BLINFOLDS
A blindfold is not, strictly speaking, a bondage device in and of itself. It certainly does not limit the bottom’s ability to move. However, a lot of bondage has to do with increasing vulnerability, and a blindfolded person is certainly much more vulnerable than an unblindfolded person.
A typical blindfold has two components, the eye covering and the head strap. Eye coverings can be fashioned from washcloths, foam rubber, fur, or other materials. Head straps can be made of leather, rope, elastic bandages, and similar materials. I’ve even seen various types of goggles and swimming masks whose faceplates were painted black or covered with tape used as blind-folds. (Actually, those can work pretty well.) A good blindfold should block the bottom’s vision as completely as possible, but should not put pressure directly on the eyes.
It is challenging to completely blindfold a bottom by using only improvised materials. In particular, the areas just to the side of the bottom’s upper nose can be hard to block.
Also, bottoms can sometimes escape from blindfolds with out too much difficulty. This is particularly true if they can rub the head strap against something such as a wall, the bed’s mattress, or even their own shoulder.
Many SM supply stores and erotic boutiques sell blindfolds. In addition, places like drugstores and travel supply stores sell“ sleep masks” that often work very well. I have a “Bucky” brand of sleep mask that I bought at my local travel store. While it’s significantly more expensive than most other sleep masks, it is well made, very comfortable to wear (it features a soft inner ridge that keeps pressure off of my eyes), and comes in very handy during my afternoon naps. It even has a small compartment for storing earplugs.
Eye patches can also make excellent blindfolds. One top I know likes to use the adhesive-bandage type of eye patches that are sold in drugstores. Such patches are relatively inexpensive and allow some light through, but entirely obstruct the bottom’s vision.
It’s usually best to wait until at least your second or third play date with a new partner before using a blindfold as part of your SM play. During those early sessions, when you’re still getting to know one another, the top needs as much feedback as they can get from the bottom, and their facial expressions are one important source of such feedback. Also, an unblindfolded bottom is somewhat less vulnerable to unethical behavior by a top. (I have a case report of an unethical – to say the least – top who promised that he would not videotape their SM play, then blindfolded the bottom and promptly broke that promise. Last I heard, lawyers were involved.)
Caution: Our vision is one of three systems that our body uses to maintain our balance. A blindfolded bottom cannot see and has lost one of their three “maintain balance” systems. They are therefore at increased risk for falling. (Remember, falls are the single most common cause of serious bondage-related injuries.) If you blindfold a bottom, first position them in such a way that they are unlikely to fall. If you must move a blindfolded bottom, stay very close to them, preferably with at least one hand touching them, so that you can instantly steady them if they start to lose their balance. Bottoms react in various ways to being blindfolded. Male bottoms may find blindfolds frustrating because they often strongly want to see what is going on. Some bottoms react with increased anxiety to being blindfolded. This can sometimes build to a panic reaction. Other bottoms love being blindfolded and drift away into an altered state of consciousness. Some bottoms can only begin to feel truly submissive if they are blindfolded.
“This degree of vulner ability is just fascinating.”
When one of our senses is blunted, our other senses do not become sharper, but we tend to pay closer attention to them. Thus, if they cannot see, many bottoms experience what they hear, smell, taste, and (of course) feel more intensely.
While the image of a bound, gagged, and blindfolded bottom is often seen in the movies, on TV, and in magazines, this is a fairly extensive degree of bond-age that it’s usually best to work up to. For example, I recommend that you do at least one session in which the bottom is only gagged, and then at least one session in which the bottom is only blindfolded, before you and they attempt a session in which the bottom is both blindfolded and gagged. Remember that increasing the intensity of the SM play too quickly is a common mistake made by inept tops, and the cause of many panic reactions.
GAGS
When considering the subject of gags, it can be useful to look at it in terms of “who, what, where, when, why, and how.” Actually, for our purposes, an approach of “who, what, why, where, when, and how” might be more logical.
As to the “who” of being gagged, I would hope that the answer is fairly obvious: the bottom.
As to the “what,” “where,” and “why” questions, my dictionary defines the word “gag” (when used as a noun) as “Something thrust into the mouth to prevent speech or outcry.” While we can go into nuances later, that pretty well basically sums up those points.
