"How did you come up with the great ring-gag you put on Darla Crane (that everyone copied!)."

I bought it at the Pleasure Chest. I think that was the first year it was available... and now most photographers own one... they're so unusual looking! Ring-gags are available at most bondage equipment stores.

"I haven't been able to find any place that sells ballgags in various sizes. I went through the local toy stores just looking for suitable balls to make my own, but can't even find that. As a producer, where do you get props like this?"

There seems to be a shortage. I can't find any in Hollywood these days. It's very frustrating. But you can buy fully-complete ballgags with straps at most bondage equipment stores.

"I really like the look of a shiny red ball in my wife's mouth. I've used foam rubber balls of relatively small diameter in the past when I finally found a perfect, shiny, 2-inch red rubber superball. Unfortunately, due to the hardness of the thing (coupled with the size increase) she didn't want to wear it.
Where can I find a foam rubber ball that is very shiny (like you see all the bondage models wearing, not like a normal rubber ball that I see in the gags at our local stores), but soft, so she can bite into it some?"

You wanted her to wear a 2-inch ball? Is she Julia Roberts? (To quote one of my visitors...)

Unless she IS Julia Roberts, you should be seeking a ball 1-3/4-inch or smaller. The balls you see models wearing are known as automatic garage-door-opener stops. They're shiny only because the paint is new; soon, that paint starts to chip and you have to throw the gag away.

I own a small shiny hard rubber ball that I got in a toy store, but I've noticed that most men want us ladies to mouth a bigger ball than that.

Someone emailed me and recommended that you buy small uninflated balloons, put a ballgag ball inside them and re-strap. The balloon will keep it new-looking.

"What's the best gag to use so you can't speak through it at all? I stick a cloth in my mouth and tie around it but I can still speak through it."

Truthfully, most gags are cosmetic. Ballgags can be spoken around, and most gags can be worked off simply by dropping the chin down and wiggling the head. If you force the chin all the way down first and then tie the head-strap, that's more secure, but it just looks stupid and unsexy. So the first thing about gags is, they're more about fantasy than reality.

However, here's a gag that I can't talk through AND I can't work it off by wiggling my chin:

Drop the mouth open to its most open position. Hold the tongue upward in the mouth. Insert hard cloth packing into the mouth, as much as you can fit, plus some poofing out the front of the mouth. (Your tongue is up as a block to protect the entrance to the throat.) Apply a long piece of sticky silver duct tape UNDER THE CHIN and up both sides of the face all the way to the temples (it will look like a sling on your face). That strip is going to keep the jaw from expanding any farther. Now apply lots of horizontal tape-strips across the face. These will hold the jaw-tape on and also hold all the packing into the mouth.

If you do this to a partner, be honest -- let them know that the duct tape is going to hurt coming off later.

"I have yet to use a crotchrope on my girlfriend. Do they work well for masturbation in certain situations?"

Yes, though there's variation from person to person. Every gal is built differently. Randi Storm told me she once had an orgasm from a Jay Edwards crotchrope, but I've never climaxed from a crotchrope. I do find them sexually timulating if they're properly centered.

Nylon braided rope is best for crotchropes. If you use cotton rope, apply it over nylon or silk panties -- otherwise the rope will abrade the skin and then she'll get sore and you won't be able to have sex with her for several days.

Putting knots in the crotchrope will not help unless the knots are perfectly placed, so you have to ask her how it feels when you're placing each knot.

"I've never tried it, but I thought that for wrist bondage, the backs of the hands should be touching (palms facing away from each other) so the sub cannot use the fingers of both hands in untying knots. Are there any inherent problems with this?"

This technique was popular in those classic Arrow Bondage films. Placing the backs of the hands together makes the elbows bend outward and the hands bend at the wrist. What you wind up doing is tying the top of the hands together instead of the wrists themselves, which means they can easily squiggle their squishy palms out and escape.

You can alleviate the easy escape by leashing the wrists up into the small of the back, so there's less squiggle room, which is what the Arrow bondagers often did. However, I never found the look very feminine, so I've used the technique only rarely.

"In several of your movies your elbows are tied together behind your back for what must be a very long time during the shooting. I like when my husband ties me this way but my shoulders cramp after 20 to 30 minutes and my arms start turning color. Are there any tricks to staying tied like this for long periods?"

Yes, if you're using the doubled-rope style to tie with...

Start the first loop around the torso, just above the breasts, including the arms/shoulders. Make the loop stop on the back of the body... then start looping the upper arms together as high as possible. The ropes should NOT tie the elbows together exactly on the elbow... the ropes should be an inch or two above the elbows. This makes a big difference for circulation.

Another way is to tie the forearms together. This will hold the elbows together without pinching the veins in the crook of the elbow.

There should not be lots of cinching, because too much cinching will press against the veins, arteries and nerves at the elbow.

Of course it also helps to keep squirming and moving, because if you're moving around, the body can stay tied up longer.

"Can you explain different ways of tying someone's torso/breasts, and how to connect the footrope to this?"

