Cuffs are often used to restrain a person by wrists or ankles. Their utility does not end there, though; this page explores how to take restraint a step further, and talks about types of cuffs beyond the simple handcuff or wrist cuff. BEYOND WRIST AND ANKLE CUFFS Humans are a clever species, so it stands to reason that we have invented all sorts of devious variants on the theme of cuffing someone's wrists and ankles to the bed. Some of these ideas are handy to keep in your repertoire of kinky sex ideas, because you can find all sorts of solutions to the most common problems you'll find with cuffing your partner to the bed. In fact, you'll find that there are all sorts of things you can do without a bed at all!

A more natural, and more sustainable, way to be bound is on your back with your legs and ankles restrained, and your wrists bound at your sides. This is actually easier than it sounds to do, and there are several different ways to go about it.

The simplest is by the use of thigh cuffs. A thigh cuff, as the name suggests, is simply a cuff that wraps around the upper thigh rather than around a wrist or ankle. Thigh cuffs, like wrist and ankle cuffs, have a tie-down point, which is most often attached to a wrist cuff to bind the wrists to the sides, preventing freedom of motion without discomfort. Thigh cuffs are usually designed to be worn for extended periods of time; when you tie your partner's wrists to his or her thighs, you can keep your partner bound for a long time while you work your will.

Variations on this basic theme,, including waist cuffs and bondage belts, exist as well. As the name suggests, these are long cuffs, usually with multiple rings or attachment points, which wrap around the wearer's waist. Cuffs can be attached to the belt, keeping your partner's hands bound at his or her sides.

Special-purpose shoulder-length gloves can be handy as well. These gloves are designed to buckle around your partner's arms so they can not be removed, and have many attachment points along them which allow you to attach them to each other, to thigh or waist cuffs, or to the sides of the bed.

You can use thigh cuffs to hold your partner's kegs apart, by attaching ropes or straps to the connection points, then fixing the other ends of the ropes or straps to the sides of the bed to prevent your partner from closing his or her legs. (Some people find that this increases the psychological impact of bondage, because it reduces freedom of motion even more than simply being bound at wrist or ankle). If you like, you can even place a short spreader bar between a pair of thigh cuffs, holding the legs apart.

While we're on the subject, spreader bars can be used in quite a number of ways to extend the versatility of cuffs and to restrain your partner in virtually any position you can imagine. At its simplest, a spreader bar is simply a rigid bar or dowel with an eye hook on each end; by attaching the spreader bar to, for example, a set of ankle cuffs, you can hold your partner's ankles apart and prevent your partner from closing his or her legs even if you do not tie your partner to the bed. Spreader bars are quite common in situations where you wish to cuff or bind your partner standing up; you do not need to tie your partner's ankles to a fixed point, as the spreader bar will often hold your partner's legs apart sufficiently for whatever you want to do.

Simple spreader bars can be made cheaply and quickly from a length of broomstick and a couple of large eyebolts; you merely need to cut the broomstick to the length you want and attach the eyebolts to each end. These spreader bars have a significant disadvantage, though, in that you can not adjust how long they are, so they can't be used for different purposes (or, sometimes, on different people).

More elaborate spreader bars are usually made of metal, and can be adjusted in length, often by sliding the ends over a center piece and then holding them in place with a removable pin:

Spreader bars with this design are a great companion to cuffs, and increase the range of possibilities available to you. Some spreader bars have built-in cuffs permanently attached to the ends, rather than eyebolts, for even easier (and more secure) bondage play.

If you want to get a bit more fancy (and really turn some heads), you can make an illuminated spreader bar using the plans I've posted here.

Off the Bed

You need not restrain your partner lying down; in fact, sometimes, if you want access to both sides of your partner's body (say, for sensation play or impact play), it's advantageous not to. The suspension cuffs and suspension bar mentioned in the first page of this section are useful for more than just suspension. One fun way to use a suspension bar is to hang it from the ceiling at just about the height of your partner's outstretched arms, bind your partner to it using cuffs, then use a spreader bar to hold your partner's legs apart. Your partner will end up standing upright on the floor, arms overhead, and immobile, but without being suspended off the ground.

Of course, not everyone can be hanging things from the ceiling, and it's especially difficult if you're in some place like a hotel room...and, fortunately, human ingenuity has solved that problem as well. Doorways, of all things, make very convenient ways to tie up your partner, with no extra hardware required. All you need is a short piece of rope, about five inches long, a thick wooden dowel, and a metal O-ring.

Drill a hole through the center of the wooden dowel, tie one end of the rope to it, and tie the other end of the rope to the ring, Open the door, drape the rope over the top of the door with the ring toward the inside and the dowel toward the outside, and close the door. The dowel prevents the rope from coming through the door, and the ring provides an attachment point for the cuffs. (If you prefer, you can buy over-the-door bondage kits already assembled for you.)

As for the things you can actually do with these various types of cuffs and restraints: we'll get into that in the next section.