The British S10 mask is one of my favourite gas masks, but the biggest downside is that all additional lenses, such as tinted add-on-lenses, are absurdly expensive.

However, RobotGarage on etsy is selling 3d-printed S10 lenses for $18, which is a cheap price compared to standard S10 add-ons. I ordered a pair.

Delivery to Europe was quick, and immediately upon receiving the caps I tried them out with my Regulation S10 hooded gas mask.

The caps fit nicely, they are not too snug but will not come off spontaneously no matter how much you shake your head. They are offered in two colors, black and blue: I originally wanted blue but RobotGarage advised me that they might leak some light, and suggest a compromise of blue color with black backing.

The caps in this configuration block light fairly effectively. There is a faint, almost imperceptible streak of light near the rim, which is probably due to the blue plastic letting a bit of light through. This is not a major problem, and you can only see the light if you really concentrate on it.

It’s probable that an all-black version of the mask does not have this issue.

At $18, they are a steal and highly recommended for any discerning S10 owner.

This July saw the 7th annual Recon Fetish Week in London. Having been to all of them, since the first one in 2010, it’s interesting to see how the weekend has evolved to be a full week of kinky craziness, and even recently branching out to non-sexual events, such as a film screening and an art display.

My first event was the Best in Show pup play event on Wednesday evening. Held in the club Fire, this was the first time pup play was featured so prominently on the agenda. The main programme of the event was a pup play contest in multiple parts, awarding medals in five categories. All parts of the competition were professionally organised, and went smoothly, but it was evident that many people had not expected a drawn-out, real competition. Also, the lack of any dark room was somewhat noticeable, but then again, life is about improvisation, so I had my fun with a rubbered pup in a suitably dark corner, away from curious eyes.

Thursday featured the ever-present Sportswear Cruising party once again at the Hoist. This has become a fixture on the Thursday programme, and Hoist was again full of hot and sweaty sportsmen. Deviating from my usual plan to wear my Spider-Man suit (Recon explicitly allows this in their written dress code!), I borrowed an American football kit from a friend and went as football pig.

Friday was the oddest evening of the week. Previously, Friday had always featured a general fetish party with a mellow theme, such as the BLF Party, the Black Party or the Into The Tank party, uniting everyone. This year, Recon had made the surprising choice of putting the Skinhead party on Friday evening (and by mistake, having conflicting information about dress code in their publicity). This was held in the back section of Union, and proved to be somewhat small, also without a dedicated darkroom. Also, the Hoist had a roleplay-intensive private event on the evening so there were no close-by options. Putting a niche event such as Skinhead on Friday evening is a dubious choice, and the Skinhead event should be moved back to its normal place as a daytime bar event.

Also on Friday was the Fetish Dinner, at the Counter at Vauxhall. I don’t know anything about food, and I don’t pretend to, as the event is more about socialising than food. My burger was great though.

Saturday was the much-anticipated Full Fetish at the Coronet, for the last time since the venue will be closed soon. Everything was functional in the party, which is no small feat, so kudos to Recon for that.

Sunday featured the standard double-event of the Rubber Party and Deconstruction. The Rubber Party was once again at the Union, although this time with rather demotivated staff, serving customers as slowly as possible and showing little enthusiasm for the event. In contrast, the security people were the funniest and energetic I’ve seen in a long while.

Overall, Recon’s Fetish Week has established itself as the European go-to event competing with other major events such as the Easter or Folsom Europe in Berlin. It will be seen what the venue for Full Fetish will be next year. With a few schedule adjustments, Recon has an amazing concept in its hands.

The Channel Four documentary Secret Life of the Human Pups (Firecracker Films 2016, produced and directed by Guy Simmonds) is a rare glimpse into the world of human pups.

Doing its best to show pups in their normal environment and letting them do the most talking (or barking), the documentary follows a few pups in the course of their normal lives, and also highlights Mr. Puppy UK’s participation in the Mr. Pup Europe competition. Certain public events are also portrayed.

Before the release of the documentary, the pup community anticipated an exploitative scandal, and possibly an public outrage, with many pups hiding their online personas and psyching them ready for a free-for-all. In stark contrast, the documentary presents a relatively neutral portrait of a few pups, and lets the viewers make their own conclusions.

Why only relatively neutral? The documentary does its best to avoid any discussion of sexuality, being only slightly alluded to in a discussion of pup play’s roots in BDSM. Pup play is strongly portrayed as a non-sexual hobby, only there to provide a safe headspace where to escape the daily grind. As anyone exposed to the pup scene knows, this is an omission. A lot of pups play either partly or solely for sexual purposes, deriving sexual pleasure out of the pup gear, or using pup gear to facilitate other sexual practises.

This is an understandable omission, considering the context of the documentary. It is hard enough to introduce the greater public into pup play on the innocent side, let alone show what happens to pups in the back rooms of kinky cruising parties. However, documentaries are judged by their impartialness and balance, not as adverts. The discussion about sexuality is analogous to the furry community’s eternal divide between non-sexual furries and sexual furries.

The most outstanding element of the documentary is the carefully composed cinematography, soundtrack, and narration, serving to bring the viewer into the same peaceful headspace the pups themselves seek to immerse in.

All in all, the documentary is valuable in a broader sense as it exposes the general public into the not-so-usual sexual practises, and it can be argued that the time is not yet right for public to see the full spectrum of pup play, so for now, we are stuck with the fluffy part.

