Gun Oil H20 lube certainly has a manly man name. Don't let the name confuse you, though – inside the bottle is a lube that's good for almost any type of play.

On looking at the ingredients label I was happy to note that Gun Oil H2O is glycerin-free. It does contain parabens, though, and, unusually for a lube, aspartame. Seeing the aspartame on the label made me wonder what the flavor was, so I opened up my bottle and put some on my finger. Gun Oil H2O doesn't smell like much, but the taste was and not pleasant. Because of this, I have Gun Oil H20 on my “apply after we're done with oral sex” list – joining most of the other lubes out there.

Gun Oil's consistency is good for all-round use. It's noticeably thicker than AstroGlide, yet thinner than lubes like Maximus or drugstore “personal lubricant”. It flows a bit to get into crannies and crevices, but still is thick enough to stay on toys and work for anal activities – which was how I planned to try it first.

I'm somewhat sensitive to parabens. Lubricants containing them it givins me a burning sensation when used anally. After slicking up a plug with Gun Oil and sliding it in, I was very happy to notice very little burning. While the ingredients list does show parabens, there doesn't seem to be much in there. I had were no complaints about slickness, either – the Gun Oil H2O stayed where it was needed and made everything sufficiently slick.

Vaginally, the Gun Oil H2O worked well also. It flows enough that there weren't any dry spots to stick to fingers during finger sex, and it was still good for PIV intercourse. We didn't have any problems with it drying out, but the fact that my wife gets pretty wet probably helped.

Water-based lubes have two bugaboos: they dry out and loose effectiveness, and when they dry they can get gummy and unpleasant on the skin. Happily, Gun Oil H2O runs with the top of the pack for lasting long and not being too yucky when dry. When used as a jack-off lube, it did wind up drying out and needing to be refreshed with water after a while (a trait shared by all water-based lubes), but it'll last long enough for a quickie 3-5 minute session. When used either vaginally or anally, the Gun Oil H2O lasted for a very long time, much longer than I could. While I have not devised a scientific test for length of lubricity that I can do at home, Gun Oil H2O definitely earns a “pass” in the informal trials.

The container has a shampoo-style lid, not nearly as convenient as a pump applicator, but it works OK. Gun Oil H2O flows well enough that it doesn't stick to the lid too much, while being thick enough that it doesn't run all over the place if you accidentally knock an open bottle over while you're using it.

I was interested in the list of herbal additives, which include aloe vera extract, ginseng extract, guarana extract, and avena sativa extract. What did these do, and why were they there? According to Empowered Product's web page, the aloe vera is for the skin (who can argue with that?), the ginseng and guarana extracts are for energy and sexual stimulation, and the avena sativa extract isn't mentioned. I noticed a pleasant sensation when I spread Gun Oil H2O on my penis that wasn't there when I used Maximus, but it wasn't so noticeable that it would get in the way. Many lubes that advertise "increased sensations" of one sort or another can be unpleasant or obnoxious from time to time, and I was happy that Gun Oil H2O seemed to have neither failing.

After I was done, the Gun Oil H2O was easy to clean up, washing off easily and rapidly with water.

In conclusion, I'm very impressed with Gun Oil H2O. At first I was a bit worried that it would be gimmicky, but that was not the case. It's a solid product, and if the masculine name means that more men are willing to give lube a try then so much the better.