I must admit, the very first thing my wife did upon opening the package of our new Gal Pal strapless double dildo, was to invert the toy, holding it by the vaginal insertion bulb, and act out the shooting of various objects around the room with her new cartoon space gun. Yes, it does bear some resemblance to some of "Marvin the Martian's" old weaponry, but will its effects be as "earth shattering?"

Our new Gal Pal double ended dildo (by Doc Johnson) arrived in light speed, as always from EdenFantasys. The dildo comes packaged in a molded plastic tray, tucked inside a heavier, rectangular, pink plastic box, adorned in modern bubble-like graphics, reading "Gal Pal Strapless Strap-On." Additionally, it advertises "6 inches" on the front of the box, but we found its insertable length to be quite a bit less than that when in use with a partner. Also included in the box, was a sheet of instructions, informing users in 6 languages, how to install batteries into a Doc Johnson vibrator, completely unrelated to the "Gal Pal."

The Gal Pal is made out of TPR, which is a thermoplastic rubber, with a smooth, yet somewhat tacky feel to the surface of it. As is characteristic of TPR, this double dildo has a soft, slightly-squeezable texture, with a lot of give to it, so you can bend and twist the dildo, and it will spring back to normal again.

As I mentioned earlier, the Gal Pal advertises 6 inches, which I guess is technically true, but its usable length isn't near that if you have a second person driving the dildo. When used with a partner we found the "business end" of this dildo to deliver more along the lines of 4 - 4.5 inches of penetration depending on the position. This same end of the dildo (the receiver's end) measures about 4 inches in circumference, until it widens at the base, near the clitoral hump. Additionally, the shaft sports two small molded balls at the tip, which provide some nice sensations during warm-up, but remain far enough up the shaft, to not distract the receiver once you get going. As for the driver's details, the vaginal bulb measures about 3.5 inches long, and approximately 4 3/8 inches in circumference. If however, you choose to use this dildo solo, you can take the whole shaft all the way over the clitoral ridge, and up to the vaginal bulb deep. Playing this way, you do actually get about 6.5 - 7 inches of insertion, and the shaft tapers nicely up to a pleasant 5 1/8 circumference at its widest point (across the clitoral ridge).

The Gal Pal also includes a bullet vibrator, which is molded in to the base of the shaft (running parallel to it), directly below where the vaginal "bulb" attaches. This basic vibrating bullet has an exposed screw-cap, that doubles as an on/off switch, for its one function; the buzz. Upon removing the plastic cap, to insert the batteries, I happened to glance inside, and notice that there was a small roll of paper shoved deep within. After 5 minutes and a pair of tweezers, the culprit was dislodged. What was it? A secret map to intergalactic treasure? Oh... wait... no... instructions to replace the irrelevant instructions included in the box; and not very good ones either. The new instructions have no writing, but merely a picture of two batteries inserted in the bullet. After robbing the TV remote of its 2 AAA batteries (which I was disappointed to find that they were not included), we were finally able to activate the Gal Pal's hyperdrive.

Being made of TPR, cleanup and care of the Gal Pal, is simple and straightforward. Just wash with antibacterial or toy soap, in warm water, and put it away out of direct sunlight, and out of contact with other toys. Please take note though, that TPR is porous, and is NOT able to be disinfected, so condoms are a "must" if sharing, or using between anal and vaginal play.

We've only tried the Gal Pal with water-based lubes at this point, but without problems. The lube really makes the surface of the toy quite slick, and it holds up fairly well.

Finally, Doc Johnson advertises this toy as being waterproof, but looking at the chintzy plastic cap on the vibe, I didn't see any o-ring or waterproofing on it, so I was a little suspicious of how the bullet would hold up, and we refrained from getting it really wet yet. When I do, I will post an update.

Overall, we are glad we tried the "Gal Pal" as in introduction to harnessless strap-on play, as it gave us a better idea of what this type play is capable of, but in the end, it left us wanting more.

First off, the dildo was difficult for my wife to retain. We're not quite sure if it was the slickness of the TPR once lubed, the shape of the vaginal bulb, or a combination of the two, but it was very difficult to keep in. Once you compound that with a thrusting motion, it's darn near impossible.

Second, the Gal Pal was difficult to control. The piece of the dildo that attaches the vaginal bulb to the shaft, is fairly small in diameter (which it needs to be to try and retain the bulb), but when you combine that with the soft flexibility of the TPR, you have a dildo that droops downward just putting it on. The lack of rigidity make it very difficult to maintain control over the shaft while driving, so trying to thrust at various angles is troublesome.

Third, the actual insertable length for the receiver, when used with a partner is fairly short. We would've liked a longer shaft for deeper penetration here.

Fourth, although the bullet provides adequate vibration in and of itself, it just doesn't transmit well through the TPR. A slight general buzzing can be felt by both users, but to us acted somewhat more of an annoyance than a stimulant.

Fifth, the stimulation for the driver wasn't great. We don't know if it was her body shape, but the vaginal bulb didn't seem to be putting pressure in the right spots for g-spot stim while wearing it, and although the clit ridge was nice for rubbing against, it was only possible with some effort, and only in certain positions (which again may be related to the narrow "bridge" of the toy).

Unfortunately, I think my favorite use for this toy is actually solo play, as you can take the whole length of the shaft (including the larger diameter clitoral ridge), and still have the vaginal bulb outside of your body to rock on, providing pressure to the perineum, or to use as a handle. Using the Gal Pal this way felt wonderful... it was just disappointing that the most enjoyment I got out of it, was using it without a partner, which is not why we got it, nor the way it was designed.

On the plus side, it definitely was a fun new experience, and it got us more excited to see the potential that exists, for each of us to receive pleasure simultaneously with this type of play.

Since our first review, we've really only used this toy once or twice. In reality it's the role-playing, power exchange, and sub/Dom scenario that brought us back to try again, rather than the toy itself. Due to the construction of the toy, it doesn't really satisfy either of us physically, and often gets frustrating when trying to use it, because it just doesn't can't due what we want it to (and hoped that it would).

The IDEA of this type of play still appeals to use very much, and we've got a couple other double-ended "strapless strap-ons" on our wishlist, so hopefully in the future, we'll find something that works a little bit better for us.