This is no casual masturbation toy: this is the STAMINA TRAINING UNIT! Masturbation isn't just "me time": it's prep time. So, there are pretty much two ways to use the Fleshlight STU: you can stroke off furiously for about a minute or you can turn your masturbation into a tantric workout that, along with time, patience, and a lot of thinking about birthing videos, turns you into some sort of Spartan sex god.

Or so I like to tell myself. In truth, the texture of the STU feels great, and it does have the capacity to bring me to orgasm a lot more quickly than my hand or pretty much anything else. Does it feel better than sex, oral sex, anal sex, or even a great hand job from a partner? No. But, for whatever reason, it does seem to coax the orgasm out of me more quickly than just about anything else. The irony is that the prep and cleanup time necessary still means that masturbation will take longer with the STU than it would with my hand. However, there is the purported benefit of increased stamina with continued use. While additional stamina is not something I aspire to and is, in fact, something that my girlfriend dreads, I can easily see this toy helping men achieve the goal IF they are prepared to hold back and slow down or stop stroking when they feel themselves about to orgasm. However, with the aforementioned preparation and cleanup, use of the STU for the purposes of increasing one's stamina is likely to require a fairly substantial time commitment.

The STU, like other Fleshlight strokers, looks like an oversized flashlight. There is a screw-on cap attached to both ends of the Fleshlight: the cap at the smaller end adjusts the amount of suction the stroker creates during use; the cap at the larger end simply conceals the external part of the Fleshlight sleeve which, in the case of the STU, is a realistic replica of a vagina. The manufacturer recommends, and I agree, that the toy should be used with a water-based lubricant.

Users can also warm up the sleeve by running it under, or submerging it in, warm or hot water before use to make it feel more lifelike. While the sleeve does absorb heat, it loses it pretty quickly. It's possible that I may simply not have submerged the sleeve for long enough or that the water wasn't hot enough, but the water I used was too hot for my hands and I kept the sleeve submerged for two minutes. The sleeve felt warm and lifelike when I first pulled it out of the water, but by the time I got down to business, it had cooled nearly to the temperature it had been when I first put it in the water.

I haven't yet used the STU with my girlfriend, but I certainly plan to. There are plenty of videos floating around the Internet (several of which can be found on the official Fleshlight website) of couples using the toys, and I recommend that anyone considering purchasing a Fleshlight check these videos out.

The material of the Superskin sleeve is velvety and incredibly skin-like. The sleeve is pliable and easily removed from the case. My STU is still in pristine condition after several months and many uses and cleaning cycles, but I have heard that the sleeve can rip easily if one does not handle it carefully. Furthermore, it is very important to wash and dry the sleeve properly or it will develop a moldy smell and will have to be replaced. The other downside of the Superskin is that it is a complete lint-magnet. Even exercising the utmost of care, I often open the cap of my STU to find the exterior of the sleeve covered in lint and I have to wash it off before using it. Nevertheless, the feel of the Superskin is well worth the drawbacks.

Of particular significance to me is that the vagina itself is actually quite attractive. I've seen a lot of strokers that made my penis wince and wonder whether the creator had ever seen a vagina and, if he had, whether he ever wanted to see another. As a very visual creature, the aesthetics of anything I put my penis into are of paramount importance to me. The STU excels in this category and stands as a shining example of what other fake vaginas should aspire to look like. I often found myself simply admiring the toy as a work of vaginal art.

There are a slew of Fleshlight products on the market with a variety of internal textures and external designs. The STU sports an internal canal studded with many individual bumps. While I have no other sleeves with which I can compare the STU, I wouldn't want to downgrade to something without some kind of textured interior. That said, I would prefer a sleeve that was slightly tighter.

The case of the STU is much like any other Fleshlight: inconspicuous, but for a gigantic logo that screams to all the world that it isn't, in fact, a flashlight. That said, I left the thing out in the open for about a week and my girlfriend, with whom I share an apartment, had no idea it was even there, much less what it was.

This is pretty much the only drawback to the Fleshlight STU. If you're inclined to try to warm up the sleeve before use, this will add at least a few minutes of prep time. While this preparation is optional, the use of water-based lubricant and cleaning are not if you want to keep your Fleshlight in working order. The Superskin material simply creates too much friction for effective use without some sort of lubricant, and silicone lubricant may cause a chemical reaction that melts the sleeve.

After use, the manufacturer recommends cleaning with soap and water, then allowing the Fleshlight to dry before storage. Cornstarch may also be used on the sleeve to maintain the realistic skin-like feel of the material. I can't speak very well to what happens when you don't adhere to these instructions because I am absolutely meticulous about doing so. I have read horror stories of moldy sleeves, and I have, therefore, always left both sleeve and case out to dry for at least four hours after every use. This may be excessive, but the toy is expensive enough to warrant it; and I like it enough to know I'd replace it if it were damaged.

After cleaning, I store the STU by screwing the cap on and placing it in the tin in which it came. I kept the tin because it seemed like a good way to keep another layer between lint and the sleeve, but the STU can be easily stored wherever there is a free space for it. It's one of the more inconspicuous toys I know of, and the cap creates a perfectly adequate barrier between the sleeve and the outside world.

The STU came packaged in a sealed can that, while substantially less conspicuous than the product itself, still provides a nice way to store the toy. I don't have to worry about anybody stumbling across the tin and embarrassing me, and it keeps me from accidentally damaging the toy. The STU also came with instructions and a sample of water-based lube to use with the toy, which was a nice touch.