Leather breathable hood by Pipedream - review by Red

The Leather Breathable Hood from Pipedream is made of soft leather and spandex – a leather face front, and a spandex back. As such, it is one size fits all – which is an accurate statement given normal head sizes. I don't know anyone with macrocephaly, so I have been unable to see if it works in extreme cases, but there's a good amount of stretch in the spandex so I think it's safe to say it would work universally on adults. To clean the hood after use, hand wash the spandex portion and clean the leather portion with a mild cleanser like cetaphil, taking care to ensure it doesn't get too wet.

The face of the hood features pepper-pot eyes, grommeted nose holes, and an open mouth. The pepper-pot eye holes cover a wide enough area to allow for facial differences, and let in just enough light to allow glimpses of the action going on around you. They restrict and dull your overall vision, kill off any peripheral vision, and can be used with interesting lighting tactics to cause disorientation and confusion to the hood wearer. Furthermore, they restrict vision so well that a simple scarf tied over the eyes would be very effective at rendering the hooded person completely blindfolded.

The nose grommets are positioned such that with some wiggling (depending on the wearer) they will cover the nostrils effectively – and they certainly allow easy breathing. One of the side benefits to the pepper-pot eyes and nostril holes is that if a breath is taken through the nose, air will actually whoosh through the hood via the speckled eye holes, cooling the face under the hood. The mouth hole on the hood is a simple slit in the leather, reinforced with stitching. The edges are soft and unfinished (no scratchy seams!), and the size is quite generous. Fellatio is CERTAINLY on the table while wearing this hood - as is frantic sloppy kissing, pussy lickin' or the placing of a ball/bit gag.

The hood does up around the neck via a small (one inch thick) leather collar that is riveted to the leather portion of the hood itself. As a collar, it is not amazingly robust and sturdy, and does up with a very simple/flimsy buckle at the back. The collar features a d-ring at the front, for attachment of a leash or whatnot, and is well placed to take the strain of tugs. After a bit of rough and tumble testing and yanking, it's still all in excellent shape and is showing no real signs of breaking or falling apart. That said, this is not a hood designed for uber serious bondage with struggling and tugging, and I would imagine that repeated energetic use would result in the collar ripping at the rivets, or possibly the buckle. However, this hood is certainly an introductory bondage piece, and not really intended to act as a life long investment for a professional dungeon.

Finally, the hood is generally pretty fun to use and wear. It provides a dulling or hindrance of some senses (hearing, smelling and sight), with the ability to have those senses fully muted with the addition of ear plugs, a simple blind fold and a simple gag. To someone curious about the effects of a hood, this is a great piece, as it allows a tasting of sensory deprivation without an over commitment right off the bat, and as stated, can easily be ramped up to full muting of some senses with the addition of really cheap and easily obtained accessories. With the front portion made of leather, it has that sexy-n-scary quality one wants from leather bondage gear, without being an elaborate and expensive leather hood. Overall, an excellent product with a lot of great potential and – I daresay – decently universal appeal.

Film aficionados who have a taste for cult horror classics may remember a movie called “The People Under The Stairs” by Wes Craven, made in the early 90's. In it, there is a scene where the Dad (who was evil) ran around wearing a leather get-up that included a mask, much like this one. In more recent times, the film “Pulp Fiction” forever immortalized the image of a burly man in a leather hood being announced with the statement “Bring out the GIMP!”

These seemingly irrelevant movie references have had a lot to do with my use of this hood – and no, I have not been re-enacting horror movie scenes in my bedroom. You see, upon receiving the hood, I immediately put it on and proceeded to chase my husband around our apartment laughing hysterically and asking for a kiss. I may also possibly have asked if he wanted to kiss the Gimp, and possibly, as well, if he wanted to go hang out under the stairs (we have storage space under a set of stairs). In retrospect, this was not the smartest choice for how to introduce this hood to him, as since that day he has categorically refused to have anything to do with it, claiming that it's just “way to creepy” to ever eroticize.

Oops.

All is not lost, however – I have good negotiation skills and he's good/giving/game, so he'll wear it when I ask him to. Otherwise, I can just tie him up and slip this hood onto myself to sneak it into our bedroom play (or take advantage of him when he's mostly asleep while I have it on). And besides all that, we're poly – I have other playmates that I can share this hood with; ones more apt to enjoy it in the first place, and ones introduced to it in a somewhat gentler fashion.

You know, this hood is just fine - really, there's nothing wrong with it. But what's the point? You can still see, still hear, and still talk, so additional gear is needed to mute those senses. Truthfully, this might be a great hood if what you want is depersonalization of your partner without removing one of their senses, but that's not really my cup of tea. And it still looks like a hood that you'd see in a horror movie, no matter how hard I try not to see it that way.

The hood has been relegated to my random costume bits bag. It might come in handy, some day.