What is a gag?
A gag is an object that is placed in or around a person’s mouth. The aim is to prevent them from talking or screaming. In the field of BDSM, the most common gags are cloth, ring, snaffle, penis, balloon and ball gags. The latter are also known as ball gags and are particularly popular. Adhesive tape, cloth and other materials are also used as gag substitutes or gag attachments.
What are gags used for?
The production of human sounds begins at the vocal cords. Naturally, a gag cannot be used there. It is therefore not possible to bring someone to complete silence. Rather, the appeal lies primarily in the humiliation. For example, when the gagged person can only produce ridiculous sounds instead of sentences and drools to himself. This effect can be intensified by moistening the ballgag with a saliva-stimulating substance, such as lemon juice or this food-grade ginger spray from Naturally Naughty, which also triggers a slight burning sensation in the oral mucosa.
Foto: Naturally Naughty
However, a gag can also be used symbolically. Namely to signal to Sub that his or her speech is unwanted. In addition to the effect of noise suppression, a gag can also be used as a pain reliever, for example by biting into it. However, there are also gags that are used to force or teach other actions, such as oral sex.
Not to mention that gags can even have a calming effect on some people by allowing them to suck or suckle on them.
What do I need to consider when using a gag?
Playing with gags is not without danger. They require a special degree of attention between the participants due to the limited communication possibilities and the partial restriction of the airways. The gagged person must always be able to breathe freely through their nose. This means that the use of gags is taboo even in the case of a minor cold. In order to be able to monitor the condition of the gagged person at all times, there must be constant visual contact.
The gagged person should also be able to position their head at all times so that saliva can drain from their mouth. Otherwise there is a risk of suffocation.
If there is still a lack of breathing air, this can be recognized by bulging eyes, bluish discolored lips and red or pale facial skin. Unexpected profuse sweating of the face is another warning sign. As is short, heavy breathing through the nose with widening nostrils.
The inability to breathe is usually caused by panic. This must be handled correctly: Remove the gag immediately, help the gagged person and also catch them emotionally. Regardless of whether there is a plausible reason for the panic or not.
For safety reasons, a safe sign should be agreed instead of a safeword. For example, snapping your finger or dropping an object.
People with diabetes, heart or lung problems, a tendency to seizures, hyperventilation or claustrophobia must not be gagged. Gagging under the influence of strong medication, drugs or alcohol is also taboo.
What do I need to consider when buying one?
As described above, there are, for example, fabric, ball, ring, penis and balloon gags. Most gags are held in place by a leather strap that is brought together at the back of the neck. These are also the easiest to spit out. There are also head harnesses that resemble horse harnesses and hold the actual gag in place. Other gags are held in place by wide leather straps and fastened with a buckle at the back of the neck.
It is particularly important to pay attention to the connection between the actual gag and the holding device. This is because it is likely to be damaged by leaking saliva. If it is made of hard, unsuitable split leather, the saliva will be absorbed and the leather will become hard and brittle within a short time. This quickly leads to open mouth corners and infections.
Rivet connections and other metal parts should be made of stainless metal, nickel-free, rounded and never sharp-edged. For the mouthpiece itself, it is primarily important that it is stable. It must not break so that no piece can be bitten off and swallowed. Also check whether you find the smell pleasant. If not, you or your partner will most likely not like the taste of the gag either.
Before the first use and after each use, a gag should be cleaned with hand soap or washing-up liquid and then rinsed with clear water. Most gags and gagging devices are made of leather, but they are also available in fabric or metal. The gag should then be allowed to dry thoroughly. Leather gags should be greased with a natural care product such as Vaseline, which does not cause allergies. Cowhide and calfskin are the only types of leather that can withstand saliva and cleaning for a long time without affecting their quality.
Parts of this text were first published on Baumwollseil.de, one of Germany’s first online shops for kink, eroticism, and BDSM, and were kindly provided to Deviance.
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