Regarding the question of when to gag a bottom, or when a bottom should let themselves be gagged, my basic rule is “not on the first play date.” When a top and a bottom are just beginning to get to know each other, it is best for there to be as many channels of communication open as possible. Given that the first BDSM playdate between two people is probably the one most likely to go wrong, both players benefit from the verbal feedback allowed by unhin-dered speech. If the first one (or two, or three) play dates go well, then the risk level of a misunderstanding caused by the use of a gag is greatly decreased for future play dates.
(Again, while other experienced sadomasochists have different approaches, my own personal basic rule when bottoming to a top for the first time is that I will let them tie my hands behind me, but I will not let them gag me, blindfold me, bind my legs in any way, or let them tie me to any fixed object such as a bed or chair. In all my years of practicing SM, there was only one occasion when I was glad that I took this admittedly go-slow approach, but on that one occasion I was very, very glad that I had done so.)
Regarding the “how” of gagging someone…
The first thing I should make clear is that the decision to use a gag as part of your bondage play is automatically and unavoidably a decision to increase the play’s risk level. The use of a gag inherently increases how vulnerable the bottom is to the top (such increased vulnerability is part of the arousal for many bondage fans) and can in and of itself be hazardous. As always, it’s a matter of “what risk level do you feel comfortable with?”
(Intoxicant usage always increases the risk level. I would put a gagged, intoxicated bottom in the “extreme risk” category.)
Second, given the nature of how a human body makes sound, understand that a top will never be able to silence a bottom entirely. Given that many humming-type sounds can be made by a bottom’s vibrating vocal cords (which are down in their throat) even if their mouths are entirely filled, totally silencing a bottom is essentially impossible. (Even coating their neck with layers of sound-absorbing cloth will not significantly help here.)
Third, it is actually fairly difficult to gag a bottom in a way that they cannot eventually defeat if they really want to. The muscles of the neck, lower face, jaw, and tongue are fairly strong and allow a great deal of highly coordinated movement. Thus a bottom is frequently able to spit out a gag unless it is applied with a fair amount of sophistication. Tops, don’t be too surprised if your first few attempts to gag a given bottom fail. Of course, you should get better with practice.
Let’s look at all the “awful truths” first, and then we’ll look at how to avoid these matters and make our gag play be both as exciting and as safe as possible.
A basic gag often consists of something used for mouth-stuffing and something such as a face strap used to hold this mouth stuffing in place. If the mouth stuffing works its way too far into the back of the bottom’s throat it can cause death by a number of ways, including (1) blocking the bottom’s airway, thus causing death by suffocation, (2) triggering the bottom’s gag reflex, thus causing them to vomit into a gagged mouth, or (2) triggering a neurological response (vagal response) in the bottom, thus slowing or even stopping their heart. There have been a number of deaths reported in the forensic pathology literature of people who have died due to one or more of these causes after being gagged.
The obvious solution to this problem is to use mouth stuffing that is attached to the face strap. Under most circumstances, this attachment should make it difficult or impossible for the mouth stuffing to work its way back into the throat to a dangerous degree. If the top decides to use mouth stuffing that is not attached to the face strap, they will need to monitor the bottom much more closely.
Almost all of the gag-related deaths that have been reported in the forensic pathology literature have involved someone who was gagged and then left alone – often by criminals who gagged the victim and then abandoned them. Other such deaths have been reported in self-bondage practitioners. (I was consulted on a death that involved someone who was placed in very restrictive bondage and gagged – whether he did this to himself or had help in doing so was somewhat unclear – and then left alone. Inescapably bound and gagged while alone, he developed a nosebleed. The clotted blood blocked his nose and he suffocated.)
“Mmffffph!!”
The obvious solution here is to use a gag only in a monitored situation. Once again, we see the crucial importance of the presence of a sympathetic monitor.
Safety Note: I strongly recommend that a gagged bottom who is in a “loosely monitored” situation have their monitoring supplemented by some sort of electronic monitoring device such as those used to monitor babies in their cribs. There are a number of such devices on the market, and they range considerably in price and features. You can buy one-way-transmission monitors or two-way-transmission monitors (a nice touch). You can also buy monitors that have improved privacy features ? they are, after all, small transmitting radios and are widely sold, so you don?t want to either entertain or alarm any neighbors who have similar units. You can buy monitors that sound an alarm if the person being monitored (infant or bottom) hasn?t moved for twenty seconds – as happens in “stopped breathing” cases. You can buy monitors that use a small video camera and monitor. Some of these video monitors even have an infrared light feature that allows you to see the person on the screen even while the room is dark. (I hope it goes without saying that you should not actually tape the session unless you have the bottom’s express permission.) Spending some time looking over the various types of “nursery monitors” on the market can be very educational.
