Safety Dance Shears

One of the prevailing credos for the majority of individuals who include BDSM activities in their lifestyle is that their activities are to always be "Safe, Sane, and Consensual."   Today's post is focused on one aspect of the credo - safety - that word is even in the name of the item we are about to profile.

We're talking about EMT Safety Shears.

Safety Shears are an absolute necessity for individuals practicing any form of Shibari, bondage, or playful restraint.  By absolute necessity, I literally mean - Do not play unless you have Safety Shears! - understood?

I hope that you will keep at least one pair of safety shears in your toybag, and at the same time I hope that you never actually have to use them.

My lovely assistant Serafina has provided us with an illustration of a EMT Safety Shears (top) as well as a pair of smaller Bandage Shears (bottom).

While the primary subject of today's post is the Safety Shear, I'd like to give some attention to it's smaller relative, the bandage shear.  Being lighter and cheaper, bandage shears aren't effective in an emergency.

I do like the bandage shear for tighter more delicate work, especially when time isn't of the essence.  A good use for that tool is removing plastic cling wrap after a mummification session.  Just remember it's a specialty tool, and not really for use in a true emergency.

Since I mentioned emergencies again, and just in case you didn't catch the most important message earlier in this post, I'll repeat myself here:

Safety Shears are an absolute necessity for individuals practicing any form of Shibari, bondage, or playful restraint.  Do not play unless you have Safety Shears!

They are like an insurance policy against any number of potential mishaps.  For instance . . .

• Imagine having an individual tightly restrained "spread eagled" on their back to your bed.  You've used an intricate web of ropes attached to a number of places on their four limbs, making your subject quite immobile.  Suddenly without warning, they inform you of an extremely urgent overwhelming need to vomit.  You know that inhaling even small amounts of stomach contents can cause pneumonia, that stomach acids can chemically burn tender lung tissue, and that a number of rock stars have literally died from the combination of inebriation and aspiration. Fortunately, the safety shears you had thoughtfully placed on your nightstand allow you to free your subject with a few snips, and help them to roll over and get to the edge of the bed where they throw up into a garbage can.  Tonight's scene may be over, but, as you hold your partner in your arms, you are thankful you aren't calling 911 because they choked on vomit while you struggled to untie the ropes.

That's not a pretty picture I painted.  But, in relative terms, for instance if I rated the danger using the old Department of Homeland Security's color codes, that particuler emergency is nothing more than a yellow or orange alert.  

A "Red Alert" scenario might include a subject who has actually passed out, or any number of mishaps involving true edge play such as suspension bondage.  At this level, mistakes, misjudgment, neglect, and shear stupidity can end up costing someone the ultimate price, their life.

For details of one recent story where apparent disregard for safety protocols cost one individual their life, and threatens to leave another charged with murder, read "Shibari, “Extreme Sex,” and Anti-Sex Prejudice" over at tinynibbles.com, Violet Blue's website.

Safety Shears are inexpensive, so there's no excuse not to have at least one pair in your toybag.  EMT Shears at TwistedMonk.com sell for just $5.50.  A quick peak at Amazon.com revealed a deluxe version, complete with titanium blades and comfort grip handles from Clauss for a few dollars more.

The Clauss shears are pretty neat, but I do have to say that if you are using Safety Shears frequently enough that you need a comfort grip handle, there are likely some serious problems with your technique, or your judgement.  Either that or they somehow ended up next to Serafina's sewing machine!

After saying that, I really should be clear however, Serafina and I have no desire to become the toybag police.  The only compliance I ever enforce is upon my lovely slave/wife, if you've been reading along you probably already know that.

But, it is my belief that when talking about toys and technique here at SpiritualBDSM.com, we can't ever stress the importance of safety too often, or in too strong of terms!  Today we might have gone over and over the importance of safety so much that we might be accused of flogging a dead horse.

I'd never strike a live animal, but in this case I'll happily beat that deceased equine one more time - Play safe everybody!

With that sentiment, I'll now segue to Men Without Hats and their hit - Safety Dance.