I am an avid reader and this my first contribution. I've been doing self bondage since I was about seven.

My most recent and rather pleasant bondage was done on a whim as just a little something to keep me company. I have a very nice pair of women's black leather platform boots. They come to right below the knee and have an inside zipper. They are made of good leather and smell heavenly.

I have been experimenting with Zip ties lately and it occurred to me to use the boots as overnight mittens. Zip ties are those nylon fasteners used to secure electrical components. You can find them in many sizes in the electronics section of your local home supercenter. Versions of them are used for law enforcement as disposable handcuffs. Those are longer and presumably stronger. I don't care how strong you are, I challenge you to break the smaller zip ties. They are very tough and the more you strain, the more they cut in. The beauty of the zip tie is that the male end is sharp and stiff and the female end is easy to find, even behind your back and in the dark with gloves on. As soon as you get the end in the hole and hear one little click-That's it! It is not going to come open. And you can tighten them so easily by pulling on the end. It gives off such a nice satisfying zzzzz sound.

So right before beddy-bye time I daisy-chained two zip ties together giving me two 'bitter end' pieces. Mine are too short to use only one. I slipped the circlet around the ankle of each boot and slipped one hand in. With the free hand I zipped the mittened hand tight. Then the tricky part. I slipped the free hand into the other boot wiggling it so that the wrist was equal with the boot 'ankle'. It was easy with my teeth to zip the second one tight and my hands were now in the deep part of the boot, the zip tie tight around my wrist, and the shaft of the warm sensuous boot up around my elbows.

I clicked off the light and went to sleep. I woke up a couple of times conscious of the restraints around my hands. When my alarm went off I realized how immobilized I was. I couldn't hit the button with boots on my hands! The only way to get Zip ties off is to cut them. I had hefty scissors in a drawer but it still took a couple of minutes to open the draw with the heels and(remember no other bondage!) use the heels to get the first wrist zip tie cut. Getting the second off of course was easy.

This experience was very pleasurable and I will probably incorporate elements of it into a future more difficult self bondage. It does serve to highlight the unique utility of the zip tie for we self bondagers, and I'm sure that many of you will run right out and cruise your local electrical supply!

A couple of fine points. If you cut the zip tie close to the end, you can re-use part of it, only shorter. Also, I've found that the point of a seam ripper (found at fabric stores) works as a perfect 'key' if you can get it in the wrong side of the zip tie. Cutting them every time can get expensive.

In using them with a playmate, zip ties are excellent for those subtle abduction fantasies because in an INSTANT you can zip a subs thumbs or toes together inescapably and tight. You Lady doms (and I bow to you respectfully) will enjoy instant control if you put a zip tie around your sub's dick or scrotum and zip it down. Then you can play �how many clicks till the purple headed warrior of love explodes.�

Last word. I think there is a whole world of things that can be done (self bondage wise) incorporating zip tie male and female ends into other bondage restraints. Forward any ideas you have to Warhammer and I'm sure he wouldn't mind passing them discretely to me. The beauty of them again is almost no fumbling with a locking mechanism. Just get the end into the lock and 'click'-no escape. In a severe self bondage situation, I've got small combo locks that lock my scissors handle shut. It would also work with a chain through the scissors handles secured by the combo lock or using keyed locks with ice cubes etc. Happy Zipping!

"The Tinker"