Plus, you may be able to adapt some of your existing equipment. For example, the cordless phone that lives by my side of the bed has an intercom mode that allows the top to carry the handset quite some distance away about fifty yards) and still communicate with a bottom tied to the bed by use of a speaker and microphone built into the base portion.
Gags can cause lesser problems as well. For one thing, any foreign body placed in the bottom’s mouth will cause them to salivate. It can be difficult to swallow saliva (or anything else) if you cannot bring your teeth closely together. (To test this for yourself, put one or two fingers in between your teeth and try it.) Thus, if the bottom cannot swallow this saliva, they may either have to hope that the mouth stuffing is made of some absorbent material or to let it run out of their mouth – which they may find humiliating. (How the bottom feels about this humiliation will, of course, vary.)
For another, if the bottom’s jaws are forced too far apart for too long they can suffer muscle strains, sprains of the tendons and ligaments in their jaw area, damage to their temporomandibular joint, or even, in the most extreme cases, dislocation and/or fracture of the jaw bone (the mandible) itself. Finally, although this is unlikely to cause major problems under the two-hour-maximum bondage parameter outlined in this book, it should be noted that a gagged bottom will find it very difficult or impossible to eat or drink while the gag is in place.
Additionally, given that a gagged bottom may only be able to breathe through their nose, their nose should be clear. If the bottom has any sort of runny nose, it may be best to defer using a gag until another time. Some bottoms take a spray or two of nasal decongestant beforehand as a “just in case” measure if they know they are to be gagged.
Finally, every now and then a gag will unexpectedly trigger a panic reaction in a bottom. This may come as a complete surprise to both the top and the bottom. Sometimes a bottom who can handle very extensive, very extreme types of bondage just simply can’t handle one particular type of it. Sometimes a bottom will be able to handle different types of bondage individually but can’t handle them in combination. Tops (and bottoms) need to keep in mind that every now and then completely unforeseeable panic reactions happen, and be ready to deal with them.
A top should keep in mind that some type of emergency may arise that may make it necessary to remove a bottom’s gag within a few seconds. This could be especially important if the bottom suddenly became nauseated and needed to throw up. One thing I learned during my days of working on an ambulance is that when a patient says “I need to throw up” they don’t mean within five to ten minutes – they are much more likely to mean within five to ten seconds.
(Safety precaution: While the need to vomit may become irresistible within a few seconds after it is first felt, this is usually preceded by a much longer period of time in which the person feels increasingly strong feelings of nausea. This being the case, it is vitally important that gagged bottoms (and bottoms in general) alert their tops sooner rather than later regarding any feelings of nausea they may be developing.)
One final problem with a gag is that the bottom will often find it difficult or even impossible to use conventional SM safewords. Thus, the top will have to provide the bottom with some effective alternative means of communicating. While some people use hand or finger signals (a bottom’s dropping a ball placed in their hand is a time-honored non-verbal safeword) these can be difficult to do if the bottom is lying with their hands tied behind their back. I have done a fair amount of experimentation with alternative signaling methods and, after trying a number of different methods, I have come to prefer audible signals such as two loud grunts. Among other things, such grunts can be heard in the dark.
Types of Gags
• Ordering the bottom to be silent. This, of course, often has overtones of psychological domination to it. The top must decide how much silence they want from the bottom. For example, is speech forbidden but non-verbal moans, etc., allowed? What is the penalty for failing to keep silent? How silent is the bottom expected to remain while enduring the various “torments” that the top may choose to inflict upon them?
• The top’s hand. Simply placing one’s hand over a bottom’s mouth can make for a reasonably effective gag. This can be done in either a light or a forceful manner, and often adds a nice touch of psychological domination to the scene. (Touching someone on their face is usually an act of affection or domination – or both.) It can involve anything from lightly placing a fingertip on the bottom’s lips to roughly covering their mouth with one hand while painfully grabbing the hair on the back of their head with the other hand in order to pin the head in place. Do not overlook the very significant potential of this type of gag.
