December has been a very different month for me and, with nearly a year of this blog behind me, I don’t really know where to start…
I have been away from home more and been out of rubber more of the time than I have in probably well over a year. But paradoxically – it has been one of the most fetish oriented months of the year!
Let me explain – previous months I have lived and worked wearing rubber. This month, the part of the day were I toil at the office has been sans-rubber – often leaving the majority of the hours of the day to indulge oneself. Being so far from home relieves one of the opportunity / duty to perform normal vanilla family and social activities, so there is rarely any need to spend much of these 15 or 16 hours being anything other than perfectly encapsulated in latex.
So, although theoretically I may be spending less of my waking hours in rubber, I have been able to be as systematically strict with myself about how I spend my recreational hours as I have previously been able to be about my working day. Basically I have rarely been able to find any reason not be in total encapsulation in rubber heaven 12+ hours each and every day during the week and 24 hours a day at the weekend. As none of these hours has been while working, there was little mundane distractions to think about while in total encasement – so typically my rubbery predicament was top of my consciousness during this time, oddly giving me plenty of rubber recreation time as I was not trying to stay focused on work etc while I just happened to be wearing rubber, as is my norm.
One of the great achievements has been to get very used to being in a rubber suit each and every night (I “often” slept in rubber in the past – but I put it to you that “often” is nothing like “every” in terms of a rubber lifestyle. The discipline required is on a different order, but the pay back is ultimately much greater levels of comfort). I eventually managed to get used to always sleeping wearing a hood with just small eye/nose/mouth holes – this was a challenge which ultimately I conquered by the odd means of stepping up a gear and wearing a rather tight gas mask over the top of the hood – complete with filter! Not sure how it happened, but think that my body just got so desperately tired from repeatedly disrupting it pattern each night, it decided it’s instincts to be uncovered were no match for my desire to be covered and it’s desire to be asleep! It seems the instincts are merely patterns to be broken - and my earlier apnoea blighted attempts catch a few moments of sleep are now something approaching hours of half decent quality snoozing.
There are still challenges here though. Sleeping in rubber is not a problem and doing it in hooded TE is possible- but the challenge is for it to be as comfortable as I know it can be. I am still having some problems with consistently controlling my perspiration which I don’t have during the day and time will tell how much the quality of the sleep with a hood and gas mask on will become…
…
As I have been spending mainly recreational time while wearing rubber, it means I have been able to spend more time catching up on talking to my fellow fetishists. There really are quite a lot of us out there – although it seems there are almost an infinite number of flavours of fetishes too. I have been busy chatting in chat rooms, messaging and emailing and surfing.
I even managed to meet up with a fetish couple IRL while travelling and working in the US. Meeting virtual complete strangers was quite daunting. We hardly knew each other online never mind in person – but MoF and his partner [name withheld!] were a total joy. Sure the first few moments felt a little awkward – but once we found a common language (you guessed it – a guided tour of their fetish wardrobe) everything just fell into place. The following weekend they kindly guided me to a local fetish store in New Hope PA and we just did the shopping, chatting and chilling out thing.
Parenthetically – one of the things I have been contemplating is the past tendency to link rubber lifestyle with sex (and ejaculation in particular) in my mind. After a lot of thought I think I am interested in decoupling the two. I will elaborate more next year – but it’s become clear to me that being sealed in rubber, sex, orgasm and ejaculations are just separate (admittedly important) parts of my existence and not an inevitable logical sequence! Talking to older and wiser rubber heads has started to rub off on me and think I am starting to enjoy a new way a looking at my rubber existence.
January will again be spent away from the home in the US (PA and NJ I think) and so I look forward to more of the same! Perhaps I can even meet so more fellow rubber fetishist – the search to find people even interest in rubber lifestyle has come to fascinate me…
This year I am being a little more open about my new years resolution – I want to raise the profile of the actual attainment of wearing totally enclosing rubber outfits routinely for long periods. I don’t mind talk of the challenges, but the starting point for this blog is that wearing rubber TE for most of the time is totally possible and for some of us desirable and the ideal. No one can tell me it’s impossible to wear rubber every day, as I have enough experience now to know that that, at worst, it can is merely challenging. I may not have achieved perfection, but can see that there are physical and psychological answers to much that the doom-sayers have presented as barriers.
For all those who contributed comments this year – a big thank you! Your interest has certainly helped me stay focussed on why I live this way. For those who lurked and never said a damn thing I say – you’re welcome! Of course a single line saying “hello!” would be so welcome and is unlikely to kill you – but I realise you are probably shy or busy or lazy – just like me!
Sealed
Friday, December 23, 2005
Friday, December 16, 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Back in PA and building up my tolerance to sleeping in rubber. The main trouble I am having is sticking to the plan of a gradual build up to sleeping in total enclosure. Because in the period before sleep I am just chilling out, I just don’t feel right in anything less than TE – so often end up feeling odd about taking off the hood before going to sleep – so don’t (sometime finding it too much of a wrench to take my goggles and mask off!). This results in some reasonable sleep now – but interrupted regularly with restricted airways (the fit of my hood causing my jaw to sometimes move go a position that causes problems. This is all very stimulating of course, but does leave you with a sleep deficit the next day…
As for temperature / perspiration control – this is still not nearly as good as while awake, but is a lot better than it was. I usually find the inside of my suit is damp in the mornings – but now it’s usually just a covering in moisture and not free fluid sloshing about. I think I can do better if I modify my eating and drinking habits and diet.
I feel confident about cracking the problem of being totally comfortable /dry while sleeping in TE – particularly in a room with thermostatic heat control! From my experience working in rubber, I agree with Rubanix’s post about adapting to rubber so you perspire less freely and are more comfortable – although I take his point about being too dry being a problem – I occasionally find some irritation like joggers nipple can occur. He has been relating his experience over the years, via private correspondence - which I found very encouraging and inspiring.
As for Darks question on how the adaptation to wearing rubber and not overheating works, I think it is a combination of things. I do think you change your behavior before / during wearing rubber to compensate – becoming less tense, fidgety and over-active. I think this happens on both a conscious and sub-conscious level. Also, I think that diet has an effect – and know rubber can alter how I feel about drinking and eating. Also the physiological (& psychological) response to actually donning the rubber has changed for me – from excitement / stimulation to a calming / comfortable / relaxing experience. Being less excited and calmer naturally reduced perspiration.
In addition to all these thing though, I think there are more basic body adjustments going on as well. I think my body associates the feeling of being in rubber to be a signal to back off on generating heat and using perspiration as the main way to control temperature. For me I think of it as like when a I go to visit hot countries – it seems I spend days / weeks adjusting – during this period I perspire freely, can easily get heat exhaustion. Mean time the ex – pats in these communities seem to shrug off the heat almost as easily as the locals. The same occurs with altitude, diet etc. The point being that your body is capable of amazing degree of adaptation, as long as you give it enough time to adjust.
Last weekend was my birthday so decided to treat myself to 60+ hours in total enclosure. It didn’t go exactly to plan. First I found that I couldn’t do more than one night in a row in full TE. And then disaster struck 40 odd hours in, and my suit developed a wardrobe malfunction! It was only a quarter inch slit – but that was enough to ruin it for me. I did manage go patch it during the week but am going shopping on Saturday as my suit is showing signs of wear now.
On that subject, I just spent a very pleasant evening with a fetish couple who live nearby, who I found on IAR. I forgot to ask if they minded my posting their online names here, so will respect their privacy and not name them yet. Anyway it was great to talk to a couple who were both very much into similarly extreme rubber enclosure etc. We are meeting up again on Saturday to go shopping at the nearest fetish suppliers. So kind of them to look after a rubberist who finds himself so far from home.
Sealed
As for temperature / perspiration control – this is still not nearly as good as while awake, but is a lot better than it was. I usually find the inside of my suit is damp in the mornings – but now it’s usually just a covering in moisture and not free fluid sloshing about. I think I can do better if I modify my eating and drinking habits and diet.
I feel confident about cracking the problem of being totally comfortable /dry while sleeping in TE – particularly in a room with thermostatic heat control! From my experience working in rubber, I agree with Rubanix’s post about adapting to rubber so you perspire less freely and are more comfortable – although I take his point about being too dry being a problem – I occasionally find some irritation like joggers nipple can occur. He has been relating his experience over the years, via private correspondence - which I found very encouraging and inspiring.
As for Darks question on how the adaptation to wearing rubber and not overheating works, I think it is a combination of things. I do think you change your behavior before / during wearing rubber to compensate – becoming less tense, fidgety and over-active. I think this happens on both a conscious and sub-conscious level. Also, I think that diet has an effect – and know rubber can alter how I feel about drinking and eating. Also the physiological (& psychological) response to actually donning the rubber has changed for me – from excitement / stimulation to a calming / comfortable / relaxing experience. Being less excited and calmer naturally reduced perspiration.
In addition to all these thing though, I think there are more basic body adjustments going on as well. I think my body associates the feeling of being in rubber to be a signal to back off on generating heat and using perspiration as the main way to control temperature. For me I think of it as like when a I go to visit hot countries – it seems I spend days / weeks adjusting – during this period I perspire freely, can easily get heat exhaustion. Mean time the ex – pats in these communities seem to shrug off the heat almost as easily as the locals. The same occurs with altitude, diet etc. The point being that your body is capable of amazing degree of adaptation, as long as you give it enough time to adjust.
Last weekend was my birthday so decided to treat myself to 60+ hours in total enclosure. It didn’t go exactly to plan. First I found that I couldn’t do more than one night in a row in full TE. And then disaster struck 40 odd hours in, and my suit developed a wardrobe malfunction! It was only a quarter inch slit – but that was enough to ruin it for me. I did manage go patch it during the week but am going shopping on Saturday as my suit is showing signs of wear now.
On that subject, I just spent a very pleasant evening with a fetish couple who live nearby, who I found on IAR. I forgot to ask if they minded my posting their online names here, so will respect their privacy and not name them yet. Anyway it was great to talk to a couple who were both very much into similarly extreme rubber enclosure etc. We are meeting up again on Saturday to go shopping at the nearest fetish suppliers. So kind of them to look after a rubberist who finds himself so far from home.
Sealed
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
I have been asked how I have been coping without rubber – the question was so shocking as to warrant a small entry here. The idea of me not engaging in rubber at all while traveling on business was never a realistic option for me! Not sure I cold survive that, but you don't have to worry too much - I have brought my rubber with me!
Although I no longer work in rubber, I am spending all free time, evenings / nights and weekends in rubber. In fact, as I don't have the fix during the weekdays, I am able to push a few personal limits I have been neglecting so far.
I have never got round to fully acclimatizing to wearing rubber while asleep – in particularly TE. It’s not that it’s a usual activity, I quite often have a more severe hood on at night than during the day (I have a penchant for a particular dangerous type in fact) – it’s just that it’s not become totally routine. For various reason I have found it difficult to control my temperature overnight and usually always overheat and perspire by morning - usually after wake up in the middle of the night shivering from being too cold! It’s not a huge problem or anything – it’s just I know from my daytime experiences that it should be perfectly possible to be virtually 100% comfortable and reasonably dry every time if I get it right.
The main way I have found to acclimatize in the past is to stop doing things add-hoc and start being methodical, building up the gradually the severity to a point were I am living it every day. In the past, I was patchy about letting myself bail out if I thought it was not going well. So while I have been here, I have started building up my ability to be comfortable in rubber overnight. Still not got the hood / mask / goggles part totally comfy, but working up to it.
And again, as I have not spent every day of the week in rubber, my will power is more able to push things at the weekends. So I am engaging in longer sessions at the weekend with the aim being to build it up to total enclosure 24/7 for each weekend, starting 5pm Friday though to Monday 8am, as the norm while away from home.
Last weekend was a trial and went reasonably well - but was a bit over ambitious as I found it difficult to sleep in my hood for more than one night in a row and had also made a little too difficult in the rear plug department! None of it was stopping me as a one off – but I realized that to regularize this level of exposure to be a routine (long term) part of your life, it really cannot be uncomfortable or exhausting experience. I want this fetish experience to be my norm not a one off kinky trial.
So I think the moral of the story is to build up my acclimatization gradually! Once I have the whole rubber below the neck thing 100% sown up (it already feels very normal most nights, but it has to be a comfortable & dry experience every night to be sustainable) I will add the hood building up to breathing masks, goggles and breathing hoods. So far there have been too many things to deal with – this way there is only one challenge at a time.
At the moment I am in Washington DC is very cold and the temperature is totally suitable for rubber. Even if it were not, every place I have been so far had good A/C. Tomorrow I head back for PA which I suspect will be my HQ for a while – again in air conditioned latex luxury! Looks like I may have a little work near NY – but again the temperature is going to be perfect. So if I have to work away, it appears I have chosen the right time of year for the places I am working…
Sealed
Although I no longer work in rubber, I am spending all free time, evenings / nights and weekends in rubber. In fact, as I don't have the fix during the weekdays, I am able to push a few personal limits I have been neglecting so far.
I have never got round to fully acclimatizing to wearing rubber while asleep – in particularly TE. It’s not that it’s a usual activity, I quite often have a more severe hood on at night than during the day (I have a penchant for a particular dangerous type in fact) – it’s just that it’s not become totally routine. For various reason I have found it difficult to control my temperature overnight and usually always overheat and perspire by morning - usually after wake up in the middle of the night shivering from being too cold! It’s not a huge problem or anything – it’s just I know from my daytime experiences that it should be perfectly possible to be virtually 100% comfortable and reasonably dry every time if I get it right.
