Review - Heavy Duty Leather Cuffs

I was lucky enough to win a competition on the
 Sextoys.co.uk forums for these products, which are available to purchase here

The products I got had been sent to Sextoys as a sample so I am unable to comment on the packaging as there was none. 

The cuffs are made of leather and are fairly wide, all the seams on them are glued well and feel quite sturdy for their size.  There's a large buckle on each end of the cuffs which is made of some kind of leather.  The cuffs are easy to put on and take off by yourself - which may be a consideration if you are looking for more inescapable play toys, but for general bedroom fun and self bondage the fact you can set yourself free is a bonus

The cuffs look very similar - Me and S had to take a moment to figure out which set would be which, and assumed that the handcuffs would be the shorter of the set.  This could be a drawback if they're in a drawer and you need quick access to them.

From this point onwards I am going to split the review and talk about the handcuffs and ankle cuffs separately.

Heavy Duty Handcuffs

The handcuffs are joined together with a small chain that gives the wearer roughly around 3 to 4 inches of room between their palms.  The chain is held into the cuffs on a keyring that's glued to the handcuffs.  

The cuffs are approximately 13 inches long from buckle to end and 1 and a half inches wide.  Together the cuffs weigh 150g so are quite light.  This may not be the toy for you if you want something that is weighty and substantial

This is a picture of one of the cuffs on my wrist:

And laid flat:

The cuffs buckle on the outside of the wrist and the metal of the buckle gives them the majority of their weight.  The cuffs do feel very light when on the wrist and this felt rather strange to me as they look like they should be heavier.  The buckle tends to make the cuffs slide across the wrists which could be annoying to the wearer.  A small issue with the cuffs is that because they are made of leather they tend to warm up to the skin and stretch slightly while in use.  We found that at times we needed to stop what we doing and tighten the cuffs at points, which could be off putting.

The major flaw with the handcuffs is the fact that the chain broke during the first use.  This happened when S had me tied to the bed using rope that was resting against the cuff's chains.  I was not pulling on the chains hard or putting them under any rigorous strain, it was normal use that would be expected of a product of this kind.  We found later that it was a small link that had broken within the chain.  We personally prefer cuffs to have hooks or karabiners on them so we can involve rope work within our play, so we decided to take the remaining bit of chain off of the keyring to suit our style.  Still, the product description stated "heavy duty" and I do not feel they lived up to this at all.

In Summary: These are nice cuffs and feel well made.  Unfortunatley they are in no way "heavy duty" and it didn't take much for them to break.  Price wise there may be better alternatives on the market, as these seem expensive at nearly £30 , I do not feel I would have bought them at the price they are marketed for at the time of writing.  All in all after some research these may be worth a buy, but treat with caution.

Heavy Duty Ankle Cuffs

Made out of the same material as the handcuffs they are of the same or similar quality, all the stitching is secure and there's no rough seams.  The ankle cuffs are bigger length wise at 15 inches from buckle to end, though they are the same width at 1 and a half inches.  A major difference between the ankle cuffs and the wrist cuffs is that the ankle cuffs are substantial and feel weighty enough, weighing 200g together.  The chain on the ankle cuffs is also thicker than on the wrist ones and attached to the leather with a D ring instead of a keyring.  From one end of the D ring to the other there is a 5 inch gap.  The ankle cuffs feel sturdier in general and I have had no issue with them so far.

The cuffs are sized well and it would seem to fit most people.  For reference I wear a size 7 shoe and they fitted me without much issue.  S wears a size 12 and could just about fit the cuffs around him - albeit on the last hole.  From looking at the holes and diameters of the cuffs it would seem they would also fit someone who had very skinny ankles.

This is one of the ankle cuffs on my leg:

And this is both cuffs laid flat:

For bondage use they stand up pretty well.  They limit mobility as they are designed to do and are simple enough to put on and off on your own.  As with the handcuffs the ability to put them on and take them off on your own is a matter of personal preference, but it suits me fine.

I do not particularly like having cuffs that are attached to each other as me and S practice rope bondage, so have alternative methods more easily available to us.  The chain is sufficient to limit mobility but long enough to provide access so it isn't as much of a deal to me as if the chain was too short.  I am assuming that there would be the option of removing the chain somehow if I really wanted to, but I have not tried at the moment.

I did not feel the need to stop what we were doing to re tighten the ankle cuffs, however this may be down to the fact that there is usually less movement in the legs rather than a construction choice.  I also did not notice the ankle cuffs sliding around, but I do have rather thick ankles and the buckle holes fitted more closely to my ankles then they did on my wrists.

In Summary: I think out of the two products I prefer the ankle cuffs.  They seem more sturdy and are well made.  The fit of them is good and they seem to be about the right price at the time of writing (£30).  These would be something I am willing to recommend to anyone looking to start or add to a bondage collection.