While I'm not new to the joys of anal toys, I've never really gone beyond standard butt plugs. You know the ones... iconic-shaped, very thin at the tip, wider at the base, sometimes vibrating, sometimes plain... I decided I needed to try something new--and this is where the Ryder came in.

The Ryder is an anal plug that deviates a bit from the traditional shape most people associate with them. It's shaped kind of like an elongated egg. Although it does taper a bit to the tip, this is not very pronounced, so it might be a bit of challenge to get it in unless you've got experience and have prepped well beforehand. You don't need to be an expert anal player to be able to use the Ryder, but it's not adviseable for beginners, either.

Whether you want it for extended wear or for intensifying orgasm, this is a lovely toy that will fill your needs. The sort-of-egg shape might be tricky to get in at first, but once it's in it's really comfortable and doesn't budge easily, so no fears accidentally losing it when things are getting good.

It's made with a really safe material that is robust and easy to clean and maintain, just as long as you remember to use the right lube for the job.

This toy is made with the high-quality medical-grade silicone Tantus is famous for. Hypo-allergenic, non-toxic, phthalate-free and overall body-safe, it has practically no smell, and even then it isn't unpleasant at all and you need to get really close to be able to catch it in the first place.

This material heats up quickly to body temperature and retains heat for a while, so it's great for temperature play if that's your thing. Simply run it under hot water or leave it in the fridge or chilled water for a little something extra in your play. Just be careful not to go too far... where this toys goes is the one place you do NOT want to have a burn, be it from the heat or from the cold.

The silicone the Ryder is made from is completely smooth with no texture whatsoever and no seams, which means you will need little slick to insert it... just no silicone lube, please. Silicone lube will damage the material as it tends to interact in unpleasant ways with silicone toys; both water-based and oil-based lubes will work perfectly well with this toy.

A very important thing to bear in mind is that this toy is made from firmer silicone than other toys. It barely has any give to it, so you will feel every little bit of it inside you.

This material is, however, a bit of a lint-magnet, drawing dust, hair and lint seemingly out of thin air. Cleaning before and after each use is a necessity unless you want all that to end up inside you.

Despite what some other reviews say, this is not a good toy for anal beginners. The egg-shape of it is really not easy on your sphincter muscles to take in unless you're used to things going in instead of just out. This toy starts thick and only gets thicker. There's no gradual increase, and it's not soft, squishy and forgiving if you go too fast. It barely budges if you try to squish it hard between your forefinger and thumb. It's not going to be a problem if you're already used to firmer materials, like glass or metal, but it's still considerably firmer than most other butt plugs around. Any miscalculation on your part will end up in unpleasant times, so be very sure you can take the girth and have prepped very carefully before you go trying to stick it in.

The Ryder is 1.5 inches in diameter (3.8 cm for my metric friends) at its widest point and 1 inch (2.5 cm) at its slimmest, right at the tip. It decreases in width before getting to the base until it's only 0.8 inches (2 cm) in diameter, and the base is wide to prevent it from slipping inside. From tip to base it's 4.3 inches tall (11 cm), 3.9 inches (10 cm) of which are insertable.

This toy is more suited to lower-intermediate anal users, so if you're a beginner looking for a good anal toy, I'd recommend looking at the Flirt instead. That toy is far more forgiving for inexperienced anal players.

Once fully inserted, the Ryder sits very comfortably inside you. It doesn't have any bumps for prostate stimulation, so if you have one of those and want it played with, I'd advise you to look elsewhere. The size and fit make it very comfortable for extended use, and the flared base makes it o-ring harness-compatible, though frankly I haven't used it that way.

There have been complaints that the base is rather flimsy and some people are afraid the entire thing might get sucked in. Let me reassure you, these fears are unfounded. I wore it for quite a while and did my best to try to suck it in but I couldn't. The base is thin and soft, but it stays put and does exactly what it should without causing any discomfort. I'd say you would only be at risk of sucking it in if you were used to far bigger toys than this one (we're talking A-bomb big), but if you're an average anal user, this shouldn't be a concern.

The Ryder is a lovely anal plug to use alone or with a partner, and though insertion might be tricky for those without some experience under their belt, once it's in it will stay in--even during orgasm.

The base is comfortable, and though a bit flimsy, perfectly safe unless you're very experienced with anal and a fan of extreme dilation.

This is in fact my go-to anal toy for when I'm not in the mood for thrusting and just need something solid inside to intensify my orgasms. Because the size of this toy increases and then decreases rather abruptly, I can see how some people might like slowly thrusting it if they're fond of the feeling of dilation and relaxation of the sphincter muscles, but anal beads or a "bumpy" toy like the Ripple might be better suited for that than the Ryder.

Although I'm not a big fan of using anal plugs for extended periods of time, I did try it with the Ryder, and found it very easy to do indeed. Granted, I only wore it for a couple of hours, but my muscles didn't get tired at all, and I could barely feel the base as it's so thin and soft. I could never forget I was wearing it, though, and because other people can't tell at all that it's there because the base doesn't protude far enough to disturb your clothes, I think this might be a nice one to go to if you're fond of walking around carrying a little naughty secret all for yourself.

I don't recommend it to keep yourself dilated and ready for a date, though. The neck of the plug is too small to make much of a difference. It's a good place to start, but it won't give you much headway.

An interesting bit of trivia is that the Ryder is shaped a lot like the "pony" side of the Feeldoe strapless strap-on dildo. The Ryder is a bit longer and a bit slimmer than the pony side of the Feeldoe, but if you're considering purchasing that one and are unsure whether you can keep it in with just the use of your pc muscles, the Ryder might be a nice toy to use as training. It's got the shape without all the weight, so you can just use it vaginally and tug on it increasingly harder while you try to keep it in place with your pc mucles. Of course, just about any Kegel exerciser will do the same thing for you, possibly with more ease, but if you don't have one the Ryder will do in a pinch.

The Ryder, just like most Tantus toys, is incredibly easy to clean and maintain. It's made of 100% medical-grade silicone, so that means that you can clean it with simple soap and water, toss it in the top rack of your dishwater with no soap on, and it can even be sterilized by boiling it for a couple of minutes or rinsing in a 10% bleach solution.

Since the material is non-porous, you don't need to put a condom on it to use it, though please do sterilize it if you're planning to share it with a partner, and never, ever try to insert it vaginally after using it anally without sterilizing it first.

Like I mentioned before, it's vital that you clean it before and after use because this toy does attract industrial amounts of lint, dust and pet hair. Mercifully, those are just as easily cleaned off your toy even by simply rinsing it under warm water.

Its small size and resilient material should make storage very easy, but to keep it away from unnecessary lint and dust I'd advise storing it inside a zip-lock bag.

I got this toy in a simple plastic bag with a small label with the generic description that is included with most Tantus toys. I don't recall the exact content, I just remember that it was very basic and that I had read it a hundred times before, so I didn't really pay attention. I've heard that this is not the usual packaging for this toy, though, but the packaging I got it in may have been due to the fact that I actually got this toy during a close-out sale (they were sadly discontinuing the colour).