The main way I have found to acclimatize in the past is to stop doing things add-hoc and start being methodical, building up the gradually the severity to a point were I am living it every day. In the past, I was patchy about letting myself bail out if I thought it was not going well. So while I have been here, I have started building up my ability to be comfortable in rubber overnight. Still not got the hood / mask / goggles part totally comfy, but working up to it.
And again, as I have not spent every day of the week in rubber, my will power is more able to push things at the weekends. So I am engaging in longer sessions at the weekend with the aim being to build it up to total enclosure 24/7 for each weekend, starting 5pm Friday though to Monday 8am, as the norm while away from home.
Last weekend was a trial and went reasonably well - but was a bit over ambitious as I found it difficult to sleep in my hood for more than one night in a row and had also made a little too difficult in the rear plug department! None of it was stopping me as a one off – but I realized that to regularize this level of exposure to be a routine (long term) part of your life, it really cannot be uncomfortable or exhausting experience. I want this fetish experience to be my norm not a one off kinky trial.
So I think the moral of the story is to build up my acclimatization gradually! Once I have the whole rubber below the neck thing 100% sown up (it already feels very normal most nights, but it has to be a comfortable & dry experience every night to be sustainable) I will add the hood building up to breathing masks, goggles and breathing hoods. So far there have been too many things to deal with – this way there is only one challenge at a time.
At the moment I am in Washington DC is very cold and the temperature is totally suitable for rubber. Even if it were not, every place I have been so far had good A/C. Tomorrow I head back for PA which I suspect will be my HQ for a while – again in air conditioned latex luxury! Looks like I may have a little work near NY – but again the temperature is going to be perfect. So if I have to work away, it appears I have chosen the right time of year for the places I am working…
Sealed
Monday, December 05, 2005
Sunday, 04 December 2005
As always Dark makes some interesting and thought provoking points in his recent comment. Thank you, I am flattered by your interest. But it suddenly occurred to me how difficult it might be for others (even regular rubberists) to see why I believe that extreme total enclosure would be the ideal normal state for me – my own personal holy grail. For a long time I had assumed that ALL rubberist might dream about spending all their time in rubber from head to foot, if only they could acclimatise to it, get past the physical & psychological barriers and have a personal lifestyle that allowed for such unusual/total existence/behaviour in our repressive society.
There are really three parts to my desired lifestyle, the rubber, the TE (being as hermitically sealed as possible) and the length of time I wish to be in this state. Looking at the comments from Dark and comments and emails from others leads me to realise that these are not even universal fantasies, even less so personal aims.
Before I go on, I really must say that I would not denigrate those who follow the practice of just wearing latex for a particular fetish session, party or just for fun, and then strip when it is no longer needed. I feel this is a totally legitimate rubberist / fetishist / TE ist behaviour. Please don’t think I believe this is a hierarchy - there is nothing clever, brave or noble about aspiring towards a dedication to a rubber TE lifestyle. It’s just a personal preference that some of us have.
It seemed to me that Dark’s mental exercise only went part the way to explaining my “holy grail” of “full perfect encasement”, even though I could relate to all his points. It is true that I think that rubber feels great, skin tight better and the more coverage the better. But interestingly, I thought Dark’s term Full Perfect Encasement did come close to summing up one of the missing elements in the reasoning very well – that’s exactly how it feels to me when the encasement is as full/total/complete as I can make it - Perfect. Anything less is “imperfect” to me. For me, TE or FPE is not just about the feeling of rubber on every inch of your skin – there is another extra physical aspect the nearer you get to TE and something more yet again when you achieve a totality hermitic seal – which is more than just a physical sensation. In addition I prefer that my air supply is not too direct – even when I am not embarked on a session of breath play. This can be anything from wearing a simple filter mask to more elaborate masks and tubes – but the base line is that not even my lips / teeth / tongue are outside my total encasement. Again. the enclosure is not strictly total for me if my eyes are not covered in some way (e.g. rubber blind fold, goggles or full face mask).
As for the extended length of time I whish to be in this state – that is a little more difficult to account for. Lets start with the time it takes most people to perform a specific fetish session which may result in sexual climax. This is going to be different for everyone and different each time - but just try to imagine a long session by your own standards. My guess is that many have never made it past spending double this length of time in rubber (unless they fell asleep post coitus and woke up in the morning still in rubber or maybe were out partying all night). This period of say double the period strictly needed to achieve a fetish session is, in my mind, just the starting point for a whole different TE experience I desire. Problematically, it is also usually during this period when you get the strongest desire to strip from what suddenly feels like the restrictive grip of the TE.
Now, imagine it’s a good day and you have stayed rubbered for a time when you have had multiple sessions with rest session between and are now convinced you have had your fill (a session that could keep you happy for days). Now imagine resisting the now very strong desire to strip and just take a rest for a while instead. After a time, what would happen for me is that the desire to strip fades and suddenly I start to feel very comfortable again. Presently, I get a feeling of being very special and the feeling is both great and reassuring. Lets call this the beginning of Phase 2, which feels like I have entered an almost symbiotic relationship with my encasement. If I can come to accept the (mainly) minor inconveniences and restrictions of staying in rubber, I start to reap the true benefits of long term TE, this time without the “torture” of needing to repress my pent up sexual drive and over stimulation (or alternately the need to do something to relief the strong desire to come). Many of the benefits of Phase 2 get better over the hours and even days and I would say is a much deeper experience than just a quick phase 1 bang.
That’s half of it – the “why extended session” part, but again there is another part. Why should it become your default day to day existence? Well this is even more tricky to describe but partly it is because it is a just an important part of the technique of achieving Phase 2. And this is where the explanation gets a little recursive, but bear with me…
Now in a perfect world, if this TE Phase 2 is something you wanted to do even fairly regularly as part of your life, it would be better to get to Phase 2 as quickly as possible rather than “endure” Phase 1 for hours of each session (with all the time and mess involved!). One of the handful of techniques I use for this is to literally achieve phase 2 as regularly/constantly as I possibly can. Like a self fulfilling prophecy, the nearer you get to Phase 2 being an every day for most/all of the day experience, the easier and quicker it is to achieve Phase 2+. I call it 2+ because it has all the advantages of Phase2 without the daily inconvenience of involuntarily losing control for half the day, plus the advantage of still being susceptible to becoming highly sexually stimulated (usually) at a time of your own choosing, rather than in the first hour of TE. This becomes important if you want function in any way outside of just sex while wearing rubber.
I know this is going to sound difficult to believe, but the part of the fetish experience that most people aim for (that I call phase 1) is one of the single biggest nightmares of my latex lifestyle for me. The amazing rush, massive sudden increase in libido, the transition from mundane life to an exciting fetish dream existence are like crosses I must bear for my belief in Phase 2. To me Phase 1 has become associated with ordeal, torment and even suffering. Believe me, if you don’t get to choose the time it happens, holding back from over sexual stimulation day in day out, hour after hour does feel very much like a physical agony. It’s still enjoyable for me – but only in a very masochistic way. Luckily for me the cure is to try to minimise time spent in Phase 1 to minutes and not hours, partly by basically staying in Phase 2+ day in day out. (Other controls I use to deal with phase 1 are “ritual”, state of mind, time of day, diet, activity before and after being encased, use of toys and use of poppers… But I think the most potent would be to never spend more than a few minutes unsealed).
In addition to the above purely practical (if cyclic) reasoning, there has to be a more fundamental personal motivation to want to aspire to lifestyle of Full Perfect Encasement. This is almost as difficult for me as describing why you want to be a man or woman (I guess I am talking gender not just biological sex here). My current self image is wrapped up in the whole idea of TE as being a perfect (normal) state for the ideal “being”. It’s difficult to be certain, but I think this has always been the case for me since childhood. I don’t think anything will shake my desire to aspire towards this idealised (self) image.
Back to a more physical reason – rubber feels great on day 1 and still feels great on day 30 and this whole notion of recalibration of senses may have been overplayed, or perhaps poorly explained by me and others. Recalibration is a reality for me – basically you not only get used to the feeling of TE, but you actually adapt to it to some degree. Rubber does become less taxing to wear when it is your “norm”. In fact, after a month or two, it becomes significantly more comfortable to be in rubber than to wear anything else. But for me, you never feel like the rubber is not there for very long and it never feels anything other than very special – sure you sometimes forget for a short while if extremely pre-occupied – but the idea of rubber TE becoming a normal non-stimulating feeling is ludicrous to me (not that Dark claimed quite as much as that). I think of recalibration as being like taking a mild pain killer - taking aspirin may make your sore knee easier to live with, but if you touch your skin, or knock your knee, it still feels exactly the same as normal. If that can be true of pain killers maybe you will believe me when I say that rubber is ALWAYS stimulating to me, even when I don’t want it to be, even after several days of 24/7 encasement. For example, I have been in rubber constantly since Friday PM and I am still having difficulty controlling myself now on Sunday evening when I come to describe my rubber lifestyle, 48 hours later…
Maybe it’s not as intense for me as it is for other who ration themselves – I can’t measure that. For sure it is not as frantic involuntary an experience – but that’s not to say there are not deeper sensual elements to compensate. What does seem to happen over time is that the reasons and impulses to end a TE session lessen fairly constantly and the reasons to want to carry on stay fairly constant after the first few high/lull cycles – thus a tipping point can be reached were the balance of reasons to stay rubbered outweigh the reasons to go vanilla. I have been slightly worried when this has happened – as I have occasionally got to a stage where it’s be too strong a wrench to go vanilla and so affected my other work/life commitments…
As for the calculus of the fetish TE – I think this particularly well observed. For me there are always two sides to the equation which I have to balance. It also explains why some people are more able and willing to go for the lifestyle. For example, people who are gregarious with vanilla friends and family, don’t have personalities that like to shock, like doing very physical sport and/or work, get still crazy if they don’t regularly get a dose of outdoor life are going to find it more difficult to balance the equation than a book mouse, non-physical types who are very self contained.
For me, I tend to fit somewhere towards the type of person where a fully enclosed latex lifestyle does not sufficiently prohibit me from the life I want to live to stop me living in rubber the majority of the time. Admittedly I have manipulated the other part of my work & personal life to quite an extent to make them compatible with rubber. I expect I am done manipulating them – but suspect I have left it a little too long in my life to totally commit to a 24/7/365 rubber lifestyle – but that shouldn’t stop me trying.
For me, once you given yourself the opportunity to experience TE day in day out, it only gets easier to deal with the challenges and yet also becomes more pleasurable. The real answer as to why I would want to spend each day like this is that it’s better in rubber and I often cannot find any reason not to be.
It’s interesting to think that many like Dark try to acquire the next fetish level with money. I sometimes do the same, but my main investment is not monetary – it is something you never want to squander - namely time. Contrary to how it may sound, I find I cannot be judgmental about other people’s journeys to personal happiness and just whish everyone who is true to their dreams well.
It seems that rubberiest who aspire to and actively pursue a fully total enclosure lifestyle are in a very small minority. Those who write about even fewer. So it seems I am more alone in this endeavor than I thought. I hope to come to terms with this fact, but can’t help feeling very keen to hear from anyone who even has it as a dream – but be warned I always encourage people to make there dreams a reality…
Sealed
There are really three parts to my desired lifestyle, the rubber, the TE (being as hermitically sealed as possible) and the length of time I wish to be in this state. Looking at the comments from Dark and comments and emails from others leads me to realise that these are not even universal fantasies, even less so personal aims.
Before I go on, I really must say that I would not denigrate those who follow the practice of just wearing latex for a particular fetish session, party or just for fun, and then strip when it is no longer needed. I feel this is a totally legitimate rubberist / fetishist / TE ist behaviour. Please don’t think I believe this is a hierarchy - there is nothing clever, brave or noble about aspiring towards a dedication to a rubber TE lifestyle. It’s just a personal preference that some of us have.
It seemed to me that Dark’s mental exercise only went part the way to explaining my “holy grail” of “full perfect encasement”, even though I could relate to all his points. It is true that I think that rubber feels great, skin tight better and the more coverage the better. But interestingly, I thought Dark’s term Full Perfect Encasement did come close to summing up one of the missing elements in the reasoning very well – that’s exactly how it feels to me when the encasement is as full/total/complete as I can make it - Perfect. Anything less is “imperfect” to me. For me, TE or FPE is not just about the feeling of rubber on every inch of your skin – there is another extra physical aspect the nearer you get to TE and something more yet again when you achieve a totality hermitic seal – which is more than just a physical sensation. In addition I prefer that my air supply is not too direct – even when I am not embarked on a session of breath play. This can be anything from wearing a simple filter mask to more elaborate masks and tubes – but the base line is that not even my lips / teeth / tongue are outside my total encasement. Again. the enclosure is not strictly total for me if my eyes are not covered in some way (e.g. rubber blind fold, goggles or full face mask).
