I must mention, before saying anything else, what happened with me in the case of this pair of tethers.

Because THEY AREN'T A PAIR ANYMORE!!! At least not nowadays!

Instead of receiving a pair as shown on the package, I got only one tether neatly rolled up in a transparent, soft, plastic wrap, wondering what the hell...! I sent it back for a replacement, and one arrived again in the same packaging! Only because of the fantastic tech support crew, I received another one for free, after almost giving up on it and just getting tired of the whole thing... Yes, they found out that the manufacturer sends ONLY ONE TETHER from now on! (Even wrote to the manufacturer, Spartacus, asking what in the world happened with the Tie Downs Pair, no answer ever since. I must admit that I don't like it too much when nobody responds to a message written about something what effects everybody interested in the products the manufacturer makes. I even mentioned them that the two existing reviews I have seen both mentioned a PAIR, and that's why I was wondering so much, being so unpleasantly surprised.)

Gods and the Almighty bless the WONDERFUL EF crew, now I am able to write a review on a pair of tethers, just like how you see it on the product page (except the packaging of course), which is going to be changed to show a single tether.

Tethers are something you can always use for various purposes, and it is even greater when they have buckles, and couldn't be better if they are made of leather on the top of that! You can attach them to wrist and ankle cuffs, any other special bondage gear you are wearing, or your slave is, and they can be hooked up to proper accessories in your home able to handle the stress you put them under. Not to mention that tethers are excellent leashes, a pair of them can serve as riding reins, and the beauty of the chosen color and a body friendly material can ornament your body if you are creative enough to experiment with them much like with ropes!

Because of this, beginners and advanced users alike can find incredible and surprisingly fun pleasures in having such a thing handy, and only the fans of vegan gear may be a little disappointed that these tethers are made of some poor little creature's skin. (Poor-poor little one...)

I am writing about a pair of these tethers now, but keep it in mind that though my words are used in such a way, you may have to imagine them in another way, for one tether only. As it is still a mystery for me what the fate of this product will be, I am just writing the way I have for a Tie Downs Pair, hoping that a miracle will happen and others will receive a PAIR in the future as well!

The info on the length is correct on the product page, the leather portion of the tethers is indeed exactly 60 inches long. The width of the leather is 14 millimeters, which is just a wee bit more than a half inch, and the metal buckles are 2 1/2 inches long. As there was no material info on the packaging at all we will just have to remain guessing if they are made of iron, chrome alloy, nickel or something else. Neither the official website has any info on it, not to mention the confusing list of products. Among mighty ugly pictures you can see a pair of black tethers, with a similar name and mentioning nylon webbing in the description, and the other similar picture of one black tether has no info AT ALL on the product, having a totally different packaging. (I mentioned the practically useless pictures and the unbelievable lack of info in the message written to the manufacturer too, jokingly suggesting them to have the site redesigned, but like said before, no answer to my totally polite and kind toned message.)

The thickness of the tethers is 3 millimeters, with one side being smooth with a subtle shine, and the rest of the tethers having the natural "fuzzy" roughness of real leather. Because of this I assume these tethers can last for a lifetime, becoming an always handy and usable gear for any kind of bondage and D/s play. The smell is the incredibly subtle scent of leather as well, with no taste at all.

I obtained the Tie Downs Pair mainly to use as riding reins, and for that purpose they are much longer than what you would need. With the 5 feet length they are quite the long kind of leashes as well, giving the slave quite the distance to move freely if applied mercifully. Being used as actual tethers seems to be the most convenient way, and oh if there was enough time in the world to list all the ideas you could use them for!

It is no brainer to find out how you can use these tethers.

Though only one end has silvery shiny buckles and the other end is only cut into a square shape (with the corners beautifully but not impeccably trimmed somewhat rounded), and you can attach them to anything in a perfectly secure way only on one end. The other end will have to be tied to something, just like the product name says.

