Sex and Mischief rope restraints - restraints discontinued by Sportsheets - review by mpfm

Sex and Mischief is a line of light bondage gear produced by Sportsheets. They are easy to use and generally perfect for those who like light bondage or for novices to bondage. I own three other items in the line, and have been pleased with all of them. I expected to love this piece. Alas, the rope restraints just aren't designed very well.

The restraint is composed of a a narrow adjustable strip with two slip tie cuffs at either end for wrists and ankles. In theory, the cuffs are easy to put on and use. They should tighten easily and automatically. There are no buckles, snaps, or velcro. Just put them on and you're ready to go. The problem is that they tend to increasingly tighten with any movement. They quickly become uncomfortable and have to be adjusted continually.

If you can get past that, they are well suited for a variety of activities. You can bind both ankles and wrists. They make a fun hog tie. The middle portion comes apart making it easy to use just as individual hand cuffs or ankles restraints. It could be thrown over a door and used as door cuffs. One of the loops could be thrown over a bed post for an easy bed restraint. Since they are small and portable, they could be taken anywhere.

If they didn't have the tendency to tighten uncomfortably, these would be a wonderful tool for light bondage play. As it is, I really don't recommend them. I doubt heavy bondage players would give these a second glance. If they did, they would surely be disappointed because any amount of struggle constricts these too much. Beginners would be better off choosing something else. There are plenty of good options out there for exploring. For light bondage players, these might be OK. They are best suited for activities that do not produce lots of squirming. I know, what's the fun in that? Perhaps binding yourself and waiting for your lover to come and find you. Bind him while you give him a lap dance. Light, gentle teasing that doesn't cause lots of movement would be fine. Since they are easy to adjust, there is no real danger here. They loosen just as easily as they tighten. You won't cut off circulation entirely. It's more an annoyance that gets in the way of the fun.

Ignoring, the flaw for a moment and keeping in mind this is for light bondage, the construction of the restraints is good. The rope portion is a braided polypropylene. It is soft and pleasing to touch. The material is looped around and fastened with a metal rivet at each cuff end. It's a simple loose tie that is comfortable as long as you are perfectly still. When it inevitably tightens, it is easy to loosen. The cuffs are very close together so you can easily reach and adjust with the other hand. The ankle restraints didn't seem to tighten as much. But my hands were close enough to loosen those as well. The cuffs are large enough to accomodate a wide variety of sizes.

The middle length is just about 20 inches. It is adustable via a plastic belt loop. It can be shortened to a mere 4 inches, but 20 inches is the maximum. I am short at 5'2". The length worked well for me. However, taller people may find that it is too short to use for some activites.

It can be split into two pieces. This enables it to be used as just hand cuffs or ankle cuffs individually.

The material seems to be strong and durable. However, its not really a good piece to test the strength. You'll likely give up before them.

The constriction of these is too big an obstacle for me. I just can't get excited about these. We gave them an honest try. We tried various activities and positions. All of them ended in too tight wrists and ankles. Granted my hands were always close together so I could adjust easily as needed. It was annoying and distracting to have to do this, though. One thing we tried was to position my wrists so they were immobolized. We thought if I couldn't move them at all, they wouldn't be able to tighten. Somehow they always got jostled enough to tighten uncomfortable. And now I couldn't adjust it myself. My husband had to help to loosen them. Another issue is that because the ankle restraints were very close together, it was difficult to use during intercourse. I couldn't get my legs far apart enough. We finally abandoned them to use our Under the bed Restraint Sportsheets. Now that's a nifty setup worth looking into.

Care is easy. The restraints can be washed with soap and water and laid out to dry. The rivets could rust so be careful to dry those off right away.

It's a very small piece and can be easily stored in a drawer or your toybox. I am sure ours will get quite comfortable in the bottom of our bondage toy chest.