As anal toys|Anal Toys go, the Ripple is among the very best I’ve tried (and I’ve tried quite a few!) – just big enough to satisfy the person looking to upgrade to an intermediate anal toy, but not so large as to be intimidating.

The Ripple Large|Butt plugs: Ripple Large by Tantus, in addition to being a good anal toy, easily doubles as a vaginal probe. It offers almost five inches of insertable length, with bulbs ranging from grape to ping pong ball-sized. If you haven’t used a silicone toy before, the feel is solid, but very flexible – perfect for what you’ll be using it for.

Five inches is reasonably long for an anal toy, so depending on your anatomy, you may not be able to insert the entire shaft. I didn’t mind that because the bulbs are very pronounced on the Ripple. It produces a similar sensation to anal beads|Anal Beads – intense bursts of pleasure when moving from one to the next in either direction. Because it feels great going either way, if you decide just to use three of the bulbs you’ll still get a pretty wild ride.

The bulbs are sized gradually, so the Ripple is a nice toy to start with if you want a warm up before anal sex. You can go at your own pace and work your way up to the largest bulb. That way, by the time you’re ready to switch things up your butt will be nice and relaxed.

The flared base is good for safety and control. Of course you never want to put a toy in your butt that doesn’t have a flared base, but the base on the Ripple also makes a great handle. It’s wide enough to be easy to reach if you’re on your own and just about the right size for a partner to hold on to if you have one.

Lube is a must with the Ripple (dry silicone does not feel very good at all). My lube of choice is Liquid Silk|Personal Lubricants: Liquid Silk, but pretty much any water-based lube will do. Try to avoid silicone-based lubes because this is a silicone toy and those lubes tend to stick around long after they’re wanted when you use them for anal play.