As for the extended length of time I whish to be in this state – that is a little more difficult to account for. Lets start with the time it takes most people to perform a specific fetish session which may result in sexual climax. This is going to be different for everyone and different each time - but just try to imagine a long session by your own standards. My guess is that many have never made it past spending double this length of time in rubber (unless they fell asleep post coitus and woke up in the morning still in rubber or maybe were out partying all night). This period of say double the period strictly needed to achieve a fetish session is, in my mind, just the starting point for a whole different TE experience I desire. Problematically, it is also usually during this period when you get the strongest desire to strip from what suddenly feels like the restrictive grip of the TE.
Now, imagine it’s a good day and you have stayed rubbered for a time when you have had multiple sessions with rest session between and are now convinced you have had your fill (a session that could keep you happy for days). Now imagine resisting the now very strong desire to strip and just take a rest for a while instead. After a time, what would happen for me is that the desire to strip fades and suddenly I start to feel very comfortable again. Presently, I get a feeling of being very special and the feeling is both great and reassuring. Lets call this the beginning of Phase 2, which feels like I have entered an almost symbiotic relationship with my encasement. If I can come to accept the (mainly) minor inconveniences and restrictions of staying in rubber, I start to reap the true benefits of long term TE, this time without the “torture” of needing to repress my pent up sexual drive and over stimulation (or alternately the need to do something to relief the strong desire to come). Many of the benefits of Phase 2 get better over the hours and even days and I would say is a much deeper experience than just a quick phase 1 bang.
That’s half of it – the “why extended session” part, but again there is another part. Why should it become your default day to day existence? Well this is even more tricky to describe but partly it is because it is a just an important part of the technique of achieving Phase 2. And this is where the explanation gets a little recursive, but bear with me…
Now in a perfect world, if this TE Phase 2 is something you wanted to do even fairly regularly as part of your life, it would be better to get to Phase 2 as quickly as possible rather than “endure” Phase 1 for hours of each session (with all the time and mess involved!). One of the handful of techniques I use for this is to literally achieve phase 2 as regularly/constantly as I possibly can. Like a self fulfilling prophecy, the nearer you get to Phase 2 being an every day for most/all of the day experience, the easier and quicker it is to achieve Phase 2+. I call it 2+ because it has all the advantages of Phase2 without the daily inconvenience of involuntarily losing control for half the day, plus the advantage of still being susceptible to becoming highly sexually stimulated (usually) at a time of your own choosing, rather than in the first hour of TE. This becomes important if you want function in any way outside of just sex while wearing rubber.
I know this is going to sound difficult to believe, but the part of the fetish experience that most people aim for (that I call phase 1) is one of the single biggest nightmares of my latex lifestyle for me. The amazing rush, massive sudden increase in libido, the transition from mundane life to an exciting fetish dream existence are like crosses I must bear for my belief in Phase 2. To me Phase 1 has become associated with ordeal, torment and even suffering. Believe me, if you don’t get to choose the time it happens, holding back from over sexual stimulation day in day out, hour after hour does feel very much like a physical agony. It’s still enjoyable for me – but only in a very masochistic way. Luckily for me the cure is to try to minimise time spent in Phase 1 to minutes and not hours, partly by basically staying in Phase 2+ day in day out. (Other controls I use to deal with phase 1 are “ritual”, state of mind, time of day, diet, activity before and after being encased, use of toys and use of poppers… But I think the most potent would be to never spend more than a few minutes unsealed).
In addition to the above purely practical (if cyclic) reasoning, there has to be a more fundamental personal motivation to want to aspire to lifestyle of Full Perfect Encasement. This is almost as difficult for me as describing why you want to be a man or woman (I guess I am talking gender not just biological sex here). My current self image is wrapped up in the whole idea of TE as being a perfect (normal) state for the ideal “being”. It’s difficult to be certain, but I think this has always been the case for me since childhood. I don’t think anything will shake my desire to aspire towards this idealised (self) image.
Back to a more physical reason – rubber feels great on day 1 and still feels great on day 30 and this whole notion of recalibration of senses may have been overplayed, or perhaps poorly explained by me and others. Recalibration is a reality for me – basically you not only get used to the feeling of TE, but you actually adapt to it to some degree. Rubber does become less taxing to wear when it is your “norm”. In fact, after a month or two, it becomes significantly more comfortable to be in rubber than to wear anything else. But for me, you never feel like the rubber is not there for very long and it never feels anything other than very special – sure you sometimes forget for a short while if extremely pre-occupied – but the idea of rubber TE becoming a normal non-stimulating feeling is ludicrous to me (not that Dark claimed quite as much as that). I think of recalibration as being like taking a mild pain killer - taking aspirin may make your sore knee easier to live with, but if you touch your skin, or knock your knee, it still feels exactly the same as normal. If that can be true of pain killers maybe you will believe me when I say that rubber is ALWAYS stimulating to me, even when I don’t want it to be, even after several days of 24/7 encasement. For example, I have been in rubber constantly since Friday PM and I am still having difficulty controlling myself now on Sunday evening when I come to describe my rubber lifestyle, 48 hours later…
Maybe it’s not as intense for me as it is for other who ration themselves – I can’t measure that. For sure it is not as frantic involuntary an experience – but that’s not to say there are not deeper sensual elements to compensate. What does seem to happen over time is that the reasons and impulses to end a TE session lessen fairly constantly and the reasons to want to carry on stay fairly constant after the first few high/lull cycles – thus a tipping point can be reached were the balance of reasons to stay rubbered outweigh the reasons to go vanilla. I have been slightly worried when this has happened – as I have occasionally got to a stage where it’s be too strong a wrench to go vanilla and so affected my other work/life commitments…
As for the calculus of the fetish TE – I think this particularly well observed. For me there are always two sides to the equation which I have to balance. It also explains why some people are more able and willing to go for the lifestyle. For example, people who are gregarious with vanilla friends and family, don’t have personalities that like to shock, like doing very physical sport and/or work, get still crazy if they don’t regularly get a dose of outdoor life are going to find it more difficult to balance the equation than a book mouse, non-physical types who are very self contained.
For me, I tend to fit somewhere towards the type of person where a fully enclosed latex lifestyle does not sufficiently prohibit me from the life I want to live to stop me living in rubber the majority of the time. Admittedly I have manipulated the other part of my work & personal life to quite an extent to make them compatible with rubber. I expect I am done manipulating them – but suspect I have left it a little too long in my life to totally commit to a 24/7/365 rubber lifestyle – but that shouldn’t stop me trying.
For me, once you given yourself the opportunity to experience TE day in day out, it only gets easier to deal with the challenges and yet also becomes more pleasurable. The real answer as to why I would want to spend each day like this is that it’s better in rubber and I often cannot find any reason not to be.
It’s interesting to think that many like Dark try to acquire the next fetish level with money. I sometimes do the same, but my main investment is not monetary – it is something you never want to squander - namely time. Contrary to how it may sound, I find I cannot be judgmental about other people’s journeys to personal happiness and just whish everyone who is true to their dreams well.
It seems that rubberiest who aspire to and actively pursue a fully total enclosure lifestyle are in a very small minority. Those who write about even fewer. So it seems I am more alone in this endeavor than I thought. I hope to come to terms with this fact, but can’t help feeling very keen to hear from anyone who even has it as a dream – but be warned I always encourage people to make there dreams a reality…
Sealed
Monday, November 28, 2005
Thursday, 24 November 2005
Building on previous years, this year I have been lucky enough to be able do virtually all my work from my home office and so spend ever increasing time encased in rubber. Well, all good things come to an end and I have to come to terms with the next phase of work life.
As of next week I will be working away from home, probable spending a couple of months in foreign parts (mainly in the USA). If all goes to plan, this sacrifice will be rewarded with more work which I can do from home next year, so perversely its all part of my rubber life plan. I have found that often, you have to speculate to accumulate…
All this means a pause to my ambition of spending day after day encased in rubber. As regular readers will know, I have been finding this ambition ever nearer to being a reality as time went on this year. I am now convinced that it is perfectly feasible to wear only rubber clothes, if that’s what you chose to do, and that the real challenge is organising the rest of your life to be compatible with this aim. So it is all the more disappointing that I have to put my encased life of hold at this stage.
Now I don’t want anyone to think that rubber will not be part of my life at all. I am planning long weekends fully encased in rubber and evenings/nights in TE. But I feel that all this is going to seem quite mundane compared to my usual life.
Then there is the challenge of adjusting to spending long hours every week day not protected by my rubber skin. I decided that a sudden change may be psychologically too much so have spent the last week spending more and more time in vanilla. Although physically no massive deal, the odd thing is that it has possibly been slightly more uncomfortable coming off rubber than going on it. Very difficult to explain – but its a little like growing a beard or your growing your hair long – the transition is not exactly life threatening, but not something you would chose to go through very regularly.
Physically, there are lots of prickly sensations, itchiness, and some actual minor skin blemishes. I think this may be partly because of the challenges of the weather conditions here with extremes of temperatures and humidity that I have been cocooned against since summer.
Anyway, onward we go …
Sealed
As of next week I will be working away from home, probable spending a couple of months in foreign parts (mainly in the USA). If all goes to plan, this sacrifice will be rewarded with more work which I can do from home next year, so perversely its all part of my rubber life plan. I have found that often, you have to speculate to accumulate…
All this means a pause to my ambition of spending day after day encased in rubber. As regular readers will know, I have been finding this ambition ever nearer to being a reality as time went on this year. I am now convinced that it is perfectly feasible to wear only rubber clothes, if that’s what you chose to do, and that the real challenge is organising the rest of your life to be compatible with this aim. So it is all the more disappointing that I have to put my encased life of hold at this stage.
Now I don’t want anyone to think that rubber will not be part of my life at all. I am planning long weekends fully encased in rubber and evenings/nights in TE. But I feel that all this is going to seem quite mundane compared to my usual life.
Then there is the challenge of adjusting to spending long hours every week day not protected by my rubber skin. I decided that a sudden change may be psychologically too much so have spent the last week spending more and more time in vanilla. Although physically no massive deal, the odd thing is that it has possibly been slightly more uncomfortable coming off rubber than going on it. Very difficult to explain – but its a little like growing a beard or your growing your hair long – the transition is not exactly life threatening, but not something you would chose to go through very regularly.
Physically, there are lots of prickly sensations, itchiness, and some actual minor skin blemishes. I think this may be partly because of the challenges of the weather conditions here with extremes of temperatures and humidity that I have been cocooned against since summer.
Anyway, onward we go …
Sealed
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Wednesday, 23 November 2005
Imagine you were totally hermitically sealed, every inch of your body air and water tight, covered by a thin close fitting rubber membrane. What issues would you hit straight away? And if you wanted to stay like that for as long as you could, what would test you as time went on? Well, given my particular fetish, this is something I have often thought about but I have never seen a comprehensive list of all the problems that would hit you at each stage of the process, so I thought I would start one.
I have draw up this list partly from personal experience as I have hit many of the issues on the road to trying to achieve my own optimum level of total enclosure. As you might expect, the longer the time you want to spend sealed, the more items you need to deal with and yet, many of the most fundamental issues are encountered in the first few hours.
By understanding the issues I think it is possible to prepare to deal with them. Some things may be easy to fix while other require some personal sacrifices to be endured, but this will depend on what your views are on various levels of compromise to your closed environment. For sure, some compromise to the perfection of your encapsulation is always necessary if you want to survive beyond a few minutes being totally sealed - as you will need to breathe eventually! It’s up to the individual as to what concessions will result in them still feeling they are sealed enough / for long enough to be acceptable for them.
Rather than include my solutions / compromises / personal endurances here, at this stage I will just identify the issues in the order in which I think they occur. I would be interested to hear comments from anyone who has actual experience or even just an opinion…
Assuming a totally hermetically sealed starting point, with absolutely no respite, this is my hierarchy of challenges for a totally enclosed person, with a rough estimate of when I think they first become noticeable:
1. Immediately:
a) Putting on tight rubber (Ingress) / sticking to skin (lubrication & chlorination)
b) Breathing
c) Some loss of dexterity (particularly fiddly manual handling through gloves)
d) Partial impairment of senses of smell, hearing, touch and possibly sight.
e) Difficulty speaking clearly enough
2. Within Minutes:
a) Condensation – Vision
b) Temperature Control / Overheating / Perspiration
c) Possible spontaneous / involuntary sexual over stimulation (men only?)
d) Hair snagging / pulling – mostly only if long haired
3. After a few hours:
a) Urination
b) Condensation – breathing mask / tubes / equipment
c) With some hoods/masks, face can get damp from either saliva or condensation from goggles or breathing
4. Within a day (or maybe a little longer):
a) Circulation (unless rubber good fit)
b) Dehydration – particularly if perspiring.
d) Skin/suit can become badly saturated, if you have been allowing yourself to perspire.
e) Leaking / leaving puddles. Some suits leak when they become saturated.
f) Trouble sleeping – particularly if mask causes breathing trouble
g) Temperature control while asleep
5. Around the 24 hours mark:
a) Defecation
b) Nutrition
c) Pressure points / chaffing (unless rubber v good fit)
6. Sometime 24 or 48 hours plus:
a) Start of a general build up of moisture in suit (even if not been perspiring)
b) Various secretions (e,g, mucus from nose, semen from sexual organs…) may start to build up.
c) Oral Hygiene
7. Within a week
a) Lesser secretions may start to irritate or even impair (e,g eyes, ears)
b) Difficulties with general personal hygiene may start to cause risk of skin irritation – this will certainly be worse if saturated
8. Sometime within a week or two
a) Growth of Nails
c) Men - Facial Hair may cause mask leak / fit issues or cause skin irritation
d) Social exclusion leading to seclusion & isolation
9. Longer term:
a) “Wardrobe Malfunctions”
b) Risk of pressure sores
c) Women – Menstrual cycle and other female hygiene issues
d) Probable increased risk in some types of infection (UTIs and the like)
e) Vitamin D deficiency (due to lack of UV on skin)
f) Cardio Vascular & general / weight problems (difficulties of Physical Exercise).
g) Hair length
h) Dental care (and even eye or general health checks)
i) Difficulties dealing with some (even minor) ailments while in total enclosure
j) Isolation leading to loneliness and possible psychosis
k) Becoming totally dependent on / addicted to your rubber encapsulation…
Did I miss anything?