Laugh at me if you please, knots have always been the part of kinkabu (art of rope bondage) I am interested in the least, so my testing only goes for the most casual kind of "you cross it" knot.
With two casual knots managed on each other, the tethers seem to be fixed to my wrist in the testing surprisingly securely. But it takes only a few second and some moving around of the tether to find out that one knot gets loose - so of course the other one left would be anything but good enough to hold. It would look like three knots are the way to go, but I had to find out again that it gets loose as easily, just takes a little longer time. Using more and more of the precious thick leather already, four knots are the very last try, and you can already imagine the results. Yes, it gets loose quick enough, no luck there as well.

(Can't resist to stick in a little story from years and years ago when I was a little kid, hanging out at my grandparents' weekend house with the neighbor girls. My sister was as enthusiastic as they were to tie all my long, lush hair into knots as much as they could! We were testing it if they could get loose without the help of any hands! (I know, I could have lost my hair what gets tangled up very easily!) I was just shaking and shaking and shaking it, and no matter how many knots it had, it always got purrrfectly loose and "like new" again! Conclusion: with enough moving around, shaking, some knots can get loose without additional intervention!)

But the blessing of leather is that it "sticks together" better than many other materials do, here is the exception! I can get the knots loose only by pushing the rest of the tether towards the knot, but when the tether is pulled against my wrist there is no way I could escape! It is because of the natural drag of the leather, so I suggest you keep the object of your pleasure (aka the servile being) tied up or down, not letting her/him move a bit! That way the tether will remain pulled and arched, holding even the simplest kind of knots!

Indeed, the shape isn't like rope... It is rather like using paper, just some extremely strong and very thick kind of paper with not much width of surface at all: only the edges touch each other with the casual knots, so the surface doesn't mean extra support with its roughness.

Because of this, though beginners can still use Tie Downs Pair for various things, these tethers rather remain to be used extensively by those who are more experienced with knots, and those who want to learn the art of sturdy binding! Leather tethers ain't ropes, so you better practice enough with them, and dig more into the instructional materials online to find out how you can create the very best effects with them!

Oh leather, you strong, you clean, you beautiful!

Though you can see with a close look that the Tie Downs Pair's leather is somewhat elastic (just try to stretch it and there you go!), you can be sure that nothing will ever cut it, scratch it or stain it! Because of these wwwonderfullllll qualities leather has been the favorite for any kind of work, tools and appliances for thousands of years, all over history! It isn't only strong like a mighty warrior, it also stays fresh and clean no matter what you put it through!

The lovely no-high-maintenance material can be cleaned anytime in case of minor or major mess, with damp cloth and mild soap if needed. Though there is no info about it if Tie Downs Pair is waterproof, we all know that leather is mostly water-resistant enough to be worn 24/7, let's say when you wear collar and/or cuffs constantly, having shower or bath with them on. I am not stating here that Tie Downs Pair is waterproof, but you bet your butt I am sure about it! Though leather can get loose over time, stretched out a little bit, and water can make it tighter on your skin - so I advice you to do some research about such experiences. I do think that these tethers wouldn't get that weak if they were exposed to large amounts of water frequently.

Because of this sweetly practical quality you won't have to worry if you live somewhere where there is much moisture in the air, and storing is the easiest as well because of the handful size they can be rolled up into! Being fully rolled up their diameter is only 3 3/8 inches without the buckle, and with the buckle the max. diameter is only 4 inches! You can store them anywhere with such a tiny size, tossing them into a drawer, placing them between two of whatever (meaning that you can pick two things and slide the rolls between them), in any toy chest, small boxes, or just hanging them up - oh you will certainly find a spot for them!
And even if you leave them out and somebody drops into your room, you can always tell that these are used for your projects of working outside building stuff, crafting, or anything else - because indeed, Tie Downs Pair totally looks like the good old leather accessories used for the most various sorts of work!

Traveling is obviously easy as well with them: just put them into your purse, suitcase, glove box, and you can always say they serve as "emergency rope", or that they are just some fashion accessory! With no needles and drugs next to it of course nobody will think you are a heroin addict! (Though speaking of which, if anyone around you got heavily wounded you would be there right away to tie that limb up to stop the bleeding!)

Like said above, not the expected two tethers arrived in the expected package!

