I'm a huge fan of nipple torture. From clothes pins to binder clips to clamps of all shapes and sizes, I love them all.

That being said, clover style clamps are some of the tightest you can get.

They're a lightweight metal but completely non-adjustable. Pulling on or attaching weights to the clover shaped hinge just makes them pull tighter, grip harder.

These clamps have little rubber insets in the clamp part but don't count on that "cushioning" the bite very much. Once they're on, you wouldn't even believe there's rubber there.

The clamps spread plenty wide enough for most nipples and stay very, very well even thru added weight, tugging, pulling, rolling around and even laying on them.

Clover clamps can be applied in different ways; parallel/vertical to the body or sticking out from/horizontal. I have normal to large nipples so I prefer them vertical. They sort of lay nicely that way without a lot of excess movement or bouncing around. Applied horizontally they hurt a hell of a lot more. They tend to dip down or bend sideways, each movement making them feel tighter and intensifying the bite of the clamp. My Partner likes to put them on me that way best. The Sadist.

These are definitely not a good toy for a beginner who is looking for a little sensation. They're painful. Really. Painful. Arousing as all get out for the masochist but probably too much for someone just looking for a little pinching sensation.

These bite. They can feel like red hot fire if you get them positioned wrong. They'll take your breath away and have you dancing around, cursing and hissing. They've brought me to tears. Wonderful tears, but possibly not what the majority is looking for in a sex toy.

Clamps shouldn't be left on for long periods. They can damage the skin and nerve endings and all sorts of bad stuff. The general rule of them is ten minutes at a time, take them off sooner if the skin is swelling or discoloring. And be gentle when you take them off. (unless, of course, your partner likes you not to be. ) To begin with, the skin will often stick to the rubber doohickies in the clover clamps, causing a terrible sensation. On top of that, the sensation of blood returning to the clamped area is often more painful than the clamp itself, especially if the nipple has gone a little numb with the clamps on. Yeeee-ouch! Taking them off can be the worst part of the experience. Or the best, if you're gentle and take the time to lick and lap and rub and warm the nipple as the blood comes back.

I personally love to use clover clamps during masturbation. The intense pain adds a frantic and frenzied feeling to the play, sending me rushing toward orgasm in a way that doesn't happen quite the same with any other sort of play. Delicious.

I wanted to make a notation here after an experience I had the other day.

Watch the rubber inserts in the clamp pinchers very carefully! We hadn't noticed that one of ours got sort of "squished" down into the pincher part so when we put the clamp on my nipple got bitten by very sharp, very tight metal that hurt like hell.

It's not a huge issue. We just sort of tugged on the rubber insert/pad thing with a tweezers and got it back where it's supposed to be and the clamps work fine again but it's definitely important to inspect them for things like that before use if you want to prevent pain of the bad sort.