It’s been said, that once someone enters the Scene they’ll never see a hardware store or toy shop in quite the same light. That point was brought home at the Frugal Pervert program where the discussion focused on discovering economical play toys at places besides BDSM stores.

Lady Tanith led the program off by with a display of her favorite and more obscure toys for under five bucks. Tanith’s focus centered on imagination and safety, with several items which were cheap enough to be disposable after use, such as a 69 cent fly swatter, or a bottle brush. Disposability is a useful asset for toys which are exposed to body fluids.

She also suggested several books from Greenery Press that cover this subject such as Kinky Crafts: 101 Do-It-Yourself S/M Toys and Supermarket Tricks.

Tanith handed the show over to David, whose homemade rope whips demonstrated what a little creativity and frugality can achieve in the way of implements of torture. While some of the items David showed were fairly involved pieces of work, requiring a week of effort to construct, he also demonstrated how to put a serviceable cat together in a matter of minutes. Following his brief display, he stepped aside and fashioned two rope whips while the rest of the panel displayed their wares.

The Frugal Domme followed David with another small pile of plunder gathered from kitchen shops, hardware stores, and garage sales. She had one particular whip made from the inner tube of a bicycle tire. This one was not only inexpensive (some bike shops will give you used inner tubes) but quite wicked, as she pointed out.

Another useful idea was to purchase a roll of wide Velcro strips from your local sewing store and fashion cuffs by lining with a comfortable cloth. She also had a wonderful collection of cat toys from the local pet shop.

Next was Doc. He had the most delightful collection of musical instruments. Drumsticks, banjo picks, hand bells and even a metronome can provide hours of fun and aggravation to a bound and blindfolded bottom. Doc had a great idea for sensation training. Ring a bell for the heavy flogger and perhaps a buzzer for the paddle. In this way you let your bottom know what is about to happen. After some time at this you will achieve the Pavlovian response we all learned about in school. After a short break we began again with our final panelist.

Lady Cassandra had by far the most extensive collection of items .... the kitchen sink and everything else. Her most interesting contributions were toys and souvenirs found at the Monterey Aquarium. These included shark jaws she had fashioned into a bra. She showed a great collection from the local tack shop. The same quirt you can buy at the local leather shop can be found in the riding supplies area. Some of the cheaper leather toys may be need to be worked with naetsfoots oil, however; this could be a wonderful task to have your submissive to perform for you.

As an aside to the panel, Lady Tanith also provided us with a list of places to gather toys. She suggests that you walk through these stores with a pervert’s eye and ask yourself, "what kind of fun can I have with this?"

Posted with permission from Society of Janus
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