Cowboy - anal probe by Tantus - review by Red

The Cowboy is, really, like no other (widely available silicone) toy. At over a foot in insertable length (16 inches overall - wow) the Cowboy is, fairly obviously, a specialized and unique toy designed for deep, deep delving of the anus, rectum and sigmoid colon. Sure, the Cowboy does feature a flared base so it is harness compatible; and sure, you could use it vaginally...but lets be honest, its hardly appropriate for anything but anal play. This is an advanced anal toy for anal aficionados who may not yet be "extreme and advanced" (the Cowboy can be used in gradual steps) but most certainly, it is for those who have a desire - even if it's just a "maybe one day" desire - to take over a foot of silicone up their ass. This is, of course, not one of the goals of your average run-of-the-mill sex toy consumer, but for those who dream of the delighting in the delving their depths...the Cowboy is, quite honestly, the perfect toy.

The Cowboy is made of that gorgeous and beautiful silicone Tantus infamous for - and in this instance, the toy is pliable yet firm (so, maybe 7 on a firmness scale of 1-10) and features a matte surface. This particular consistency for silicone is my personal favorite as it is firm to the touch (fingers do not sink far into the surface) but the toy can be completely curled over so one end touches the other. In body, this translates into smooth navigation of inner curves but firm stimulation of sweet spots. A perfect combination, and one that is critical for a toy like the Cowboy that is designed for such deep anal play. Something softer would be difficult to actually push forward in the insertion; something less flexible would no doubt be much more difficult to use in a painless way.

Pliability and firmness aside, the matte surface of the toy holds onto lube quite well, allowing the toy to stay greased up (critical for an anal toy this size). As such, the toy needs a good amount of lube to get quite slick, but it doesn't plow through it endlessly either. Like most silicone toys, the Cowboy picks up hair and lint mercilessly, but it is not an absolute magnet for hairs.

The Cowboy is large, yes, but its length and girth is designed to gradually take the user onwards and upwards in size and length. The first part of the Cowboy is about the thickness of a finger (albeit a thick finger) or a small butt plug, and following that are six bulges which slowly increase upward in diameter from that of a medium sized butt plug to something just shy of 3". For those that love to know exact dimensions, the diameters of the bulges (which are perfectly round) are roughly: 1.7", 2.0", 2.1", 2.3", 2.4", 2.9". This translates to an extremely reasonable and gradual set of upward steps which provide really moderate steps up in girth while adding more and more to the inserted length. Now, 2.9" diameter is not exactly slender - heck, even 2.4" diameter is nothing to shrink away from - but honestly, the challenge at these two bulges is *not* the girth - it is the added length.

There are many toys which allow the player to toy with stretch, and these present a certain challenge because of the fact that the toys are inherently short and thus the wide girth happens relatively quickly. In fact, the Cowboy would be a great toy to use as a warm up to playing with stout plugs like the Tantus Abomb or Sexy Spades Large...but nothing really compares to the odd yet fulfilling feeling of insering a toy as deeply into your body. It's perhaps a psychological thrill - a sort of personal achievement; a gold medal in the anal olymipics happening in your bedroom. For someone playing with large buttplugs, the thrill of achieving wider and wider diameters is one thing, but delving so deeply is an entirely different feeling of achievement. As well, there's something indescribable about penetrating yourself so deeply, feeling the slow progression forward that seems to never end. For me it has not yet ended - I am two bulges shy of taking the entire Cowboy into my body - but even though I never quite make it all they way, I still feel that thrill of delving deeper into my body than I ever knew I could, and every time I play with the Cowboy it feels like I am embarking on a journey that makes it to an end, no matter where that end happens to be (and it changes day to day, I have found - sometimes I leave up to four bulges out because my body isn't feeling it and I don't have hours to spend at warming up to larger and larger bulges). The Cowboy is not a toy to treat like a race, it is a toy to enjoy like a long leisurely Sunday on the coast. Satisfying, long, slow and delicious. Its the way a session of solo anal play should be - which is something I'd started forgetting somewhere along the way to playing with wide buttplugs.

The Cowboy is easy to clean and store, if you set aside the fat that it is so danged big. Silicone cleans up well with soap and water, toy cleaner, or whatever you prefer. Effective sanitization can be achieved by boiling for 10 minutes, or more reasonably, taking a trip through the dishwasher (without soap or dirty dishes) on sanitize mode. Storage will be an issue for most people - this is not the sort of toy you can tuck into a small bedside table drawer. Either keep it out and proud on display, find a big storage box for your collection of toys and fill it with all sorts of delights including the Cowboy, or stash it in your closet somewhere.

Tantus uses a very simple plastic bag with a stapled cardboard card closing it off. Simple, recyclable, and easily disposed.