Sex and Mischief elastabind cuffs - wrist cuffs by Sportsheets - review by MidnightStorm

I became interested in the Sex and Mischief Elastiband Cuffs after seeing the single image of them on the front page where they look quite cute! I wasn't exactly sure how the cuffs worked, but I figured they were at least aesthetically appealing, so they'd be worth a try. The Elastiband Cuffs are the first of the Sex and Mischief toys that I've had my hands on and frankly, they were a little disappointing. Like most of the Sex and Mischief line, these seem very "BDSM 101"-esque, so while they might be great (and not particularly intimidating) for beginners, these are not for experienced players. However, if you are a couple that's just curious about BDSM or your significant other recently read "50 Shades of Grey" and wants a little more dominance in their life, these might be perfect for you. Although I'll go into more detail in a bit, to summarize, these cuffs are simple and easy to get out of... Essentially, they are nothing more than two black elastic loops sewn together with a D-Ring in the middle. They're not exactly "heavy duty!"

They can be worn on the wrist one of two ways: with your hands facing away from each other (or crossed), as in the cover picture, or with your hands together. They look a little more aesthetically appealing with your hands crossed, as it stretches the fabric less, but they are easier to get out of in this way, because if you pull both of your arms away from each other simultaneously, one hand is bound to slip out of the cuffs. They are still relatively easy to get out of with your hands pressed together, but provide a little more challenge that way. Frankly, however, getting out of them either way is relatively simple and they are much more challenging to get in to than out of. It's also important to elaborate that regardless of the position of the hands when wearing these (over the head, behind the back, in front of the body), they are equally simple to escape. With a bit of patience, these could also be used as ankle restraints, but only on those with particularly slim ankles. Because of the shape of your foot, they would probably not be so easy to get out of if used on your ankles. As someone with larger feet and ankles, these were difficult to get on and uncomfortably tight once on. I suspect that too harsh of a tug while they were restraining large ankles would probably tear the fabric, although I haven't tested that theory as my intent isn't to break them.

As a bonus, because these cuffs are so simple, they are extremely travel friendly. Honestly, I'm not convinced that even if someone found them, they would recognize them as BDSM cuffs. Although I haven't tried to wash them, I am relatively sure that these cuffs are water-proof, so long as you give them ample time to dry after washing. This means, of course, that they could probably be taken in the shower relatively low-risk, which is not something you would be able to do with a more expensive pair of cuffs.

The design of these cuffs is... Basic, to say the least. To be more specific, they consist of two (approximately) 7" by 5" pieces of stiff black elastic sewn into tubes. The two tubes of elastic have been sewn together in the middle with stitching that, while sturdy, probably won't exactly last a life time. In the center of one side of the cuffs (the "top"), there is a small loop of polypropylene webbing (it reminds me of a cheaper version of what seat belts are made out of) that holds a simple silver, nickel free, d-ring.

The above picture was taken after I had already worn the cuffs once or twice--not through strenuous play, but simply to test them out on my own. The folds are there because my wrists were a bit too large for the cuffs and have already stretched out the elastic after less than 5 minutes of being worn. My wrists are just under 7" in circumference and these were relatively tight on me. On a friend with much smaller wrists, they looked much better, but were much easier for her to get out of. Just to clarify, these cuffs are not adjustable: they are made of elastic. In that regard, they are very much "one size fits all." As a second point of reference, my ankles are about 10" in circumference and these were WAY too tight for me to wear comfortably as ankle restraints.

The above shows how the cuffs look when being worn in the "hands facing each other" position (as opposed to the "crossed arm" position the model wears them in). They aren't uncomfortable, but they aren't exactly comfortable either. I own a pair of quality fur-lined leather cuffs and find them much more enjoyable. The elastic in the Elastiband Cuffs is a bit itchy and relatively stiff, although not unbearably so.

Update: While writing this review, I continued playing with and examining the cuffs. I gave some gentle and not-so gentle tugs to just about every part of the cuffs, including the D-Ring, not with the intent to break them, but just to put a realistic amount of force on them. While the cuffs are still mostly fine, the first thread did just pop out on me: it has broken and now sticks out about half an inch on the 'top' of the cuffs. On the back side, I've also noticed a place where the stitching seemed to have skipped forward a bit, meaning that instead of stitching in and out ever 2mm or so, there's a cm or so of space that consists of a single stitch--this is where the thread broke on the opposite side of the cuffs.

I found very quickly that while it is easy enough to get these cuffs on yourself, getting them to look nice is another story entirely. I would recommend having someone else there to help you get them on, since you will likely need someone to tug rather harshly at the elastic to even it out after both your wrists are in place. Even doing this, however, the cuffs will likely still stretch and fold and with too much tugging would probably scrunch up and eventually slide off uncomfortably. A friend of mine was kind enough to take care of the 'tugging straight' for me, but as you could see in the photo of the cuffs on that I posted above, they still look far from smooth on my large wrists.

In the end, however, these cuffs were just a lot simpler than I thought they would be. I expected just a bit more out of them than two pieces of elastic sewn together. If you are simply interested in the idea of being restrained rather than actually being restrained, these would probably be great. However, if you're like me and enjoy being able to tug and not get free, these are going to be pretty disappointing. One suggestion that was made to me is that it might be possible to use these as a sort of padding for a second restraint: for example, you could take a thin belt and loop it around your captive's wrists, on top of these cuffs, and through the d-ring in the center. The same could probably be said for rope and it would likely make it much more challenging to escape these cuffs--likewise, the elastic should hypothetically protect from rope burn or the sensation of the belt cutting into your skin. This is actually what SportSheets did with their ankle restraints (linked below) and I think it would have been a great feature for the wrist restraints to have as well. And honestly, I think it makes them a little sexier too, since it detracts from the otherwise extremely plain look of them.

Since these cuffs aren't made of anything particularly questionable and largely just consist of elastic, they should be fine to toss in the washer. Although, as I understand it, all elastic does wear down with time and washing, so keep it in mind while washing these. I wouldn't worry about the D-Ring getting caught on anything either: wash them with your pants or dark fabrics and they should be fine--I've washed many pairs of arm warmers loaded with D-Rings and never had a problem. Because I don't know how the elastic would react to being dried (since it is pretty stiff), it may be better to let these air dry rather than putting them in the drier.

If they aren't dirty enough to be washed in the washer, you could probably just wipe them down with a damp cloth or even give them a quick hand-washing. Either way, cleaning them should be very simple!

The packaging for the Sex and Mischief Elastiband Restraints is actually relatively nice, all things considered--although it is a bit much. As my one of my friends put it: "They could have just left them in that tiny plastic bag and saved at least half a tree by leaving off the box." She had a valid point, too: the cuffs themselves come wrapped in a plastic bag that can't be more that's only a few inches wide (just big enough for the relatively small cuffs). The box, however, is a good 9" tall, 2" thick, and 5" wide. Although it's quite nice looking, it's not particularly discrete and it makes much more sense to just toss these cuffs in to a drawer by themselves, where they will take up infinitely less space than they would have had you kept them in the box.

The back of the box features a list of materials (polypropylene webbing, black elsatic, nickel free metal hardware) and a QR-Code that leads to the Sportsheets website, as well as a slightly cheesy "fantasy" story written in the first person. The story is nice and all, but it didn't really do anything for me, nor did it give me any ideas about how to use the cuffs, so the box could have probably gone without it--but some people might appreciate it. At the very least, it might be a fun tease for a couple new to BDSM and getting ready to try out the cuffs for the first time.