Hope I haven’t put anyone off trying longer sessions of total enclosure by concentrating on the just the down side. Most of these issues have remedy and there are also the up side of the fetish to consider.
Have fun with your rubber limits,
Sealed
I have draw up this list partly from personal experience as I have hit many of the issues on the road to trying to achieve my own optimum level of total enclosure. As you might expect, the longer the time you want to spend sealed, the more items you need to deal with and yet, many of the most fundamental issues are encountered in the first few hours.
By understanding the issues I think it is possible to prepare to deal with them. Some things may be easy to fix while other require some personal sacrifices to be endured, but this will depend on what your views are on various levels of compromise to your closed environment. For sure, some compromise to the perfection of your encapsulation is always necessary if you want to survive beyond a few minutes being totally sealed - as you will need to breathe eventually! It’s up to the individual as to what concessions will result in them still feeling they are sealed enough / for long enough to be acceptable for them.
Rather than include my solutions / compromises / personal endurances here, at this stage I will just identify the issues in the order in which I think they occur. I would be interested to hear comments from anyone who has actual experience or even just an opinion…
Assuming a totally hermetically sealed starting point, with absolutely no respite, this is my hierarchy of challenges for a totally enclosed person, with a rough estimate of when I think they first become noticeable:
1. Immediately:
a) Putting on tight rubber (Ingress) / sticking to skin (lubrication & chlorination)
b) Breathing
c) Some loss of dexterity (particularly fiddly manual handling through gloves)
d) Partial impairment of senses of smell, hearing, touch and possibly sight.
e) Difficulty speaking clearly enough
2. Within Minutes:
a) Condensation – Vision
b) Temperature Control / Overheating / Perspiration
c) Possible spontaneous / involuntary sexual over stimulation (men only?)
d) Hair snagging / pulling – mostly only if long haired
3. After a few hours:
a) Urination
b) Condensation – breathing mask / tubes / equipment
c) With some hoods/masks, face can get damp from either saliva or condensation from goggles or breathing
4. Within a day (or maybe a little longer):
a) Circulation (unless rubber good fit)
b) Dehydration – particularly if perspiring.
d) Skin/suit can become badly saturated, if you have been allowing yourself to perspire.
e) Leaking / leaving puddles. Some suits leak when they become saturated.
f) Trouble sleeping – particularly if mask causes breathing trouble
g) Temperature control while asleep
5. Around the 24 hours mark:
a) Defecation
b) Nutrition
c) Pressure points / chaffing (unless rubber v good fit)
6. Sometime 24 or 48 hours plus:
a) Start of a general build up of moisture in suit (even if not been perspiring)
b) Various secretions (e,g, mucus from nose, semen from sexual organs…) may start to build up.
c) Oral Hygiene
7. Within a week
a) Lesser secretions may start to irritate or even impair (e,g eyes, ears)
b) Difficulties with general personal hygiene may start to cause risk of skin irritation – this will certainly be worse if saturated
8. Sometime within a week or two
a) Growth of Nails
c) Men - Facial Hair may cause mask leak / fit issues or cause skin irritation
d) Social exclusion leading to seclusion & isolation
9. Longer term:
a) “Wardrobe Malfunctions”
b) Risk of pressure sores
c) Women – Menstrual cycle and other female hygiene issues
d) Probable increased risk in some types of infection (UTIs and the like)
e) Vitamin D deficiency (due to lack of UV on skin)
f) Cardio Vascular & general / weight problems (difficulties of Physical Exercise).
g) Hair length
h) Dental care (and even eye or general health checks)
i) Difficulties dealing with some (even minor) ailments while in total enclosure
j) Isolation leading to loneliness and possible psychosis
k) Becoming totally dependent on / addicted to your rubber encapsulation…
Did I miss anything?
Hope I haven’t put anyone off trying longer sessions of total enclosure by concentrating on the just the down side. Most of these issues have remedy and there are also the up side of the fetish to consider.
Have fun with your rubber limits,
Sealed
Monday, November 14, 2005
Monday, 14 November 2005
Following comments and messages I received, I just want to clarify about the 24/7 thing, before posting on practical observations etc…
Sorry if I have led people to think otherwise, but I cannot claim to be a 24/7/7 rubberist, let alone spend my whole life in total enclosure with breath control. Although I probably wear rubber for more of the time than most people wear non-rubber (day) clothes, I am not as fastidious (or as I think of it: “dedicated”) - or as brave as those who spend all there time totally sealed in latex, such as the lifestyle documented by Ladyll. I look on that kind of life of rubber commitment as an ideal to aspire towards, but not one I have achieved, yet…
That’s not to say I just wear rubber as and when I feel the need, and then only for a few hours until I have “fixed” my need. That’s not me either.
It’s more accurate to say I routinely wear just rubber on most days. The amount of time I spend sealed up depends on what I need to do and where I need to be. I wish that rubber was suitable for every situation – but I find it just isn’t. If I go to a business meeting I wear business clothes. If I want to go up a mountain, I wear outdoor clothes. If I go sailing in the north Atlantic I wrap up in tons of sailing clothes! Sometimes I manage to wear these with rubber underneath but it’s sad to say that, for me, the 24/7/7 is not compatible with all the things I currently have to do with my time.
Luckily, and through some perseverance, I have been able to tailor a substantial part of my life to minimise the “out of rubber body experiences” - something I am keen to maintain and expand on. This is the real challenge – before I worry about the practicalities I have to constantly endeavour to maintain an everyday life compatible with my need for long periods of rubber encasement. I have to optimise the mundane life to give me the opportunity to realise my dream existence. This has not been without some sacrifice and risk to my financial security – but, up to today, things have always worked out in the end.
Now there is the question of the degree of my everyday enclosure. This is where I feel I would like to do a little better and be more rigorous for more of the time.
My current situation is that, assuming there is no need for excessive exertion and there is no heat wave, I feel completely comfortable wearing my normal suit all day, every day. That’s a medium thickness, close fitting cat suit with feet and hands plus a pair of black surgical gloves inside the suit and two pairs of similar, but different sized gloves outside the suits gloves. The gloves are a critical part of the setup as I need to get them exactly right to enable me to type at a computer all day and yet not cause any circulation problems. The same goes for the fit of all the rubber – but the hands, feet neck and head seem to be the most critical to get right.
With this I typically wear a hood which is either part of the suit or has a substantial overlapping seal. The hood will either be one with built in mask or, more often, it may be one with small openings for mouth, nostrils and eyes – over which I can wear separate goggles and a respirator mask over the mouth & nose. A hood with open mouth makes it easier to quickly switch to a configuration compatible with talking on the phone.
The hood and attachments remain a physical endurance challenge for me, even in situations where the rest of the suit seems very comfortable and the natural thing to be wearing. I used to have the same thing with my hands, but having integral gloves in my suit for years has meant that uncovering just my hands is not an option and I have had to adjust to the experience.
Sometimes I wear the whole lot for more than 24 hours at a stretch, but more typically I would change the head configuration through a day. In order of things that I normally want to remove or replace as I become uncomfortable are: any re-breathing kit, then goggles, then anything I can remove from the face and then finally the whole hood in extremis. After that I am usually fine, but it’s not long before I start to feel uncomfortable with a bear face – so it all starts to go back on again.
Now that the weather is cooler here, I am forcing myself to keep totally covered for a minimum of 8 hours a day and then only exposing the mouth / nostril holes for the rest of the day. Eventually, I think this will feel as natural to me as being sealed in latex from the neck down does now. At the moment I start feeling a little restricted half way through the days and get a strong desire to strip to the neck by evening. These feeling seem to be more habitual or psychological than physical discomfort and just removing the mask covering my mouth can pacify the feeling for a while. Eventually though the feelings to uncover the face can return and sometimes I find my will crumbling and I take time out of the hood.
If I take a few minutes out, no big deal you may think, but I see it differently. I want to get to the stage where wearing rubber all over is the norm and from past experience I know that part of the way this will happen is to stop thinking of it as something you wear for a particular reason and to not have an association with taking it off at a particular stage. For example, the first hurdle all lifestyle rubber fetishists have to overcome is the instinct to strip after sex - and the way I deal with this is I NEVER remove my rubber suit after sex, for at least one hour, no matter what! Once into this habit, the rubber suit becomes so much more than just a route to an orgasm.
Another important stage for me was wearing rubber every day it was compatible with what I planned for the day – even if I didn’t feel any desire to. I admit I am still working hard on this one and occasionally do fail. Why is this one important? Well, for one, I have never regretted being in latex once I forced myself to, and the consequences of not wearing rubber for a few days are being totally over stimulated when I do wear it on the first day back. Sounds great to be so totally sexually over-stimulated, but not when the aim is being sealed in rubber as just part of your everyday existence. When you are trying hard to catch up on work or whatever, holding back the orgasms hour after hour, it can be a total torture. It can almost feel like an agony. The only cure for me seems to avoid spending a day or more out of rubber, if possible. Wearing it every day, I still feel very stimulated but not to the extent I am out of control.
So how does this apply to my hood / mask issues? Well I think that if I can get to the stage where I only uncover my head when there is a practical reason to, rather than because I desire relief from enclosure, I can start to adjust to the experience as I disassociate the feeling of psychological endurance with the wearing of the hood.
Some people desire to be tested by the feeling of endurance. But for me, the wearing rubber as an arduous endurance you must suffer is not compatible with wearing it on daily basis. I think that with that mind set I would fail.
I am hoping that one day, wearing rubber over every inch, regularly 100% totally enclosed for long periods of time will be at least as comfortable for me as most people find wearing “normal” clothes for the same period. From my experience so far, I think it is totally feasible to adjust to this, but know that I am not there yet and that I will need to be very committed to achieve my goal.
For me the journey continues…
Sorry if I have led people to think otherwise, but I cannot claim to be a 24/7/7 rubberist, let alone spend my whole life in total enclosure with breath control. Although I probably wear rubber for more of the time than most people wear non-rubber (day) clothes, I am not as fastidious (or as I think of it: “dedicated”) - or as brave as those who spend all there time totally sealed in latex, such as the lifestyle documented by Ladyll. I look on that kind of life of rubber commitment as an ideal to aspire towards, but not one I have achieved, yet…
That’s not to say I just wear rubber as and when I feel the need, and then only for a few hours until I have “fixed” my need. That’s not me either.
It’s more accurate to say I routinely wear just rubber on most days. The amount of time I spend sealed up depends on what I need to do and where I need to be. I wish that rubber was suitable for every situation – but I find it just isn’t. If I go to a business meeting I wear business clothes. If I want to go up a mountain, I wear outdoor clothes. If I go sailing in the north Atlantic I wrap up in tons of sailing clothes! Sometimes I manage to wear these with rubber underneath but it’s sad to say that, for me, the 24/7/7 is not compatible with all the things I currently have to do with my time.
Luckily, and through some perseverance, I have been able to tailor a substantial part of my life to minimise the “out of rubber body experiences” - something I am keen to maintain and expand on. This is the real challenge – before I worry about the practicalities I have to constantly endeavour to maintain an everyday life compatible with my need for long periods of rubber encasement. I have to optimise the mundane life to give me the opportunity to realise my dream existence. This has not been without some sacrifice and risk to my financial security – but, up to today, things have always worked out in the end.
Now there is the question of the degree of my everyday enclosure. This is where I feel I would like to do a little better and be more rigorous for more of the time.
My current situation is that, assuming there is no need for excessive exertion and there is no heat wave, I feel completely comfortable wearing my normal suit all day, every day. That’s a medium thickness, close fitting cat suit with feet and hands plus a pair of black surgical gloves inside the suit and two pairs of similar, but different sized gloves outside the suits gloves. The gloves are a critical part of the setup as I need to get them exactly right to enable me to type at a computer all day and yet not cause any circulation problems. The same goes for the fit of all the rubber – but the hands, feet neck and head seem to be the most critical to get right.
With this I typically wear a hood which is either part of the suit or has a substantial overlapping seal. The hood will either be one with built in mask or, more often, it may be one with small openings for mouth, nostrils and eyes – over which I can wear separate goggles and a respirator mask over the mouth & nose. A hood with open mouth makes it easier to quickly switch to a configuration compatible with talking on the phone.
The hood and attachments remain a physical endurance challenge for me, even in situations where the rest of the suit seems very comfortable and the natural thing to be wearing. I used to have the same thing with my hands, but having integral gloves in my suit for years has meant that uncovering just my hands is not an option and I have had to adjust to the experience.
