I. Love. Clamps. Like... really. An SM session between M and I is never complete without every clamp in our arsenal coming out of the toy box and being attached to various places on my body.

I can't say, really, what the best part is; the initial bite, the slow ramping up of pain, the sudden burning numbness or the excruciating pain of them coming off. I just adore clamps. And the only ones that have topped clovers, so far, have been the plastic wood clamps we discovered by accident in some hardware store or another.

So imagine my dismay when our first set of clovers came up missing. No, really. We have this minuscule apartment with barely any hidey holes and our first set of clover clamps is gone. Poof!

Naturally, we had to get new ones! But alas, EF didn't have the ones we used to own. After reading a bunch of reviews on the various different types of clover clamps - or butterfly clamps, depending on who you talk to - available here, we decided on these.

These clovers came trapped in molded plastic attached to a sheet of cardboard with a topless model wearing them on her nipples. To be honest, I think the only clamps I've ever purchased that didn't come that way are clothespins and the aforementioned wood clamps.

The clamps are metal with little rubber pads in the pinchy part to protect the nipple from the metal. But don't let the rubber fool you! It does nothing by way of easing the pinch.

Our previous set of clovers had a chain running between the clamps. These have soft white string tied to each clamp. I thought I would like the fact that there isn't a chain but, to be honest, I miss it. The chain just made the clamps easier to manipulate when they were on.

Clover clamps can be applied to any bit of flesh you want to put them on (nipples, labia, etc.). They're designed to pinch tighter the more weight or pull you apply to the end. You can hook weights onto the clamps or pull on the strings to tighten them.

That's my favorite part of clovers. You can pull them much tighter than any other clamp made specifically for BDSM play that we've tried.

These clamps did come off my nipples with added force. But we tend to pull pretty hard. Sometimes with the intent to pull them off. So that's not necessarily a comment on the product's performance. It's possible someone less mean to their nipples wouldn't have any trouble with slipping.

Clovers are great for partner SM play. Your partner can tug on the chains to tighten the clamps and help bring back the circulation to the clamped bits by sucking and licking the flesh. They're just an all around fun toy if you enjoy intense nipple pain.

These clovers actually pull tighter than our last ones. I love that. I'm pretty extreme when it comes to clamps, though, so I would use clovers with caution if you've never used clamps before. I probably wouldn't start out with clovers, to be honest. I'd try something like a tweezer clamp or a clothespin first.

Usually, you would want to store clamps open to lengthen the life of the rubber pads. This is a difficult feat with clovers because they're designed to stay closed. I didn't bother trying to keep the old ones open. I noticed a bit of flattening of the pad but can't be sure if that wasn't just from use. So I won't be trying to store these open either.

I'm probably going to find a bit of chain at the hardware store to attach to these clamps. I do miss having the chain. Not only does it weigh the clamps down a little more than not having one, but it makes it easier to manipulate both clamps at once, freeing my other hand for... whatever it is my other hand wants to be doing.

Overall, though, this is a rather well-made product. I am definitely glad we bought them.

Guess what we found.

If you guessed our old clovers, you'd be right. Which has made that little string on the ends of these clovers a godsend. We can now thread the chain of our first set of clovers through the strings on this set and pull them all at the same time if we want. And believe me, we want.

I've had trouble with one of these clovers slipping and coming off. Just one of them, though. We pull hard, so it doesn't even really count. And I've found that a lot of nipple clamps are that way. One side holds better than the other. Not sure why. It is quite strange.

And one of these is missing now. I'm betting it disappeared to the deep, dark underworld of "Inthecouchville". But that's the really awesome thing about them not being connected to each other. If you lose one, you only lose one!

I still love these clamps. I'm probably going to buy another set soon. What? No, four isn't enough!