• Tape gags. Gags made of tape, either applied partially over the victim’s lower face or wrapped entirely around the head, are commonly shown in various movies and television shows. Unfortunately, tape gags usually do not work very well for our purposes. For one thing, it is essentially impossible to secure the mouth-stuffing to a tape gag. For another, it can be difficult or impossible to remove a tape gag quickly in the event of an emergency (at least, without risking seriously hurting the bottom)Additionally, when tape is removed it often leaves a distinctly telltale band of reddened skin behind (and, if wrapped entirely around the head, will leave adhesive in the hair, where it can be a real nuisance to remove). Given these realities, I do not recommend the use of tape as a gag.
• Ball gags. The ball gag has been seen in a number of movies and television shows. In its simplest form, it is merely a rubber ball (often red in color) that has had a leather strap pierced through it. This strap, often equipped with a buckle, is then used to secure the gag in place around the bottom’s head. (Some such straps have lockable buckles, but for emergency-quick-release reasons I recommend that such buckles not be locked. If the top is worried about the bottom escaping from the gag, it’s better that they tie the bottom so that the bottom cannot reach the buckle.) Ball gags can sometimes work very well. Given that the balls are not very compressible, a top may have to experiment a bit to find the size of ball that is comfortable yet effective for a given submissive. Unfortunately, it’s easy for such a ball to be too large or too small.
Also, ball gags may cause the bottom to salivate, and the hard rubber ball will not, of course, absorb this saliva. Thus the hapless bottom may have to let it run down their chin.
• Panty gags. One common technique found in female-dominant scenes is for the dominatrix to use her own panties as the gag’s mouth-stuffing portion. This can work fairly well, but the caution about attaching the mouth stuffing to the face strap should be remembered. (Some dominant women place their panties inside one of their nylon stockings and use that stocking as a face strap. This can work well provided she remembers that knots tied in nylon stockings can pull so tightly as to become impossible to untie. In such cases, she should tie knots that can be released or be prepared to cut off the stocking.)
• Inflatable gags. Some SM stores sell “pump gags” intended to be placed in the bottom’s mouth and then inflated. These can be very effective gags, but they are probably the riskiest types of gags on the market and require the very closest of monitoring and communication. While such gags can create just the right amount of mouth stuffing, it is also relatively easy to overinflate them and block off the bottom’s airway or trigger their gag reflex. In particular, the use of a pump gag in connection with any sort of hood-type device can be especially hazardous, and I have heard reports of fatalities associated with this combination of devices. I’m not saying don’t use them, but stay on “high alert” if you do.
• Foam-rubber-and-stick gags. This is actually my personal favorite type of gag. Foam rubber is my preferred and recommended type of mouth-stuffing. It conforms to the shape of the bottom’s mouth even if they increase or decrease how widely they have opened their jaws. It also absorbs both sound and saliva very well. Furthermore, it rarely fatigues the bottom’s jaw muscles in the way that other, harder forms of mouth stuffing sometimes do.
“I figured out how to tie that”
To create the mouth stuffing, use a simple piece of foam rubber. (A trip to your local foam rubber store, particularly to look through their “discards” bin, can be lots of fun.) This may be left as a rough, irregular block, or cut to (or purchased as) a more conventional shape such as a cube or cylinder. Just be sure that it has no “loose ends” that might be likely to separate from the main block while in the bottom’s mouth. As a rough rule of thumb, the size of the mouth-stuffing block should be about the size of the bottom’s fist.
Some bottoms will be able to bite into foam blocks and leave lasting cuts into the foam from their teeth. They may even nearly bite off substantial sections of the foam; however, the stick generally prevents them from biting all the way through. Fortunately, the low cost and ready availability of foam makes replacing such a damaged foam block fairly simple.
The stick portion can be a metal or wooden bar pierced through the center of the foam block. This stick typically protrudes an inch two beyond the sides of the bottom’s head. It is held in place with a strap of some type that runs around the bottom’s head. While various types of straps and ropes may work adequately for this, I have had my best results by using slightly stretchable materials such as elastic bandages. For example: a gag made of a short stick threaded through the center of a block of foam rubber and held in place with an elastic bandage often makes a truly excellent gag in terms of its ability to muffle sound without unduly fatiguing the bottom’s jaw, yet they often find it impossible to spit out such a gag.
