1. *Handcuffs - a staple of the tickling community and available in a dizzying array of shapes, colours and materials. We’d recommend avoiding the cheap ‘furry’ handcuffs and anything in metal as they can be very painful, especially if the wearer is thrashing around. This is one area where it’s probably worth spending a bit more money to get a set that fit right, feel comfortable and, most importantly, can stand up to a fair bit of strain. A good solid pair of leather cuffs with thick metal D-rings and a nice soft padding are probably a good investment, although if you want to try out handcuffs without spending a fortune the basic fabric cuffs with velcro fastenings can be a very cheap, easy to use and surprisingly sturdy option.
   

1. *Rope - resist the temptation to use any old rope when setting up a bondage situation. Remember that whatever you use must be comfortable against bare skin and must not give you any problems when trying to untie your knots. Ideally you’re looking for something that’s about 3/8 to 5/8 of an inch thick, braided and soft. Nylon rope or clothesline can be a good and cheap place to start, although it’s tough to keep your knots tight and cotton may be a better choice if you’re confident about untying your knots. To prevent your rope fraying and to make it easy to find the ends quickly wrap each end in a contrasting colour electrical tape.
   

1. *Bondage Tape - available in most on-line stores and high street chains bondage tape is tape that sticks to itself but not to the skin. A very versatile tool when it comes to restraining your partner as it can be used to hold them tightly without needing any mounting point to attach to. Most bondage tape can be reused to if you remove it carefully. Just make sure you do actually buy bondage tape, finding out you’ve used duct tape after wrapping your partner from toes to neck isn’t a good feeling.
   

1. *Bed Restraint Systems - A genius invention that can be a lifesaver for those of us who don’t have a convenient bondage-friendly headboard and don’t want to drill holes in the bed frame for eyelets. Basically a set of straps that fit under and/or around your mattress this is a easy and relatively cheap way of restraining your partner. Most sets have tethers with restraints at the end of each tether while others have mount points, usually a clip system, to attach to the handcuffs that come with the set. Personally we’ve found that a system that loops around the mattress and base of the bed and has clip on handcuffs is probably the easiest to use and offers decent levels of comfort as well as a quick and easy release system.
   

1. *Quick Release Systems - designed for use in situations where it may be necessary to quickly release a submissive from bondage where either the submissive is no longer capable of supporting their own weight or the bondage cannot be removed particularly quickly. Basically a simple lock, usually a D-ring of some design, with two push pads or other mechanism on the side of the lock. When both pads are pressed in the D-ring detaches from the lock allowing a submissive to be removed from a particular position very quickly. Often used in vertical bondage such as X-frames or over-door cuffs.
   

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