Sometimes I wear the whole lot for more than 24 hours at a stretch, but more typically I would change the head configuration through a day. In order of things that I normally want to remove or replace as I become uncomfortable are: any re-breathing kit, then goggles, then anything I can remove from the face and then finally the whole hood in extremis. After that I am usually fine, but it’s not long before I start to feel uncomfortable with a bear face – so it all starts to go back on again.
Now that the weather is cooler here, I am forcing myself to keep totally covered for a minimum of 8 hours a day and then only exposing the mouth / nostril holes for the rest of the day. Eventually, I think this will feel as natural to me as being sealed in latex from the neck down does now. At the moment I start feeling a little restricted half way through the days and get a strong desire to strip to the neck by evening. These feeling seem to be more habitual or psychological than physical discomfort and just removing the mask covering my mouth can pacify the feeling for a while. Eventually though the feelings to uncover the face can return and sometimes I find my will crumbling and I take time out of the hood.
If I take a few minutes out, no big deal you may think, but I see it differently. I want to get to the stage where wearing rubber all over is the norm and from past experience I know that part of the way this will happen is to stop thinking of it as something you wear for a particular reason and to not have an association with taking it off at a particular stage. For example, the first hurdle all lifestyle rubber fetishists have to overcome is the instinct to strip after sex - and the way I deal with this is I NEVER remove my rubber suit after sex, for at least one hour, no matter what! Once into this habit, the rubber suit becomes so much more than just a route to an orgasm.
Another important stage for me was wearing rubber every day it was compatible with what I planned for the day – even if I didn’t feel any desire to. I admit I am still working hard on this one and occasionally do fail. Why is this one important? Well, for one, I have never regretted being in latex once I forced myself to, and the consequences of not wearing rubber for a few days are being totally over stimulated when I do wear it on the first day back. Sounds great to be so totally sexually over-stimulated, but not when the aim is being sealed in rubber as just part of your everyday existence. When you are trying hard to catch up on work or whatever, holding back the orgasms hour after hour, it can be a total torture. It can almost feel like an agony. The only cure for me seems to avoid spending a day or more out of rubber, if possible. Wearing it every day, I still feel very stimulated but not to the extent I am out of control.
So how does this apply to my hood / mask issues? Well I think that if I can get to the stage where I only uncover my head when there is a practical reason to, rather than because I desire relief from enclosure, I can start to adjust to the experience as I disassociate the feeling of psychological endurance with the wearing of the hood.
Some people desire to be tested by the feeling of endurance. But for me, the wearing rubber as an arduous endurance you must suffer is not compatible with wearing it on daily basis. I think that with that mind set I would fail.
I am hoping that one day, wearing rubber over every inch, regularly 100% totally enclosed for long periods of time will be at least as comfortable for me as most people find wearing “normal” clothes for the same period. From my experience so far, I think it is totally feasible to adjust to this, but know that I am not there yet and that I will need to be very committed to achieve my goal.
For me the journey continues…
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Wednesday, 26 October 2005
It’s been a while since I made and entry. Thanks to Dark and all who have been keeping in touch (here and elsewhere) and feeding back on fetish lifestyle subjects.
On the one hand things have been wild and unpredictable in my personal and work life – and on the other things have been sort of “settled” in my fetish lifestyle. I have been lucky to have been able to spend most days in rubber and the familiarity of this experience, along with the very TE-compatible autumnal temperatures here, mean I just don’t find it uncomfortable or exceptional to spend most of my time in rubber any more. Being so intensely busy in vanilla activities (while in rubber) means I have not had the mental energy to peruse many new fetish ideas or progress things any further than before – but it has meant that I have been able to consolidate the fetish lifestyle I have. And now things are calming a little, there is time for some reflection.
Although now it’s routine to be busy working in my rubber suit, this is not to say it has become in any way a mundane. Yes there are times that I have been so wrapped up in an activity or conversation that I may briefly have completely forgotten the unusual nature of my totally encased clothing – but this really is the exception. It’s important to me that people don’t think that because I wear latex rubber over 100% of my skin, totally encased with breathing masks and goggles, day after day, that it has ever felt normal or dull – even if I have lived like that (for most of the time) since January! On the contrary it feels very special.
Yes, I do believe that my skin, body and mind have all been able to change to adapt to my lifestyle to various extents. Yes I have paid a little more attention to the quality and fit of my rubber clothing and other seemingly limiting factors over the years in light of daily usage. Yes I do have some tricks that help me deal with the remaining challenges (more on this later). Yes I do feel more comfortable now wearing rubber than other materials. And yes rubber TE may be becoming nearer to my normal “steady state” than any other mode.
Has the experience changed at all from a sexual perspective? It had to, to some extent. When I started out I found I was heavily sexually excited and stimulated from the moment I got into my suit to the moment I peeled my way out – but given I was trying to wear rubber all day, this reaction would effectively be totally paralysing! Am I no longer sexually stimulated by rubber? No – it still stimulating – but maybe a little less exciting. Others have reported the transition to the sensual rather than sexual – and I think there is some truth in this. But after spending any time out of rubber, on getting dressed there are all the same feelings again when the last zipper is pulled.
But could rubber TE ever be a mundane state or be anything other than feeling special? I don’t believe it will be for me. Yes, the novelty goes – but never that special feeling…
Is it addictive – well maybe sort of. The physical side starts off very difficult but I seem to start to adjust after just a few days. But it’s a funny addiction as, once through the initial physical barriers; I could probably spend weeks away from rubber if I needed to -yet I think after, say a month, I would start to miss it more and more every day. It would be those quite times when I would start to feel the strain.
I don’t think I would feel I was fully “me” if I didn’t think of myself as that person in rubber. Time I spend in vanilla feels like time I am me – but temporally out of my rubber skin. Sounds pretty weird when I come to write it – but my identity cannot be totally disassociated from my normal state (sealed in a rubber skin), along with my actions, beliefs, reactions etc…
On the one hand things have been wild and unpredictable in my personal and work life – and on the other things have been sort of “settled” in my fetish lifestyle. I have been lucky to have been able to spend most days in rubber and the familiarity of this experience, along with the very TE-compatible autumnal temperatures here, mean I just don’t find it uncomfortable or exceptional to spend most of my time in rubber any more. Being so intensely busy in vanilla activities (while in rubber) means I have not had the mental energy to peruse many new fetish ideas or progress things any further than before – but it has meant that I have been able to consolidate the fetish lifestyle I have. And now things are calming a little, there is time for some reflection.
Although now it’s routine to be busy working in my rubber suit, this is not to say it has become in any way a mundane. Yes there are times that I have been so wrapped up in an activity or conversation that I may briefly have completely forgotten the unusual nature of my totally encased clothing – but this really is the exception. It’s important to me that people don’t think that because I wear latex rubber over 100% of my skin, totally encased with breathing masks and goggles, day after day, that it has ever felt normal or dull – even if I have lived like that (for most of the time) since January! On the contrary it feels very special.
Yes, I do believe that my skin, body and mind have all been able to change to adapt to my lifestyle to various extents. Yes I have paid a little more attention to the quality and fit of my rubber clothing and other seemingly limiting factors over the years in light of daily usage. Yes I do have some tricks that help me deal with the remaining challenges (more on this later). Yes I do feel more comfortable now wearing rubber than other materials. And yes rubber TE may be becoming nearer to my normal “steady state” than any other mode.
Has the experience changed at all from a sexual perspective? It had to, to some extent. When I started out I found I was heavily sexually excited and stimulated from the moment I got into my suit to the moment I peeled my way out – but given I was trying to wear rubber all day, this reaction would effectively be totally paralysing! Am I no longer sexually stimulated by rubber? No – it still stimulating – but maybe a little less exciting. Others have reported the transition to the sensual rather than sexual – and I think there is some truth in this. But after spending any time out of rubber, on getting dressed there are all the same feelings again when the last zipper is pulled.
But could rubber TE ever be a mundane state or be anything other than feeling special? I don’t believe it will be for me. Yes, the novelty goes – but never that special feeling…
Is it addictive – well maybe sort of. The physical side starts off very difficult but I seem to start to adjust after just a few days. But it’s a funny addiction as, once through the initial physical barriers; I could probably spend weeks away from rubber if I needed to -yet I think after, say a month, I would start to miss it more and more every day. It would be those quite times when I would start to feel the strain.
I don’t think I would feel I was fully “me” if I didn’t think of myself as that person in rubber. Time I spend in vanilla feels like time I am me – but temporally out of my rubber skin. Sounds pretty weird when I come to write it – but my identity cannot be totally disassociated from my normal state (sealed in a rubber skin), along with my actions, beliefs, reactions etc…
Monday, September 26, 2005
Monday, September 26, 2005 Back and straight into rubber TE.
Only just caught up enough at work to find time to report back on my “marathon 7 days without rubber” (sic). Most people are probably already smiling at this challenge – but it seemed like a real challenge to me at the time!
There was the physical side and the emotional/psychological challenge.
The physical challenges were getting used to the vanilla clothes for long periods and getting used to not being protected by rubber from the environment. I can report that I did find vanilla uncomfortable – but this was mitigated by the fact I was able to acclimatize by starting off by wear just walker sandals, shorts and t-shirt once I got to my destination.
The down side to this was all the weather, dust and insects that had free access to my skin. Not used to it – so found myself a little more sensitive to these – particularly the sun! I was always well oiled with very strong insect repelling sun lotion – which turned out to be essential. I don’t have a fair complexion and don’t have sensitive skin, so it was interesting to note I was still browning and being occasionally eaten with my Factor 25 / 50% DEET lotion – despite regularly being topped up by my at tentative assistant!
Then there were the light levels. I guess it would have seem very bright to anyone from the UK, but I normally wear tinted goggles all day with my hood– so the light levels outside seemed painfully strong (from the moment I woke up) without my sun glasses.
Then there was the heat. The odd thing was I found on the first day I was not sweating very much at all. I tackled this on subsequent days by never letting myself go more than 15 minutes without drinking water. I think I have sort of “trained” myself over the last few months to minimize my perspiration. The first few days – I could hardly function from about 11 am to 2 pm. All this with actually quite modest temperatures - usually only around 28C in the shade!
In fact being so reliant on my glasses, packs of water bottles and over-applied oil, if I wanted to leave our villa, seemed slightly kinky in itself…
Anyway, I did seem to start acclimatizing to all these physical effects by the end of the week.
And then I even found something that would help with the emotional / fetish needs in the second half of the week – namely snorkeling. I had my latex flippers, mask and tube to help! Hanging there, in the clear warm water, breathing through a tube and holding my breath was perfect. We were both soon snorkeling addicts. Being together with just the sound of our breathing was most stimulating….
Snorkeling being a good substitute to my fetish was not something I consciously planned on – but it does show how powerful your sub-conscience is at shaping your conscious actions.
So after a week I retuned to my TE lifestyle – and its almost like I was never away. The vanilla part of my brain enjoyed the vacation a lot –while the fetish part of my brain enjoyed just the snorkeling.
At one time my fetish alter-ego was something I would need to regularly satisfy while leading a vanilla life. If I let things go to the natural conclusion I can see I would end up with a vanilla alter-ego requiring just very occasional free rain while leading an essentially fetish lifestyle – but I wonder if I would want to let it drift to that extreme.
Sealed.
There was the physical side and the emotional/psychological challenge.
The physical challenges were getting used to the vanilla clothes for long periods and getting used to not being protected by rubber from the environment. I can report that I did find vanilla uncomfortable – but this was mitigated by the fact I was able to acclimatize by starting off by wear just walker sandals, shorts and t-shirt once I got to my destination.
The down side to this was all the weather, dust and insects that had free access to my skin. Not used to it – so found myself a little more sensitive to these – particularly the sun! I was always well oiled with very strong insect repelling sun lotion – which turned out to be essential. I don’t have a fair complexion and don’t have sensitive skin, so it was interesting to note I was still browning and being occasionally eaten with my Factor 25 / 50% DEET lotion – despite regularly being topped up by my at tentative assistant!
Then there were the light levels. I guess it would have seem very bright to anyone from the UK, but I normally wear tinted goggles all day with my hood– so the light levels outside seemed painfully strong (from the moment I woke up) without my sun glasses.
Then there was the heat. The odd thing was I found on the first day I was not sweating very much at all. I tackled this on subsequent days by never letting myself go more than 15 minutes without drinking water. I think I have sort of “trained” myself over the last few months to minimize my perspiration. The first few days – I could hardly function from about 11 am to 2 pm. All this with actually quite modest temperatures - usually only around 28C in the shade!
In fact being so reliant on my glasses, packs of water bottles and over-applied oil, if I wanted to leave our villa, seemed slightly kinky in itself…
Anyway, I did seem to start acclimatizing to all these physical effects by the end of the week.
And then I even found something that would help with the emotional / fetish needs in the second half of the week – namely snorkeling. I had my latex flippers, mask and tube to help! Hanging there, in the clear warm water, breathing through a tube and holding my breath was perfect. We were both soon snorkeling addicts. Being together with just the sound of our breathing was most stimulating….
Snorkeling being a good substitute to my fetish was not something I consciously planned on – but it does show how powerful your sub-conscience is at shaping your conscious actions.
