were free, the first thing I did was grab the scissors and cut off the gag. Oh, relief! I then freed myself from the remaining bonds in a more orderly fashion. What I did after that, all you bondage enthusiasts may well imagine. Suffice to say that I found the TimeCuffs to be a good, reliable, and effective product, and the situation sufficiently satisfying to try again with other variations.
 

08.07.02