In summary, while the decision to use a gag invariably raises the risk level of the bondage play somewhat, I have found that when the top and the bottom know each other fairly well, and neither is significantly intoxicated, and the gag is being used in a situation that is being at least loosely monitored (preferably with some type of electronic assistance for those times when the top is out of sight range), and the gag can be removed very quickly without damaging the bottom in the event of an emergency, then the overall risk of Something Really Bad happening drops to an almost nonexistent level.
EARPLUGS AND EARMUFFS
In addition to wanting to limit a bottom’s ability to see by using blindfolds, many tops wish to limit their bottom’s ability to hear by using various types of earplugs and/or earmuffs. (The top can also create an interesting scene by using only the hearing-limiting devices by themselves.) As is true with the use of blindfolds, when one sense is diminished we tend to pay closer attention to the messages being sent to us by the other senses. In an SM context, this is primarily the sense of touch.
Basic anatomy and physiology: While a top can completely block a bottom?s ability to see by the skillful application of a blindfold, it is essentially impossible to completely block the bottom?s ability to hear. This is because sound is transmitted to the bottom?s brain by two different pathways: air conduction and bone conduction. Thus, even if the top were to completely fill the bottom’s ear canals with 100% sound-absorbent material, sound would still reach their brain through bone conduction. However, the bottom’s ability to hear can still be significantly limited, or otherwise controlled.
The three basic devices used to limit hearing are industrial earmuffs, earplugs, and headphones.
Industrial earmuffs are easy and quick to apply (just don’t pinch an earring when applying them) and do a good, basic job of limiting the bottom’s ability to hear. While they are not, in general, as good as earplugs in this regard, they still work pretty well. Such earmuffs can be purchased at larger hardware stores.
Earplugs are probably the best devices for limiting hearing. While they are sold in hardware stores, travel supply stores, sporting goods stores, and gun stores, I have usually found the best selection in large drugstores. Most earplugs (and industrial earmuffs ) come with what’s called an NRR on them. This stands for “noise reduction rating.” I recommend that you purchase earplugs with an NRR of at least 30. (These will usually be soft foam earplugs.)
Earplugs also come in various shapes, particularly cylinder-shaped and a type with a widened base that can be thought of as trumpet-shaped. I have found both types of earplugs relatively easy to insert. (It helps to grasp the bottom’s ear and gently pull up and back as you insert; this maneuver helps to straighten out the ear canal.) However, I have found the trumpet-shaped earplugs considerably easier to remove.
Headphones. While headphones, of either the earmuff or earplug type, can somewhat limit the bottom’s ability to hear, they are more suited to controlling what the bottom can hear. Headphones can, of course, be attached to various types of radios, CD players, and so forth, so that whatever the top wishes the bottom to hear can be “piped in” to them.
Caution: Because the top will usually not be able to hear what the bottom is hearing, it is important to ensure that whatever sound is being piped in to them is not so loud that it causes hearing damage (which can last for a long time or even be permanent.) Thus, it’s important for the top to first test out the sound level on the device themselves, perhaps listening to it for about an hour, before using it at that level on a bottom. It is also a wise idea to make sure the volume knob is clearly marked in a way that makes it obvious at a glance if the sound level is turned up too high. Because hearing loss can be long-term and very disabling, bottoms should be advised to use their safeword sooner rather than later if they are distressed by the level of sound to which they are being exposed.
In keeping with the “build up the intensity gradually” approach, it would probably be better to do at least one scene with a bottom using only a blindfold before doing a scene with them that involved both a blindfold and earplugs.
HOODS
“Hoods” is an overall term applied to a group of bondage devices in-tended to fit over the entire head of the bottom in a fashion similar to the way an astronaut’s helmet covers their head. Most hoods are made of leather, but I have also seen them made out of latex and spandex. They are sometimes referred to as “discipline helmets.”
Hoods are advanced devices, and their inclusion in this relatively fundamental bondage book was something of a judgment call on my part. However, given that they are likely to be for sale in the same places that my readers might buy their other bondage gear, and given their strong potential for both use and abuse, I decided to include at least some basic information about hoods in this book.
“That’s not too loose, is it?”
Hoods do offer a significant increase in the inescapability of the bondage. While a bottom may be able to rub off a blindfold, gag, or set of hearing-restricting earmuffs, they are not going to be able to do the same thing to a hood.
The use of a hood in a bondage scene can substantially increase the risk and vulnerability level of the SM play. They often have a powerful emotional effect on both the bottom and the top.