I’m a big fan of strait jackets, and I think they are an important piece of arsenal for anyone into heavy bondage. Strait jackets, originally a medical invention, have been almost completely phased in medicine, but still find a lot of use in the kinky circles.

Strait jackets can be found made from many materials: rubber, leather, lycra, PVC, and of course canvas. All of these have their good sides and bad sides, but there is a reason medical strait jackets are invariably made from canvas: it is breathable, washable and comfortable.

Having already owned a couple of strait jackets, including an authentic Posey medical strait jackets, I recently decided to purchase a custom-made canvas strait jacket from Max Cita in Canada, a talented escapologist.

Max Cita has multiple models, but I settled on the Psycho II as a good compromise between constriction and simplicity: Max Cita has even more complicated models with more buckles, but my style of play is usually practical.

Ordering

As I was ordering a customized jacket, I had to first do the measuring myself. This proved to be easy (with the help of a friend, you should never measure yourself alone!) and then it was time to discuss features. In addition to the normal features of the Psycho II jacket, I specifically requested a second middle arm loop with a buckle. The jacket has a standard fixed loop, but it is somewhat loose and I wanted that constricting feeling. Max duly noted that if he puts on just a center loop with a buckle, at least he can escape from the jacket, so he suggested two middle arm loops: one fixed and one buckled. I agreed and we settled on that. Max also suggested additional straps around the wrists, which I also agreed on.

Delivery

All Max’s items are manufactured to order, and manufacturing was quick. The item was finished in two weeks, and shipped to a friend in the US (to avoid higher shipping charges, import duties and VAT in Finland). This happened without complications, and Max kept me constantly up to date with the progress of the order. Other kink companies should take advice!

The Jacket

Having now tested the jacket for a month in different circumstances, I can present my findings.

Build quality of the jacket is excellent. All seams are stitched professionally, and aligned perfectly. Points of highest stress are reinforced. The canvas base is reinforced with multiple canvas straps running through the entire length of the jacket.

Design and fit being a custom sizing is exact to my measurements. It is comfortable, and since I’m somewhat average in size, there is latitude to fit other average-sized people inside quite nicely.

Security is of course top-class. There is no getting out of this jacket when applied correctly!

Maintainability is easy, since the jacket can be washed in laundry, although I recommend a laundry bag since the metal parts may be damaged or damage the machine otherwise.

Value for money

Max Cita Psycho II medium (standard sizing): 375 USD

Mr S. Deluxe Leather Strait jacket: 1495 USD

Fetters Tie Down Canvas Straitjacket: 1075 USD

Strait jackets are expensive items. Max Cita’s pricing for its jacket, considering the build quality, customer service, is frankly a steal.

Date: 10-12 July 2015 (event extends for the whole week)
Location: Saal, Germany
Price: ~60 EUR for the weekend

July 2015 saw my first experience with Rostocker Steppenbrand, an annual kink outdoors festival held in the vicinity of Rostock in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Northern Germany.

Steppenbrand is unique as a festival in a sense that it is a loose gathering of people in a mostly camping sense. People from all avenues of kink (BDSM, military, bikers, skinheads, punks, motocrossers, mud players, etc.) were present in the event, which this year totalled approximately 400 people.

It should be noted that the actual event runs the whole week, but most attendance is during the weekend.

Location and getting there

Steppenbrand is held on a plot of land near the village of Saal, unreachable by public transit. The organization provides a shuttle transport from the nearest railway station for a fee. Most people arrive with their own vehicles.

Location is quite isolated with no other buildings or inhabitants within sight, surrounded by fields. One building is used for the indoors accommodation, other buildings were closed or exclusively for staff.

Accommodation

Most people choose to self-accommodate themselves by camping. Camps ranged from individual tents to large tent complexes and trucks. There is also a possibility to stay indoors at the barracks in shared rooms, in either bunk beds or on the floor with your own mattress. Both options cost a few euros extra. Playing or other activities are discouraged in the barracks, but this rule is not followed all the time.

Indoors accommodation is basic, and the largest rooms accommodate 12 people, so for privacy (or uninterrupted sleep) I would recommend camping, if practical. I opted for the indoors accommodation, but I will certainly consider camping the next time.

Facilities

Showers, indoors toilets and gear washing areas are provided. Some basic BDSM furniture is present, many people bring their own.

People

All age groups and many nationalities were present. There were no organized get-togethers, and some groups seemed to be mostly enjoying their own company. Some larger private camp complexes also served as informal gathering areas.

Catering

Food and drink is provided for a price by the organizers. During the weekend, self-catering is discouraged. However, proper warm food is only served during meal times. A failure to observe these times results in having to survive on fish sandwiches. Food is basic barbeque meat and side dishes to go with it, drink is beer and booze.

Breakfast is included in the admission price and is the continental variety with coffee, tea and bread, with some warm dishes such as eggs and sausage.

Organization

Organization was efficient and well-planned. Some organizers understood English, and I encountered no practical issues during my stay.

Is Steppenbrand for you?

If you are not afraid of camping or staying in a spartan accommodation, Steppenbrand might be the right event for you. Most people travel there in groups, so going there alone might prove a bit boring.

Steppenbrand provides some unique opportunities for dirty/mud play, outdoors BDSM scenes, motocrossing and other outdoors activities. If these are not your thing, Steppenbrand might not represent good value for you. Steppenbrand is not a social gathering per se: although it is possible to meet new people there, this applies equally to any event anywhere.

From distant countries, flying to Berlin and renting a car from there is probably the fastest choice to get to the event.