So after a week I retuned to my TE lifestyle – and its almost like I was never away. The vanilla part of my brain enjoyed the vacation a lot –while the fetish part of my brain enjoyed just the snorkeling.
At one time my fetish alter-ego was something I would need to regularly satisfy while leading a vanilla life. If I let things go to the natural conclusion I can see I would end up with a vanilla alter-ego requiring just very occasional free rain while leading an essentially fetish lifestyle – but I wonder if I would want to let it drift to that extreme.
Sealed.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Monday, 05 September 2005 Getting SPAM on Holiday?
Re: SPAM
Thanks Xevious for reporting the SPAM and I am Sorry - I am also disappointed about these freeloaders. To protect my readership from having to waste their time reading rubbish, I have chosen to have zero-tolerance from now on. Gratuitously off subject posts will be deleted (and have been). I really object being forced to act as the despotic censor on what I view as being a “community thing”, but it falls to being a responsibility of owning a blog.
I would like to assure readers that I do NOT have a problem to people posting links to other sites – as long as they are relevant and of interest. I have deliberately left critical posts online in the past, although I would prefer constructive or well communicated criticism. Don’t worry if you do (briefly) go off topic, I am not going to delete your post as long as you spend some time either on subject or replying to any of my off-subject posts!
We all know what constitutes a malicious or SPAM post – and I will do my best to protect you from them. I have tightened up a little so that only registered blog users can post and put in a word verification option, which may stop automatic / robot posts.
The downside is that this antisocial behavior by the few, means it is just that little more troublesome for the many genuine people who which to comment – which is a shame. If anybody has trouble posting PLEASE contact me via emailing me at:
e m a i l @ v u l c a n i s e . m e . u k
(remove the white spaces from the email address)
Re: 7 Days without latex
I have finally decided the I am definitely NOT taking latex with me on vacation. It’s just going to be far too hot to wear all day and this is not a challenge I am interested in (too many bad experiences with high core temps). I am not that interested in shorter latex sessions these days, so I am going to attempt a different type of challenge…I fly tomorrow and will have to endure 7 days without any latex enclosure…
For most, including many rubber fetishist, this may seem like no real problem. And from a physical standpoint, it’s probably no big deal – I imagine it akin to the challenge of going to a nudist colony for the first time and/or walking bare foot all day. We are all designed to do it, but it’s going to feel very strange if we are not used to it.
Like Xevious says, it is going to be the emotional impact. Although latex CAN feel a little like a physical addiction resulting from excessive habitual exposure, I have always gambled on it being more like an emotional dependency. More like a cuddly toy is to a child than tobacco or heroin is to an addict. Bereft without it, but not exactly life threatening!
To put you in the picture, I do NOT spend 24/7/365 in latex (unlike Latax Lady) but I do wear latex as regularly as, and for at least as many hours as, most people wear the (vanilla) clothes they wear to work. This is my minimum aim. I have not been able to be too fixed in this rule and my level of exposure does vary from one week to the next (weather temperature, work / social commitments etc). However I do spend as much time as possible in latex TE and, when averaged out since the beginning of the year, have basically been spending much more time wearing latex than any other material.
Getting used to wearing latex most days for between 8 to 16 hours between changes (occasionally 24+ hours) was NOT easy for me. I had spent many years “practicing” regular long exposures, including regularly spending my working day in rubber. Still, the first few months I found it very challenging to reliably meet and then break beyond the 40 hours / week target, week in, week out. It felt like a physical limit, but once through the physical adjustments the real challenge was again a mental test.
Even now, I still find it a mental challenge to regularly attain my ambitions of long periods in Total Enclosure and often find I feel like I want to remove the goggles, face mask or even the whole hood of my rubber enclosure. Total coverage of the head seems an order of magnitude more difficult than just wearing one piece rubber on the rest of my body.
At least I have got past the point finding it easy to wear a suite with integral gloves (usually with extra pair(s) of surgical gloves, for snug fit). Having gloved hands for more than a few hours used to be challenge beyond just wearing a cat-suit. Now I would not think I was really wearing latex unless the hands were fully integral to the suit. Years before that I went through the same thing with feet.
Anyway, I still have a way to go before absolute TE (wearing hood with googles & mask over the mouth) for long periods feels completely normal - and yet something else has changed. Wearing non-rubber no longer feels comfortable or normal – in a way very similar to early rubber exposure – OK, but odd thing to be doing for very long. The loss of the micro-climate between rubber and skin, the way that different parts feel different amounts of air movement, different levels of insulation etc, the way it doesn’t feel consistently like a second skin, the way many materials are not at all stretchy – all as equally as odd to me as rubber would be to a vanilla.
This non-normality of wearing vanilla started off as a mild and very temporary effect but seems to gradually have become more noticeable and longer lasting as I have gone on. Now, due to the proportion of time I spend in rubber, I never seem to get used to wearing vanilla.
In addition to this is the emotional dependency. Just like being at home can be more reassuring than being away (or your own bed, own country, own tribe, being with your loved ones etc), being in rubber TE does come to be comforting due to the familiarity of it’s ever-present and very noticeable all-over feeling. This seems to have become even more significant than the physical comfort – and the feeling seems to get more intense the longer I have been out of latex TE.
The longest I have managed for the last few months with zero rubber is probably a long weekend. Then the whole of the last 24 hours my mind is full of anticipation of the fix of rubber TE I will shortly have.
As of tomorrow morning, I am going to be away from any chance of latex exposure for 7 days and nights. I have been preparing for weeks, so don’t think it will come as a shock to the system. Still, I am nervous I will not be able to sleep…
I will be out of contact for this time, but will report back on my experiences when I get back. Could it be as mentally challenging as going for a rubber lifestyle was? I doubt it...
Sealed
Thanks Xevious for reporting the SPAM and I am Sorry - I am also disappointed about these freeloaders. To protect my readership from having to waste their time reading rubbish, I have chosen to have zero-tolerance from now on. Gratuitously off subject posts will be deleted (and have been). I really object being forced to act as the despotic censor on what I view as being a “community thing”, but it falls to being a responsibility of owning a blog.
I would like to assure readers that I do NOT have a problem to people posting links to other sites – as long as they are relevant and of interest. I have deliberately left critical posts online in the past, although I would prefer constructive or well communicated criticism. Don’t worry if you do (briefly) go off topic, I am not going to delete your post as long as you spend some time either on subject or replying to any of my off-subject posts!
We all know what constitutes a malicious or SPAM post – and I will do my best to protect you from them. I have tightened up a little so that only registered blog users can post and put in a word verification option, which may stop automatic / robot posts.
The downside is that this antisocial behavior by the few, means it is just that little more troublesome for the many genuine people who which to comment – which is a shame. If anybody has trouble posting PLEASE contact me via emailing me at:
e m a i l @ v u l c a n i s e . m e . u k
(remove the white spaces from the email address)
Re: 7 Days without latex
I have finally decided the I am definitely NOT taking latex with me on vacation. It’s just going to be far too hot to wear all day and this is not a challenge I am interested in (too many bad experiences with high core temps). I am not that interested in shorter latex sessions these days, so I am going to attempt a different type of challenge…I fly tomorrow and will have to endure 7 days without any latex enclosure…
For most, including many rubber fetishist, this may seem like no real problem. And from a physical standpoint, it’s probably no big deal – I imagine it akin to the challenge of going to a nudist colony for the first time and/or walking bare foot all day. We are all designed to do it, but it’s going to feel very strange if we are not used to it.
Like Xevious says, it is going to be the emotional impact. Although latex CAN feel a little like a physical addiction resulting from excessive habitual exposure, I have always gambled on it being more like an emotional dependency. More like a cuddly toy is to a child than tobacco or heroin is to an addict. Bereft without it, but not exactly life threatening!
To put you in the picture, I do NOT spend 24/7/365 in latex (unlike Latax Lady) but I do wear latex as regularly as, and for at least as many hours as, most people wear the (vanilla) clothes they wear to work. This is my minimum aim. I have not been able to be too fixed in this rule and my level of exposure does vary from one week to the next (weather temperature, work / social commitments etc). However I do spend as much time as possible in latex TE and, when averaged out since the beginning of the year, have basically been spending much more time wearing latex than any other material.
Getting used to wearing latex most days for between 8 to 16 hours between changes (occasionally 24+ hours) was NOT easy for me. I had spent many years “practicing” regular long exposures, including regularly spending my working day in rubber. Still, the first few months I found it very challenging to reliably meet and then break beyond the 40 hours / week target, week in, week out. It felt like a physical limit, but once through the physical adjustments the real challenge was again a mental test.
Even now, I still find it a mental challenge to regularly attain my ambitions of long periods in Total Enclosure and often find I feel like I want to remove the goggles, face mask or even the whole hood of my rubber enclosure. Total coverage of the head seems an order of magnitude more difficult than just wearing one piece rubber on the rest of my body.
At least I have got past the point finding it easy to wear a suite with integral gloves (usually with extra pair(s) of surgical gloves, for snug fit). Having gloved hands for more than a few hours used to be challenge beyond just wearing a cat-suit. Now I would not think I was really wearing latex unless the hands were fully integral to the suit. Years before that I went through the same thing with feet.
Anyway, I still have a way to go before absolute TE (wearing hood with googles & mask over the mouth) for long periods feels completely normal - and yet something else has changed. Wearing non-rubber no longer feels comfortable or normal – in a way very similar to early rubber exposure – OK, but odd thing to be doing for very long. The loss of the micro-climate between rubber and skin, the way that different parts feel different amounts of air movement, different levels of insulation etc, the way it doesn’t feel consistently like a second skin, the way many materials are not at all stretchy – all as equally as odd to me as rubber would be to a vanilla.
This non-normality of wearing vanilla started off as a mild and very temporary effect but seems to gradually have become more noticeable and longer lasting as I have gone on. Now, due to the proportion of time I spend in rubber, I never seem to get used to wearing vanilla.
In addition to this is the emotional dependency. Just like being at home can be more reassuring than being away (or your own bed, own country, own tribe, being with your loved ones etc), being in rubber TE does come to be comforting due to the familiarity of it’s ever-present and very noticeable all-over feeling. This seems to have become even more significant than the physical comfort – and the feeling seems to get more intense the longer I have been out of latex TE.
The longest I have managed for the last few months with zero rubber is probably a long weekend. Then the whole of the last 24 hours my mind is full of anticipation of the fix of rubber TE I will shortly have.
As of tomorrow morning, I am going to be away from any chance of latex exposure for 7 days and nights. I have been preparing for weeks, so don’t think it will come as a shock to the system. Still, I am nervous I will not be able to sleep…
I will be out of contact for this time, but will report back on my experiences when I get back. Could it be as mentally challenging as going for a rubber lifestyle was? I doubt it...
Sealed
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Saturday, 03 September 2005 – Skin irritation!!!
My working life is going well. I landed some work that is allowing me to work from home most of the time (so far anyway) and wear latex most/all day, almost every day.
I have had one business trip where, obviously I had to don vanilla. Unexpectedly, I ended staying over and spending a second day working on site. Luckily I had thought to take toiletries and spare office clothes with me just in case. Unfortunately, I thought it so unlikely that I would have to stay over that I took absolutely zero latex with me. Woe is me! I could have cried when I got back to the hotel room. Such a sudden change was like a rubberist equivalent to going cold turkey – not at all pleasant.
I didn’t know what to do! Unwind and watch TV? No way that was going to work for me. As for sleeping – forget it! Only those who have got used to a rubbery routine will understand how difficult it is to suddenly have to do without.
It’s actually oddly a little like an occasional rubberist suddenly thinking they should try sleeping in rubber TE – complete with restrictive mask, which they are not able to take off in the middle of the night. Chances of a getting comfortable, let alone sleeping well for the first week(s) is unlikely! You just get used to whatever is normal for you – and a whole day without rubber is fairly non-standard for me!
If it had been more a matter of choice, I think it would have been easier as I would have mentally prepared to adjust. If it wasn’t a fairly stressful day – again, I think it would have been easier to cope. But, out of the blue I was going to have to go 48+ hours without any rubber, rather than the 8 hours I had planned, just when I wanted it most.
When I did finally get back home, the relief was amazing. The feeling of security when the last latex item finally donned tangible. It was a pleasant experience only marred by one thing – on dressing I had discover a number of areas of itchy skin irritation! The vanilla business clothes I had worn were so scratchy that they had caused my skin to come out in red blotches. Not nice. It was probably just that they we new brand clothes from the shop which I wore in a v.dry air conditioned environment, but a lot of things vanilla seem scratchy compared to my usual latex.
Anyway a few days of being back in my (chlorinated) latex and everything was back to normal. The injustice of it did seem ironic however. Received wisdom is that you can get skin irritation from wearing latex – not from abstaining from it! Truth is, you can get skin problems for many reasons, one of which may be a sudden change the material it in contact with it and in immediate environmental conditions.
I have another big challenge coming up. I am off on vacation to a hot climate for a week, where I will be unable to wear rubber for more than a short period. I think that it will be easier as I am mentally prepared and will have lots to otherwise occupy me. I am even wondering about leaving all my latex behind on purpose this time, so I enjoy it all the more when I get back…
A whole 7 days without rubber - whish me luck then!
