SPEAKING OF BALL STRETCHING

"I love to look down and see my low-hangers all tied up. The feeling I get,somewhere between a dull ache and pure pleasure, really gets me off."

"Once they're stretched out and shiny," says our ball-play fan, "I like the guy to slap them gently, very gently, with the palm of his hand." Which brings up an important point: one man's hearty slap is another man's love tap. Balls and their associated thingies are vulnerable, and while that vulnerability can be a big part of the thrill, start slow and ramp up gradually and do not ever take things past the point of bearable sensation, OK?

Unsurprisingly, consumer capitalism has come up with a variety of ball-stretching toys, from a simple snap-to-close leather cylinder to some fairly elaborate gizmos. Some are double-ringed, combining cockring with ball-stretchers, while others separate the nuts while distending them. Their are also parachute-shaped stretchers you can hang weights from, really pulling those puppies taut.

You can, if you wish, spend a week's pay on a Spanish Inquisition's worth of leather and/or metal stretchers. Or, in a frugal do-it-yourself spirit, just tie those nuts up with a 5-foot length of soft nylon clothesline. (Don't use thin or hard cords that might bite too hard.) Perhaps the easiest method is to loop the near end of the rope around the base of both dickshaft and balls and use that as an anchor as you sensuously but nastily wrap the cord around the ballsac in a gradual stretch, eventually tying the two ends together. Hard to describe in words, but not rocket science. G'wan, give it a try.

If you've already fucked around with more than a scrotum or two, you'll know that both the size of the nuts and the looseness of the sac varies from guy to guy. The bigger the nuts, and the lower the low-hangers, the easier your job will be. But many testes can be coaxed to come out to play. (For one thing, the scrotum's heat-sensitive in order to maintain the right temperature for sperm; what might, in a cold shower, seem like tight raisins may well ripen into swinging plums in more tropical climes.)

Cautions? Well, you don't want to leave stretching devices on too long. Whether using rope or a stretcher, beware of pinching the sac's tender flesh: that's the sort of pain that none but the hardest-core masochist enjoys. And remember, the balls are slippery devils and can sneakily escape from bondage, sometimes with an unplanned, nonenjoyable degree of discomfort.

Does all this make you think ouch? Well, even if it does, if it also gives you at least a little shivery thrill, maybe, just maybe, sac-stretching is your bag.

If you are not in the UK you can check out the ball-stretching toys in the OutUK Shop - ShopGay.nl

Simon Sheppard

San Francisco artist and activist Simon Sheppard is best known for his contributions to the erotic literary scene. He wrote hundreds of stories that appeared in S/M magazines; erotic anthologies; and over twenty editions of Best Gay Erotica and Best American Erotica. His Sextalk column has appeared on OutUK for more than 20 years. You can find out more about Simon Sheppard in this OutUK feature and tribute, or take a look at some of his many books that are still available:

       

Looking for something very sexy and just as smart? Man on Man collects the best and hottest gay sex writing by Simon, who is also co-editor of Rough Stuff: Tales of Gay Men, Sex, and Power as well as a collection of gay erotica called Hotter Than Hell.

In KINKORAMA : Dispatches from the Front Lines of Perversion he takes readers behind the unmarked doors and black vinyl curtains that lead to the sometimes shocking, often hilarious, relentlessly arousing scenarios of extreme sex. There are also stories of bears in Tales from the Bear Cult: Beat Bear Stories from the Best Magazines.