There are three popular rope harnesses.

Bikini harness: shaped just like a bikini, with a "V" that comes down between her tits. Wrap around the chest just below the breasts (optional: including arms or wrapping above the breasts). The front V supports the horizontal rope.

Yoke harness: a real "yoke" is a piece of wood that rests across your shoulders behind your neck. A rope yoke is similar. First, wrap around the chest just below the breasts, and trap the arms in it too. The yoke is a rope or ropes which pass behind the neck, over the front of the shoulders, and down through the arms, to hold up the horizontal ropes.

Japanese harness: The arms are tied behind in a U shape, then rope is wrapped above the breasts around the chest/arms. This horizontal rope is leashed to the wrists to hold the wrists up in back.

If you want to connect a footrope to a chest harness, use the Yoke harness, and leash the footrope to the yoke-rope at the back of the neck. (If you try to leash foot-ropes to horizontal chest-ropes, it will just drag down the harness.)

"I'm pretty good with binding arms so that it looks attractive and the arms do not turn blue. I am still having trouble with legs. I rather like the looks of the thigh and ankle tie, but #1--it takes me too long and #2--I get them too tight. I am obviously not using the correct technique."

"Taking too long"... you'll speed up with repetition. In the meantime, remember that putting ropes on is foreplay. While you're down there wrapping, stop and caress and put your hand between her legs. Then it won't seem like you're taking so long :)

As for getting them too tight, it may be that her legs are too developed. The truth is, when you fold the knees that far, the legs are going to fall asleep fairly soon (unless the gal is very thin).

If you want her to be able to stay in ankle/thigh long enough to play around, have sex, whatever, try tying them so that the ankles are not actually snug up touching the thighs. This means you have a bent leg but not totally folded. Instead of roping them directly together, try wrapping a hobble between the ankle and the thigh.

"Hi, Dr. Bondage! I've been thinking, how do I tie up my girl, so that I can get to any part of her body, to tickle, lick, fuck and spank her, I can't figure it out. Love, Frank."

You need to tie the arms Japanese-style ("U" shape). Ask her to reach behind her back and touch her elbows with her opposite hands. Her arms will be in a U shape. Wrap the rope vertically. You can wrap fairly tightly because you will not be cinching. After you knot it, you will need to add a rope harness to help hold her arms up against the small of her back (if you let the arms drop, they'll cover her butt and get in the way of spanking). Tie a rope that supports the wrists, passes under one arm to the front of the body, travels up over her shoulder, 'round the back of the neck (not the front), comes over the other shoulder toward the front, and then goes under the other arm back to the wrist support.

There, that's all you need to have her helpless and accessible. Tie the legs however you want.

"You mentioned that mummification is stressful to the body (you said you had the shakes after one mummification) ...why is that?"

1st, mummification reduces the amount of space that your inhaling rib cage can expand to, so the body begins receiving less oxygen. (The body also usually gets some oxygen directly through the skin, but this is blocked off too.)

2nd, the mummification traps in heat, so the body temperature begins to rise.

3rd, tight mummification reduces the actual number of square inches that your entire body is allowed to occupy. So your whole body is slightly compressed at the outer levels. Veins and arteries have less space, so the heart begins pumping harder, trying to get the blood to circulate.

These elements need to be controlled to reasonable levels, and the mummification needs to be stopped at a reasonable time, otherwise you are putting an incredible strain on the heart and body.

The time I got the shakes, I think I let myself stay in the wrap a few minutes longer than I should've.

"What is the most strenuous bondage for you that doesn't involve suspension? I like being tied extremely tight and straining from the position, but not suspended. Any suggestions?"

The most strenuous thing I've tried is the "pretzel hogtie," seen in "The Pearl Necklace" video (KISS-33). The wrists are hogtied back tightly to the ankles or knee ropes. A shoulder harness is leashed back to the ankle ropes and pulled until the spine bends back. Then the big toes are tied together, and the gag or the blindfold is leashed back to the big toes, and pulled until the head and neck are arched back.

I always have to go to the chiropractor after that one.

"My partner and I are just starting to get into suspension bondage. Do you have any suggestions for some good positions? We both prefer medium to extreme discomfort."

Almost any suspension will provide you with medium to extreme discomfort. The problem is, you should only put up with that for a brief time, or the suspension will damage your body. So I will disappoint you somewhat by suggesting full-support suspensions. Use a swing, sling, or thigh-straps to support the weight of the body, then tie the wrists and ankles where you desire.

"Just how uncomfortable is it being in a car trunk, and are you ever worried about fumes?"

Modern car trunks are carpeted, which makes them very comfortable. If you're in one for a ride, lie on your side, facing the back. Place your back against the inner wall of the trunk, and if you're jostled, you can stick your feet out against the back wall to hold yourself still. Whenever the car brakes are applied, the brake lights will come on, and this usually lights up the interior of the trunk in a beautiful red color, at which point I like to look down at my tied-up body.