Bondage, in the BDSM subculture, is the practice of consensually tying, binding, or restraining a partner for erotic, aesthetic, or somatosensory stimulation. A partner may be physically restrained in a variety of ways, including the use of rope, cuffs, bondage tape, or self-adhering bandage.
Physical restraint refers to means of purposely limiting or obstructing the freedom of a person's or an animal's bodily movement.
Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed around a person's wrist. Without a key, handcuffs cannot be removed without specialist knowledge, and a handcuffed person cannot move their wrists more than a few centimetres or inches apart, making many tasks difficult or impossible.
Thumbcuffs are a metal restraining device that lock thumbs in proximity to each other.
Bondage cuffs are restraints designed for use in sexual bondage situations. Compared to conventional handcuffs, they are wide wrist and ankle restraints generally made of leather, often padded with soft leather or fake fur. Bondage cuffs may be fastened at the wrists and/or ankles by a locking mechanism, by a buckle or by velcro. They are secured around the wrist or ankle, and the cuffs may then be attached to each other or another object.
Self-bondage refers to the use of restraints on oneself for erotic pleasure. It is a form of erotic bondage which can be practiced alone.
A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was notably used in the convict era of Australia and in the Southern United States. By 1955 it had largely been phased out in the U.S., with Georgia among the last states to abandon the practice. Clallam County, Washington, U.S. still refers to its inmate litter crew as the "Chain Gang." North Carolina continued to use chain gangs into the 1970s. Chain gangs were reintroduced by a few states during the "get tough on crime" 1990s: In 1995, Alabama was the first state to revive them. The experiment ended after about one year in all states except Arizona, where in Maricopa County inmates can still volunteer for a chain gang to earn credit toward a high school diploma or avoid disciplinary lockdowns for rule infractions.
Bondage in BDSM is the activity of tying or restraining people using equipment such as chains, cuffs, or collars for mutual erotic pleasure. According to the Kinsey Institute, 12% of females and 22% of males respond erotically to BDSM.
A hobble, or spancel, is a device which prevents or limits the locomotion of an animal, by tethering one or more legs. Although hobbles are most commonly used on horses, they are also sometimes used on other animals. On dogs, they are used especially during force-fetch training to limit the movement of a dog's front paws when training it to stay still. They are made from leather, rope, or synthetic materials such as nylon or neoprene. There are various designs for breeding, casting, and mounting horses.
Thomas Solomon is an American escape artist and magician.
Bilboes are iron restraints normally placed on a person's ankles. They have commonly been used as leg shackles to restrain prisoners for different purposes until the modern ages. Bilboes were also used on slave ships, such as the Henrietta Marie. According to legend, the device was invented in Bilbao and was imported into England by the ships of the Spanish Armada for use on prospective English prisoners. However, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that the term was used in English well before then.
A ball and chain is a physical restraint device historically used to bind prisoners of both adolescent and adult ages. Their use was prevalent in the Americas. From the 17th century until as late as the mid-20th century this form of punishment was often used in conjunction with other methods of confinement.
A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A chain may consist of two or more links. Chains can be classified by their design, which can be dictated by their use:
A correctional emergency response team is a team of specially trained prison officers tasked with responding to disturbances, riots, cell extractions, mass searches, and other situations in prisons that are likely to involve uncooperative or violent prisoners.
Prisoner transport is the transportation of prisoners from one secure location to another. It may be carried out by law enforcement agencies or private contractors such as Prisoner Transportation Services.
Field punishment is any form of punishment used against military personnel in the field; that is, field punishment does not require that the member be incarcerated in a military prison or reassigned to a punishment battalion. It may be formalised under a system of military law and may be a sentence imposed in a court martial or similar proceedings
A belly chain is a physical restraint worn by prisoners, consisting of a chain around the waist, to which the prisoner's hands may be chained or cuffed. Sometimes the ankles are also connected by means of longer chains.
The use of shackles or restraints on pregnant women is a common practice in prisons and jails in the United States. Shackling is defined as "using any physical restraint or mechanical device to control the movement of a prisoner's body or limbs, including handcuffs, leg shackles, and belly chains". For females, shackles or handcuffs are placed around the ankles, wrists, or around the stomach. The shackling of pregnant women occurs while they are transported within a facility, transported to a hospital, and/or during and after childbirth. Restraints are also used on detained pregnant women in immigration detention facilities.
A jail tree is any tree used to incarcerate a person, usually by chaining the prisoner up to the tree. Jail trees were used on the American frontier in the Territory of Arizona, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; jail trees were also used in Australia. A few jail trees survive to this day.
A handcuff cover is a plastic or metal cover that can be placed over a pair of handcuffs. It consists of a hinged, box-like assembly locked over the handcuff chain, wristlets and keyholes.