Only one tether has come to me all three times of receiving the Tie Downs, in the small transparent plastic wrap. I vaguely remember that there was something on the wrap, the name, product code, and bar code I think. Black letters, simple enough. It was pretty damned funny to see - I like the idea of saving on packaging materials, but awful presentation is somewhat of a turn off to look at until you get rid of it anyway...

You can already guess: no product info, no material info. Nope, nothing else as well. Meh...

But, this can be the amazing advantage of the packaging as well! Because if you intend to send Tie Downs to anyone, none of you will have to worry about naked ladies and erotic things shown on the package!

Just be sure that such a wrapping is the package when you send it to the chosen person, and (s)he will create the rest of the story if anyone asks about the tethers. Remember... FASHION ACCESSORY. ROPE FOR WORK. EMERGENCY SUPPLY. STUFF TO HANG UP DECORATION IN YOUR ROOM. Just create something what doesn't sound surprising from your mouth, so there will be no problems then!

Like mentioned before, Tie Downs Pair is something extremely versatile and a kind of accessory which we could call a must-have for anyone loving BDSM! (And this expression I like to use the most, embracing all the basic aspects of such a wonderful lifestyle: Bondage/Discipline; Dominance/Submission; Sadism/Masochism.)

Though these tethers aren't like rope, and aren't as easy to handle either - but neither they are weak, and they are leather instead of hemp. Just wrap it around and see how wonderful leather straps look on your skin! And enjoy the experimenting and creativity it inspires!

I have read it in another review that the tethers can be used as a whip, and indeed, it feels quite damned pleasant! The smooth side has the stinging bite to it, and the raw side is softer, for a lighter sensation. Of course, like with any well made leather whips, it depends on the person handling it how gentle or painful it is to play with the Tie Downs. I can't wait for my Master to try it on me!

Also, I haven't tried it for the "body art" purposes yet, but I have tried similar leather straps a billion times before, so I am sure it will work just as wonderfully!

There is something you want to know about the material by the way...
The raw side of the tethers has that "fuzziness", and when you are using it the soft leather pieces crumble down, falling everywhere! That is not a pleasant part at all, so that will surely make you decide how much you want the Tie Downs Pair!

As I was testing it on my wrist the edges of the leather were somewhat sharp, but not something you couldn't handle. Somewhat uncomfortable? Yes. Unbearable? Not at all! To me such a minor discomfort is part of being tied up, and W/we always have fluffy plushy cuffs and silk ropes around just in case my skin is too much tormented already. This part can't mean a problem, as long as you can make the knots when the buckles are already taken. My Master is excellent at such things of course - well, I could hardly give you any advice until learning such art better...

Being used as a leash the tether was very light weight, comfortable, the buckle performed the way it is supposed to. Though one thing is always a little bit important for me: Master often has me do stuff for Him, or just in general, and instead of bothering with unhooking the leash He just leaves it on me - so I have to carry it around whatever I do. Well, with this 5 foot long beast I had to be doing my things tossing it through a shoulder first, later I just wrapped it loosely around my neck twice and leave the rest on my back, flopping forward all the time. I suggest you to be as creative or choose a shorter leash if possible, in case you find yourself in such situations.

The testing as riding reins is still left to do with the pawnee bit, and though I would get to it right away, Master's Will is Master's Will. So I am just gonna wait with it, and mention the experiences in the follow-up review!

All in all, I don't know about any leather tethers which would be as long as the Tie Downs Pair, and unless it is sold as a pair again we won't see it around in such a form anymore... There are many other tethers out there though, but to tell the truth I don't like the ugly webbing at all, and I choose leather and vegan over such materials anytime if possible! Maybe folks just don't realize what an essential thing it is to have a few leather tethers around, or they just don't notice it as much in the selection EF offers - or people just don't write reviews on the Tie Downs Pair, because I wonder how come I don't see any visible interest in them. Maybe because it has to be tied and it takes time and practice to learn it. That's understandable... But otherwise, if you look for something else than ropes, these are the tethers I would go with! Open up those instructional pages, and get ready for some leather-tether-pleasure!