The bottom can be emotionally affected by the very ?closed-in? feeling that often accompanies wearing a hood. Some bottoms absolutely love being hooded. It allows them to enter a state of mind that could be accurately thought of as an altered state of consciousness. Other bottoms hate being hooded. Many bottoms who can easily handle being blindfolded, earplugged, and gagged nonetheless cannot stand to be hooded. Panic reactions can result.
I should note that I have occasionally seen “half hoods” offered for sale. These hoods fit over the head of the bottom in a way that covers their ears and eyes but not their nose and mouth. They are somewhat similar to the hoods that hunting falcons wear. Bottoms may find such a hood easier to cope with. A scuba-diving friend also recommends the hoods available in dive shops, which leave the eyes, nose and mouth uncovered, but cover the head, block most hearing, and convey the “closed-in” feeling enjoyed by hood-loving bottoms.
Tops can be emotionally affected by the sight of a hooded bottom in that a bottom wearing such a device has been depersonalized to a significant degree. Under these circumstances, it can be easier for a top to do more extreme things to a bottom than they would otherwise be willing to do. Given this potential, it’s pretty obvious that a hood should not be used until a given top and bottom have successfully played together several times before.
Hoods have another property that both tops and bottoms need to be aware of: they can decrease the ability of the bottom to lose body heat to a significant degree. Given the rich blood supply to our scalps, we can radiate 25%-50% of our body heat out into our environment through our head. (Thus the exceptional importance of keeping one’s head covered when going into very cold environments.)
Bottoms who have been hooded are more prone to becoming overheated than many tops realize. The discomfort that accompanies this overheating can cause bottoms to want the hood removed, or even to panic, long before they actually become overheated. Contrariwise, if a bottom who is in bond-age and hooded begins to panic, they can often be greatly reassured by only removing the hood.
Also, if a nauseated bottom were to throw up into a hood, they could be in an immediately life-threatening situation.
Thus, one of the key points to keep in mind when considering purchasing a hood, perhaps the key point, is that a time may come when the bottom’s very life will depend upon the top’s ability to remove the hood within a matter of seconds.
Hoods are held in place with a variety of devices. Some hoods use zippers. Some use straps and buckles. Some use laces. Some use a combination of devices. Whatever type of hood you choose, make sure that the top can remove it within seconds in the event of an emergency, preferably without having to do something like cut the laces. (If you do have to cut off a hood with your EMT scissors, it may work best to cut from the back of their neck upwards, going between their ears. Try not to cut their hair, but an emergency is an emergency.)
I have seen many hoods that come with various attachment points. In general, these make me somewhat nervous. While I suppose I might feel OK about having a bottom who is lying face-up on a bed having the top of their hood secured to the head of the bed by a length of rope, the idea of a similar arrangement between a standing bottom’s helmet and an overhead eyebolt makes me very nervous.
I have also seen arrangements where attachment points on the back of the hood can be used. While I suppose bottoms with healthy necks could stand to have their heads pulled back by such an arrangement, bottoms with a history of neck problems could be at risk. In particular, I feel uncomfortable regarding hogtie arrangements where the bottom’s ankles are held in place by a rope or strap running between their tied-together ankles and the back of their head. The more sharply the head is pulled back, the more I worry about this arrangement. (It might actually be safer to attach the strap to their collar.)
In general, I prefer arrangements in which a hooded head is otherwise left free.
One type of hood that bondage fans should be especially wary of is the hood that comes with a built-in inflatable gag. Given the relative lack of communication between the “inside” and the “outside” of such a hood, I have heard of deaths that have resulted from the over-inflation of such a gag.
Some hoods come with detachable blindfold and gag sections that snap on and off. These can add greatly to the versatility of the hood, and I have heard no reports that they are especially easy for the bottom to remove.
Given that hoods tend to be expensive items of bondage gear, if you think that you might enjoy playing with one, you might first try to improvise a hood by using a plain cotton pillowcase. Such a pillowcase should allow adequate breathing (unless large sections of it become wet). Pillowcase hoods can be held in place by placing them under the bottom’s collar or by tying a rope in place around the bottom’s neck and over the pillowcase. The ends of this rope should be left free and the top should be able to pass two fingers between it and the hood without difficulty. In other words, this rope should be applied no more tightly than a strap intended for this purpose on a real hood would be applied.
In summary, keep in mind that hoods are not trivial items and that there is both significant potential and significant risk associated with their usage. As the saying goes, “hoods are heavy.”