How excited was I to finally be getting a bondage toy to review? Very excited! Up until now, my only real bondage toy was a pair of old "trick" handcuffs, and as it stands I just plain don't get a chance to use them very often. As far as bondage goes, it's fair to say I'm still pretty inexperienced, as much as I enjoy it; and once I found out what I'd be reviewing I was pretty thrilled. Not to mention I had a good feeling that my friend Mike would really dig this one, too!

Now, my problem with commercially available bondage toys has always been that it seems they're almost always either too "frou-frou" or too corny. Things like handcuffs with fuzzy feathers on them turn me right off. Pink paddles shaped like hearts? You've got to be kidding! In my mind, bondage isn't supposed to be cute and cuddly; and it isn't something to be afraid of. In my humble opinion, why even experiment with it if you need to dress it up as something friendly to try it? I understand in the world of adult toys|Adult toys for experienced users the rule of thumb is "different strokes, for different folks," and each person is diverse; but friendly, cute bondage toys just don't do it for me.

Needless to say, my handcuffs were given to me by a very open-minded girlfriend (who purchased them at a popular novelty shop)... and up until now I felt pretty certain that any bondage toys I would buy for myself would be purchased from a hardware store.

The Pleasure Tape restraints have given me a renewed sense of hope and confidence in the world of commercially available bondage toys. This versatile item is so simple, it is genius. The tape, made from PVC material, has no adhesive to speak of and only sticks to itself by the magic of science. This means you can use this restraint without worrying about it pulling out hair, leaving long-lasting red marks (for those of you that like it discreet), or leaving an uncomfortable sticky mess. Best of all, Pleasure Tape is not corny by any means, and besides its color (either pink or purple) it's certainly not frou-frou. Pleasure Tape is inviting, but not overly friendly: it offers all the conveniences of being bound with duct-tape without all the pain and mess. (For those of you that happen to enjoy the pain and mess, maybe Pleasure Tape isn't for you.)

Another convenience of Pleasure Tape is that it's reusable... you can wind it back up and save it for next time. However, even if you don't save it, it's inexpensive enough you can probably afford to buy another roll, or even several at a time. It doesn't say on the package how many feet of tape you actually get in a roll, but the material is so thin, at least it seems to me, there must be an awful lot.

So how does Pleasure Tape perform? Well, the material is quite hardy. Several layers were used to bind my hands and my feet together, and no matter how much I struggled or fought against it (purely for the sake of research!), it didn't give or stretch out. Even just holding a small piece of it in my hands and trying to stretch it didn't seem to damage the material too much, but I suppose it might if you really tried. So, Pleasure Tape is strong. It's also very clean: I was surprised to find, despite the fact that it only sticks to itself, static did not cause too much dust or hair to stick to it. This is a definite plus and a weight off of my mind: I can only imagine what it would be like to have to rinse it off after every use and hang it to dry before rolling it back up again!

Pleasure Tape is excellent for binding hands together or feet (or hands to feet, depending on your tastes); it's also excellent for blindfolding (whoever heard of using tape over your eyes!) and gagging.

I only have three complaints about these restraints. The first: Pleasure Tape is hard to tear into pieces. With duct tape or most any other kind of tape you might pick up, tearing it with your teeth usually does the trick. With Pleasure Tape we had to use scissors. I don't know about you, but I find it terribly inconvenient to try to find a pair of scissors in the heat of the moment, and I don't necessarily want to keep a pair in the bedroom. Also, in my opinion using scissors isn't nearly as sexy or animalistic as using your teeth to tear it.

The second; depending on how long you're bound, the area of your body that is bound can start to get sweaty and little uncomfortable, and if there's a little sweat the tape will slide a little bit. However, I don't think this is enough of a concern to warrant a second thought about using it, especially since you will still remain bound.

The last is simply the color choice. I'd like to see Pleasure Tape in a variety of colors and possibly even designs. Pink can be playful, but black and silver would both be excellent colors, as well as red; and black-and-pink stripes or even yellow-and-black "Caution" or "Police" designs might be fun for some naughty role play.

All in all, I really enjoyed these restraints and believe them to be an innovation in adult toys... it's a perfect fit for bondage beginners and seasoned veterans alike. I found Pipedream's simple and sensible approach to bondage sex toys to be extraordinary and refreshing, and I look forward to taking a few less trips to the hardware store.