Sparking Your BDSM with Electricity

by Dean Dunlap

In Real Estate they teach the three most important things to remember are location, location, and location. In Electricity, the three most important things to remember are safety, safety, and safety.

Electricity is potentially dangerous. Hell yes! So is fisting. So is the highly volatile fluid fluid sloshing around under the back seat of your car. On a hot day, you have no idea how potentially dangerous gasoline can be. But we keep on using it with little thought, because if the rules are followed carefully, nothing bad ever happens.

Electricity is not to be feared. Respected, absolutely, but not feared. As long as you don’t do something stupid, it won’t harm you. Electricity follows certain rules. And, as long as you obey the rules, it can’t hurt you… …well, unless you want it to hurt.

Okay. . .Don’t plug anybody directly into line voltage (a wall outlet). I would hope this doesn’t need to be said, but you never know. DON’T, repeat DON’T, wire his balls and plug them into a wall outlet!

If you have equipment that attaches to a wall outlet, don’t use it around pipes or concrete floors. If you are going to play in the basement or garage, use a wooden platform. Better yet, plug your equipment into a GFI (ground fault interrupter).

Another approach is to attach it to an isolating transformer. With an isolating transformer, the potential (voltage) is to the other terminal of the transformer, rather than the ground. Unless you use an isolating transformer, plug-in devices simply shouldn’t be used in the bathroom. There’s too many paths to ground. If you want to play in the bathroom, use battery operated devices.

Which brings me to the next point. Battery operated devices are fine. Direct wired batteries are not. Specifically, direct current is a No-No. You can only get a burning sensation at the point of contact, and that’s precisely what it’s doing – BURNING. DC damages tissue really fast. Besides, the sensation of shock only occurs as the current hits. That’s why 6o Hz (cycle) AC is so much fun. It hits 120 times a second. (Don’t you mean 60 times a second? NO, I don’t. There are two changes per full cycle.)

Battery operated devices either have a mechanical interrupter (buzzer type device), or electronic components that cause oscillation to feed the step-up transformer or coil. A few work like a photoflash and charge a capacitor. I would tend to avoid capacitor type devices unless you are an experienced hand. Too large a capacitor can give an unimaginably large jolt.

Cattle prods are fine, but use a short one, approximately 12 inches [3 or 4 cell type]. The long ones, 20 plus inches [6 or more cells], are much too powerful. They won’t kill you, but the strong muscular contractions they can cause can easily tear a muscle.

Ultraviolet wands and Tesla coils are a completely different breed of cat. They travel along the surface, like static electricity. Both are spectacular in the dark. They are also safe use in the area of the tits.

Oh yes, the tits. . .DON’T. In fact, never use any electrical device above the waist except for the ultraviolet wands & Tesla Coils. Oh damn it to Hell, I know it’s done all the time, and nothing has happened. And I know there have been very experienced Tops playing electrically above the waist, but there are simply too many variables to go wrong. It takes a very small current to stop the heart, but a very large one to get it going. If it gets going again. Chances are that you might have played with that bottom for the very last time if you’re not careful.

Please remember that electricity contracts muscles. And a strong hit contracts them powerfully. If you are working with someone unused to electric shock, a heavy workout is going to give him very sore muscles the next day.

GENERAL HEALTH

Simply don’t play with anyone with a history of arrhythmia. If they have had any other heart condition, get a doctor’s okay first. Also, I don’t think drugs have any place in an electrical scene. With electricity, you have a limited number of visual signs as to what is happening. If your bottom is doped up, he could easily sustain serious damage before noticing it, and that goes double for Tops. If you’re high, you’re going to miss the subtle signs of danger. With electricity, there’s nothing obvious like blood, torn skin, or bruises to show what you’ve accomplished.

In fact, electricity leaves no telltale after marks at all.

It helps if your bottom is in good physical condition, but electricity is good exercise. If your bottom is somewhat flabby, start easy and work up, just like you do at the gym. Just do not give a first-timer an all-nighter.

GENERAL WARNINGS

Aluminum foil makes great temporary electrodes. I use it all the time for quick and dirty play, and during the design stage of permanent electrodes. Aluminum foil is very form fitting. Just don’t use it up the butt. Crumpled aluminum foil has sharp points and edges. And you can’t easily get rid of them. Wires up the ass are okay. Just be certain that both ends of the wire are outside the ass. If you poke a hole in his rectum, it’s a guaranteed trip to the emergency room.

RESTRAINTS

This one seems to be a hot potato. To do or not to do. I say, yes. You zap an unrestrained arm, for instance, and he could literally bash his own head. On the other hand, a totally immobilized body could cause undesirable strains on muscles that can’t move. My opinion is, use restraints with a little give.

Also, stop and think which direction contracting muscles are going to move, and restrain in that direction. If, for instance, he is facing a concrete wall and has an erection, you don’t want to zap his butt cheeks. The contraction is going to ram his dick right into that wall. Just give a little thought first, and you’ll be okay.

DURING A SCENE

Check regularly to see how he’s doing. Make sure restraints aren’t working loose.

Depending upon the person and the equipment, at somewhere around 50 ma (milliamperes) the muscles will “tetanize” (which means they can’t move). Watch the chest. If he can’t move his diaphram muscles, don’t leave the current on for more than, say, ten seconds. You literally have to give him a breather, or you’ll have a nasty case of asphyxiation on your hands.

If you are using a strong dose of current, check under the electrodes occasionally. You’d have to be in the scene pretty heavy, but electricity can cause first-degree burns. If the skin is turning bright red, ease off. Also, smaller electrodes localize the current more than larger ones. A metal plate can let you use stronger current for longer periods than, say, an alligator clip before approaching the burn threshold.

At the risk of sounding ghoulish, if you’re into heavy electricity as I am, I suggest learning CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation). You never know. In many cities there are free training programs, so check it out. The Red Cross is another source of CPR training. It’s just an extra safety margin.

One final word. I’m aware of the controversies over whether you can be a good Top if you’ve never bottomed. The idea being, you can’t know what’s happening to him if you’ve never tried it. I like both sides, so I’m not the proper person to get involved in this argument. But when it comes to electricity, I feel the point is valid. There are so few external signs in electrical play, so I’m not convinced that you can be a good shocker without having been a shockee yourself. My own rule is, I simply won’t bother working with a Top on electricity who has never felt the juice on his own dick.

Good luck. And good hunting.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This piece first appeared in S/M Perspectives (Vol 2, Issue 3), independently published in Vancouver by Rainfall Press in 2004.

Deviance & Desire