Sealed
Monday, August 15, 2005
Monday, 15 August 2005 – Plumbing Problems…
Well today’s trial involved fine tuning the sheath flushing pants. This has only been half successful. I have refined the fit so that it reduces the chance of coming out of the sheath,
by using various straps and bands by that hold the base of the sheath against my body. This is important to me as I have no access to reinsert myself once in my suit. This aspect whent OK.
This was all linked up to the collecting bag and bag emptying plumbing I proved recently during the catheter trials.
However, some hours ago I suffered a “plumbing malfunction” and I find myself here committed to being locked in my full TE suit until tonight, with several pints of urine sloshing about…
It’s not that I am in any discomfort, but it’s not ideal! The suit is totally water-tight so from the outside I look (and smell) as if nothing has happened. Urine feels just like warm water (or loads of sweat) has accumulated in the suit. None of these r ideal, but not the end of the earth. From past experience I know I am probably unlikely to suffer any skin irritation from a day or so soaked, as long as I don’t repeat the experience too often.
There is a perverse side to my nature that can even see the fun side to the situation and I certainly intend to play on the submissive in me to make the most of it. But all said and done, I would sooner be able to stay dry and am determined to achieve this end.
As I am now more limited in what I can do, I have had some time to analyse this issues. The main problem is the fit of the sheath and the forces of gravity. When erect, the sheath fits reasonably well but you find yourself urinating up hill. When flaccid, you have some gravity on your side, but the fit is terrible. In a suit it is difficult to arrange for the pipe runs to always be below the bladder & penis and difficult to avoid kinks and restrictions.
Now some people are able to get sheath pants to work well for them, but my personal preferences are making things more challenging. Most have access to their sheathed penis, to adjust the fit and arrange for downward flow when pissing – while I do not (neck entry suit). My sheath is totally inaccessible and prone to being squished in the wrong position.
Solutions? Well obviously I could go back to suits with zip access below the waist, so I could arrange things just before using the flushing sheath pants. I could go back to suits with built in sheath for the same reason. I also have seen other designs of pants that are drained from the lowest point (so I am not fighting gravity). Not going to make a snap decision today, but surf for inspiration. In the mean time I am going to slowly think this over while waiting for the time when I can get out of this sodden suit, bath and get into something dry…
Squelch!
Sealed
by using various straps and bands by that hold the base of the sheath against my body. This is important to me as I have no access to reinsert myself once in my suit. This aspect whent OK.
This was all linked up to the collecting bag and bag emptying plumbing I proved recently during the catheter trials.
However, some hours ago I suffered a “plumbing malfunction” and I find myself here committed to being locked in my full TE suit until tonight, with several pints of urine sloshing about…
It’s not that I am in any discomfort, but it’s not ideal! The suit is totally water-tight so from the outside I look (and smell) as if nothing has happened. Urine feels just like warm water (or loads of sweat) has accumulated in the suit. None of these r ideal, but not the end of the earth. From past experience I know I am probably unlikely to suffer any skin irritation from a day or so soaked, as long as I don’t repeat the experience too often.
There is a perverse side to my nature that can even see the fun side to the situation and I certainly intend to play on the submissive in me to make the most of it. But all said and done, I would sooner be able to stay dry and am determined to achieve this end.
As I am now more limited in what I can do, I have had some time to analyse this issues. The main problem is the fit of the sheath and the forces of gravity. When erect, the sheath fits reasonably well but you find yourself urinating up hill. When flaccid, you have some gravity on your side, but the fit is terrible. In a suit it is difficult to arrange for the pipe runs to always be below the bladder & penis and difficult to avoid kinks and restrictions.
Now some people are able to get sheath pants to work well for them, but my personal preferences are making things more challenging. Most have access to their sheathed penis, to adjust the fit and arrange for downward flow when pissing – while I do not (neck entry suit). My sheath is totally inaccessible and prone to being squished in the wrong position.
Solutions? Well obviously I could go back to suits with zip access below the waist, so I could arrange things just before using the flushing sheath pants. I could go back to suits with built in sheath for the same reason. I also have seen other designs of pants that are drained from the lowest point (so I am not fighting gravity). Not going to make a snap decision today, but surf for inspiration. In the mean time I am going to slowly think this over while waiting for the time when I can get out of this sodden suit, bath and get into something dry…
Squelch!
Sealed
Friday, August 12, 2005
Friday, 12 August 2005 - Catheterisation – Suitable for Rubber Enclosed People?
(answers for Dark in comments section of last post…)
If Catheterisation is something that interests you, I think you should try hard to find time to read this entry to the end. It could save you a lot of bother…
I have never considered medical equipment part of my fetish, but faced with the realities of being sealed up in rubber for hours/days, they start to appeal where they are conceivably a means to an end.
BTW My suit of choice is a neck entry type with no zips or other access to the groin area - making it wonderfully comfortable and water proof / air tight, but this does give rise to the obvious difficulties in body function. I do own suits with 3 way - zip access etc, but I find there are down sides to these including:
1. Being less comfortable (zip runs by sensitive region and is not as stretchy/soft as latex)
2. Feeling less “sealed” (suits with no zips make you feel almost vacuum packed)
3. If you do get to hot, you can end up leaving puddles of sweat everywhere!
4. Because zips run over an are requiring bends / stretch and of item 1 (above), I find that the zip is under strain and is usually the first point of failure in a suit.
My trials with urinating sheath pants from fetish shops and condom-type catheters from medical suppliers have so far been unsatisfactory. Neither could handle the change in shape and size over prolong wearing that is inherent in normal male cycles of erection and flaccidity. So here I am trying out a Foley Cath.
I have the catheter linked to a small collecting bag (via non-return) inside my suit; this in turn is plumed up to exit via my neck, so it can be pumped empty.
Insertion (with lube) was unpleasant but not painful. It chose the smallest diameter size (FG12) to make it easy to insert and wear. The cath was a Bardo-matic – which means it is easy to deploy self retaining balloon that lives in the bladder.
Wearing it, I could not say it felt very comfortable. Not really what you could call uncomfortable, but for me “almost uncomfortable”.
Function worked very well. The flow into the bag was slow but kept my bladder completely empty. I managed to fit all this plumbing inside the skin-tight suit and yet keep it secured / comfortable. When there was sufficient fluid in the collection bag, it was very easy to empty via the second pipe (I used simple symphonic method in this trial).
Now, like I said before, I didn’t embark on these trial for any other reason than for the potential to solve some mundane practical issues associated with my chosen kink, but what do you know – I found there was a kind of thrill to all this. It felt quite perverse (even by my own standards), but I found myself liking things about my catheterisation. I really liked the losing of all control of my bladder functions and effectively handing control to my suit’s plumbing equipment. It literally felt like a release at some level. All the plumbing pipes added to a sort of cyborg type mental image – the new kit enhancing the idea of an amalgamation between body and fetish (suit).
In the interests of the trial I had to try out everything I wanted to be able to do while wearing the cath. Moving about was no problem. The cath stayed secure and did not limit my ability to move around at all. The rest of the plumbing was only really a first lash up – but actually felt pretty good when sitting/lying/standing/stretching/walking and stayed securely in position (I had augmented the supplied rubber belts). In fact the little resistance or pull offered by the kit was just enough to make you aware of your situation, which I found weirdly stimulating.
Next was the obvious erection test and that was the end of the good news. On the plus side, cycles of erection did not present any problems to the function of the cath, which stayed secure and functional. But I couldn’t say I liked the sensation. It wasn’t painful, but was very noticeable and verging on unpleasant. The masochist in me could get something out of it – and I found it could actually be a stimulating experience, but it was not the sort of thing I would like to endure every time I had an erection. Still, it didn’t stop me getting a thrill in the short term, so the test had to proceed to obvious climax….
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!! I knew there was some risk here before I started as, with a catheter in the urethra, there is nowhere for the semen to go (this is one reason why I chose the smallest diameter). Anyway - absolute explosion of agony. Some have said it enhances the experience, others have agreed with me – basically never again. Again, those into pain may get something out of this – but I would expect that this amount of agony is associated with real risk of damage.
Some semen did make it’s way past the cath, but the back pressure with all the fluid being suddenly being released was just too much for my kit to handle.
Luckily, the cath was easy to remove by deflating the retainer with a syringe and carefully withdrawing (no resistance felt at all). But this was not the end of the pain.
Urinating for a few hours after the experience was virtually too painful to consider. This actually did fade once I had successfully passed water. However, the initial sensation was unpleasant every time I urinated for the following 24 hours.
Summary
I tried this same experiment some 10 years ago with similar results. I spent the intervening time wondering if I had been unlucky the first time and building up the courage to try again. Now I know the truth - in-bladder catheters are not for me and will be more than a decode before I want to go there again!
Everyone is built differently and maybe I have a particularly sensitive or narrow urethra. Given how instantly I started getting a slightly unpleasant sensation, it is even possible that my urinary tract is allergic to latex (in which case there is always the silicone caths).
I could imagine some people may find Foley catheters comfortable to wear and even stimulating. However, I can’t see how anyone could comfortably or safely ejaculate without first removing the catheter.
Even if that were possible – Foley Catheter have their limitation and are only a partial solution. If the aim is to plumb away fluids so you can stay comfortably in your suit for extended periods, the Foley does not address the semen ejaculate. Admittedly this is less troublesome to an endurance rubberist than urine, but a perfect solution would deal with both.
For female rubberist the in-dwelling Foley really does offer some possibilities. Erections and ejaculation are obviously irrelevant here and I have heard some good reports. It probably would be worth considering as long as you take account of UTI issues associated with the shorter urethra and it’s proximity to unclean areas. Any female volunteers?!?! ;o)
Way forward?
On the plus side, the rest of the plumbing and collection worked a treat. I can easily see it being refined to a degree that would make it suitable and comfortable for constant wear every day. I just need a reliable & comfortable way getting stuff into the collection bag’s one way valve…
Next on the list for further consideration are proper medical appliances (e.g. McGuire Urinal), the Bioderm device and draining pants from fetish shops. Any feedback welcomed!
Sealed
If Catheterisation is something that interests you, I think you should try hard to find time to read this entry to the end. It could save you a lot of bother…
I have never considered medical equipment part of my fetish, but faced with the realities of being sealed up in rubber for hours/days, they start to appeal where they are conceivably a means to an end.
BTW My suit of choice is a neck entry type with no zips or other access to the groin area - making it wonderfully comfortable and water proof / air tight, but this does give rise to the obvious difficulties in body function. I do own suits with 3 way - zip access etc, but I find there are down sides to these including:
1. Being less comfortable (zip runs by sensitive region and is not as stretchy/soft as latex)
2. Feeling less “sealed” (suits with no zips make you feel almost vacuum packed)
3. If you do get to hot, you can end up leaving puddles of sweat everywhere!
4. Because zips run over an are requiring bends / stretch and of item 1 (above), I find that the zip is under strain and is usually the first point of failure in a suit.
My trials with urinating sheath pants from fetish shops and condom-type catheters from medical suppliers have so far been unsatisfactory. Neither could handle the change in shape and size over prolong wearing that is inherent in normal male cycles of erection and flaccidity. So here I am trying out a Foley Cath.
I have the catheter linked to a small collecting bag (via non-return) inside my suit; this in turn is plumed up to exit via my neck, so it can be pumped empty.
Insertion (with lube) was unpleasant but not painful. It chose the smallest diameter size (FG12) to make it easy to insert and wear. The cath was a Bardo-matic – which means it is easy to deploy self retaining balloon that lives in the bladder.
Wearing it, I could not say it felt very comfortable. Not really what you could call uncomfortable, but for me “almost uncomfortable”.
Function worked very well. The flow into the bag was slow but kept my bladder completely empty. I managed to fit all this plumbing inside the skin-tight suit and yet keep it secured / comfortable. When there was sufficient fluid in the collection bag, it was very easy to empty via the second pipe (I used simple symphonic method in this trial).
Now, like I said before, I didn’t embark on these trial for any other reason than for the potential to solve some mundane practical issues associated with my chosen kink, but what do you know – I found there was a kind of thrill to all this. It felt quite perverse (even by my own standards), but I found myself liking things about my catheterisation. I really liked the losing of all control of my bladder functions and effectively handing control to my suit’s plumbing equipment. It literally felt like a release at some level. All the plumbing pipes added to a sort of cyborg type mental image – the new kit enhancing the idea of an amalgamation between body and fetish (suit).
In the interests of the trial I had to try out everything I wanted to be able to do while wearing the cath. Moving about was no problem. The cath stayed secure and did not limit my ability to move around at all. The rest of the plumbing was only really a first lash up – but actually felt pretty good when sitting/lying/standing/stretching/walking and stayed securely in position (I had augmented the supplied rubber belts). In fact the little resistance or pull offered by the kit was just enough to make you aware of your situation, which I found weirdly stimulating.
Next was the obvious erection test and that was the end of the good news. On the plus side, cycles of erection did not present any problems to the function of the cath, which stayed secure and functional. But I couldn’t say I liked the sensation. It wasn’t painful, but was very noticeable and verging on unpleasant. The masochist in me could get something out of it – and I found it could actually be a stimulating experience, but it was not the sort of thing I would like to endure every time I had an erection. Still, it didn’t stop me getting a thrill in the short term, so the test had to proceed to obvious climax….
DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!!!! I knew there was some risk here before I started as, with a catheter in the urethra, there is nowhere for the semen to go (this is one reason why I chose the smallest diameter). Anyway - absolute explosion of agony. Some have said it enhances the experience, others have agreed with me – basically never again. Again, those into pain may get something out of this – but I would expect that this amount of agony is associated with real risk of damage.
Some semen did make it’s way past the cath, but the back pressure with all the fluid being suddenly being released was just too much for my kit to handle.
Luckily, the cath was easy to remove by deflating the retainer with a syringe and carefully withdrawing (no resistance felt at all). But this was not the end of the pain.
Urinating for a few hours after the experience was virtually too painful to consider. This actually did fade once I had successfully passed water. However, the initial sensation was unpleasant every time I urinated for the following 24 hours.
Summary
I tried this same experiment some 10 years ago with similar results. I spent the intervening time wondering if I had been unlucky the first time and building up the courage to try again. Now I know the truth - in-bladder catheters are not for me and will be more than a decode before I want to go there again!
Everyone is built differently and maybe I have a particularly sensitive or narrow urethra. Given how instantly I started getting a slightly unpleasant sensation, it is even possible that my urinary tract is allergic to latex (in which case there is always the silicone caths).
I could imagine some people may find Foley catheters comfortable to wear and even stimulating. However, I can’t see how anyone could comfortably or safely ejaculate without first removing the catheter.
Even if that were possible – Foley Catheter have their limitation and are only a partial solution. If the aim is to plumb away fluids so you can stay comfortably in your suit for extended periods, the Foley does not address the semen ejaculate. Admittedly this is less troublesome to an endurance rubberist than urine, but a perfect solution would deal with both.
For female rubberist the in-dwelling Foley really does offer some possibilities. Erections and ejaculation are obviously irrelevant here and I have heard some good reports. It probably would be worth considering as long as you take account of UTI issues associated with the shorter urethra and it’s proximity to unclean areas. Any female volunteers?!?! ;o)
Way forward?
On the plus side, the rest of the plumbing and collection worked a treat. I can easily see it being refined to a degree that would make it suitable and comfortable for constant wear every day. I just need a reliable & comfortable way getting stuff into the collection bag’s one way valve…
Next on the list for further consideration are proper medical appliances (e.g. McGuire Urinal), the Bioderm device and draining pants from fetish shops. Any feedback welcomed!
Sealed
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Tuesday, 09 August 2005 The Inspiration and Challenges of 24/7 Rubber Enclosed People (or 24 Hour REPs!)
Dark, your response was so wide ranging and comprehensive that it makes it a daunting to produce an adequately cogent, structured response…. But here goes nothing… For the others I apologise if we go a little deeper and long winded today, but my normal self gratifying superficial banality will return shortly ;o)
In examining the wearing rubber, there are the practicalities / challenges and then there are the positives aspects and thus inspiration we need to have the driving force to overcome the challenges. We better get some of the challenges out of the way first otherwise the motivations are merely theoretical.
Although interesting in the subject, I don’t feel I can contribute anything fundamental or staggeringly new on challenges of sociology or clothing politics (for want of a better name), partly because I generally only wear my fetish clothing in non-public manner and not for any “scene”, fashion or extroverted reasons.
Nevertheless in response to the assertion “rubber will never be mainstreamed for regular clothes because..” [comfort issues and fetish motives], I will say that “never” is long time! Some very strange things which are either uncomfortable and/or worn for (sometimes oblique, sometime overt) sexual motives have come to become mainstream fashion at one time or other. Things that would have been impractical or unthinkable right up to the time they suddenly became mainstream. At one end of the continuum you have (in the West) ever shorter skirts in the second half of the 20th century right, ever more dangerous high heel shoes, right through to body modification, which is routine and (to western eyes) extreme in some cultures (piercings, feet binding, neck rings). So I accept we are a way from any degree of rubber clothing being acceptable clothing in all situations, but I actually think this may change in time. Since my childhood I have seen it become acceptable for women dress more and more in “men’s clothes”, sporting short “men’s” haircuts and then there was the (near) fetish of the punk fashions that became widespread the late 70s.
How do I feel about it? Well it’s not going to affect my current activities, but yes I think it would be generally a good thing if people were not inhibited by society and able to wear anything that makes them feel good or allows them to express themselves. And, although it’s not what drives me, I think future generations of fetishist will owe the current trailblazers (e.g. Blackie and Latex Lady) a huge debt of gratitude when they feel at ease wearing latex in public.
That said, I do think that you are pretty much spot on in identifying the 3 fundamental aspect (or motivations) in wearing latex : physiological, social and psychological – although in examining the subject it is often difficult to talk about one without the other. For example, the impermeable nature of latex is equally applicable to physiological, social and psychological aspects wearing the material. You could put the argument that, for example, latex’s (often) figure hugging propensity, sensual nature, sexual “practicalities” and overtones all have physiological, social and psychological aspects. This is not to diminish the validity of examining all three aspects.
We all know there are challenges of latex lifestyle. The most obvious are the physical challenges and practicality of being totally sealed in an impermeable material for long periods. If we assume an aim of being as total encased in latex as possible, for extended periods, challenges would include:
- maintaining a safe and comfortable body temperature
- dealing with sudden changes in environmental temperature
- dealing with perspiration
- dealing with condensation (both in suite and on goggles / eye pieces)
- allowing for all the other body excretions
- providing mechanism for required nourishment
- having the desired access to breathable air
- ensuring the total enclosure kit is complete enough (to the desired level of encasement/bondage) while allowing the wearer to pursue any necessary activities.
- Avoid painful pressure sores after long periods.
- Ensuring that the suit does not impede blood flow to extremities while being sufficiently close fitting.
- Dealing with vitamin deficiency due to lack of sun-light on skin.
- Having some strategy to exercise enough to prevent atrophy and maintain a level of physical fitness while either not overheating while in latex or spending too long out of latex while exercising. For me this is the ultimate physical challenge….
A challengingly long list, but, if you take them one at a time, it is not that they are insurmountable; it’s just that they are challenges to be overcome. Some are much more difficult to deal with than others. They could be solved by engineering a way out, which might include throwing money at the problem or might mean a compromise in comfort v endurance v degree of encasement.
How an individual deals with the challenges may depend on the nature of their desire to be encased and on how long they are aiming to spend in latex. I don’t claim to have dealt with them all to the extent of making them all a non-issue in all circumstances, but I am merely on the road to finding successively more effective ways of coping with each challenge as and when I chose to increase the latex to non-latex ratio of my lifestyle (and the degree of my total enclosure).
While some of the challenges require a specific strategy, others require adaptation or familiarisation. For instance, I notice that when I visit very hot climates the locals have acclimatized and are not sweating as profusely as I am (despite common biological ancestry). The same is true in cold climates, at sea, at high altitudes, dry climates… Part of this may be strategy (to quote Coward, in some countries “…only mad dogs and English men go out in the mid day sun…”) but there is also an element of the body adapting to the new norm. It is my contention that, given the right “training”, the human body has the ability to adapt to a degree where it can noticeably perform to increase comfort levels when perusing the goal of a latex lifestyle.
Of course no amount of acclimatisation is going to be enough to overcome all these challenges in all situations. So the question is, are you looking to endure the worst the latex enclosure has to offer to satisfy a submissive desire? For some (like Blackie) the endurance is the motivation and a sweaty challenge is the aim. I can understand this and have sometimes deliberately gone for this and more in making life hell in rubber. But my current aim is to wear rubber for far longer periods than my skin could tolerate being regularly saturated with water and bodily waste, not to mention being uncomfortably hot / cold. I also want to be able to adequately function (e.g. work, play) while wearing latex and the key to this has to be to stay comfortable and (for me) above all stay as dry as physically possible.
So after taking what physical steps I can, my next step has been to adapt my routine behaviour in order to stay within the margins of what is practical with a rubber lifestyle. For me this means modifying my WHOLE lifestyle so that I can use my behaviour to control my metabolism (or my response to rubber encasement) and therefore my body temperature, perspiration and bodily functions. This is ongoing and being refined day by day. Some of it is controversial, others common sense. For example, avoiding some foodstuffs and stimulants that contain ingredients that increase your rate of perspiration, excretions, urination and general metabolism. Even the actual moment I chose to first get into latex is critical (time of day and what I was doing beforehand).
However, the most fundamental impact of a latex lifestyle is the pattern of behaviour that I find sustainable once in latex. On the positive side there are lots of things that I spend the bulk of my life doing that are totally possible while in latex TE, even if not quite as easy as when in vanilla. Much of my work is quite possible (basically thinking, using a computer, talking on the phone) and the bits that are not possible are mainly to do with how clients and fellow workers (society) would react to me where I to visit site in latex TE! Most other housebound activities are totally possible, including sleeping, eating, listening to music, reading and of course sex... And if this were all that I wanted to do, I am sure I would already be on course for 24/7 latex lifestyle…
And this is were it gets difficult for most of us. A decade ago I think I would have been more than willing to give up virtually all outside activities to achieve a latex lifestyle, if I had only had the courage, dedication and knowledge needed to attempt what everyone said was an impossible dream… Now I find that despite my best efforts (!) I have accumulated some of the usual vanilla interests and attachments that give me an extensive set of reasons to want to be out travelling, socialising or playing (backpacking, photography, and sailing). These activities are (often) impractical while in latex TE for either social or physical reasons.
So, my latex lifestyle is about dealing with the physical difficulties, finding the right balance, making sacrifices and taking control. If you are serious about a latex lifestyle you first need to think about how you are going to sustain yourself financially such that you get the opportunity to wear latex most/all the time. If you have an independent means or have a partner who will support you, that’s ideal! For the rest of us, you really have to take control of your career to give you the latex lifestyle and living standard you want. I am (currently) lucky as I took the necessary risks to become freelance long ago and now work mainly from home. Others will have to make their own tough decisions which make take years to accomplish. There is little I can do about the time the customer requires me to spend working on site, but the rest of my life is about the hard sacrifices I chose to make. I find that I cannot spend 24/7/365 days in latex and have great social, family and outdoor life (maybe others can). But given that I am truly dedicated to latex, I can endeavour to find the mix that gives me the least possible time out of latex while staying sane and happy.
To achieve a latex lifestyle I therefore now hit the biggest challenges. The physical stuff is almost the easiest to deal with – you just need to come up with a technique or strategy to deal with it. Ultimately, if you can’t do 23/7 everyday, do 20/7 - whatever the limitation, just find the limit and go for the max that is achievable. One day, one day off, Three days on, two off – whatever. But for me, when I have spent 48 to 72 hours continuously in rubber, it is often not my physical condition that makes me want to strip off but that I want / need to go achieve something out in the real world that would be impossible while dressed in rubber.
Just before I move on, Dark says “People such as LadyII, whose circumstances might allow this could attempt it...99.9999% of the rest of us it is impossible.”. I find it interesting that you accept that a lifestyle like is 100% achievable (I hope everyone is OK for me to round to 3 decimal places ;o) ) – many ruberists not only do not believe her, but think the whole idea of 24/7 is “impossible”. (Incidentally, I find the term 23/7 to be splitting hairs when you examine LadyII protocols). I have no idea if she is for real (and have no idea of how anyone could categorically prove it to my satisfaction) but am convinced from her writing and my experiences that a rubber lifestyle technically possible if very, very difficult. If she is for real, then she has shown unbelievable dedication as a submissive and rubberist. In fact if she cheated one whole day once a month, it would still be massively impressive to me.
I hope she is for real, and, while keeping an open mind, I actually chose to believe there is much more than an element of truth in here story, mainly as I can think of no motive for her to deceive that seems compatible with what we have grown to know of her character. If I was in her position I know the biggest challenge would be the social isolation – but we are told she has a constant companion, a very organised fetish master, a rubberist son and a circle of fetish and s/m oriented friends that they meets up with. Well if all that was true, the biggest physiological challenge (the “latex isolation” effect) wouldn’t be such an issue and suddenly the whole thing becomes believable to me.
Now for the motivation…. You certainly need a strong motive to find the necessary inspiration to even attempt a latex lifestyle.
Dark invented a term “platonic notion of enclosure...” - which sounds fascinating and would like to here more about…. I wonder if this is this linked to the transition from (instant) sexual gratification to the sensual experience that 24/7 REPs have reported?
To go into all the reasons for “the psychological need to enclose in rubber” now would make this already long entry unbearably long, but can agree there is probably lots of reasons for lots of people. Some that are less strong in me are the social counter culture stuff or (I think) a direct need to be perverse. I am not into this for peer approval (although not being alone does help!). Dark also mentions sexual need, sensual need and these seem more applicable to me.
I have one further (rather ill defined) theory to put forward. Motivations for some people to have alternative lifestyles, appearances, sexual behaviour (as well as physiological disorders!) is in some part due to a specific strong personal identify or body image issue that may be at odds with reality. How this stuff gets into your head I cannot say, but maybe some of us have a strong image of themselves that includes a latex covering. Being in a non-latex state would cause an unpleasing mismatch between the personal self image and reality. As for what aspect of the (idealized) self image would be missing, for some it might be the shiny appearance, the figure hugging appearance, the flattering/firming “hand” of skin tight rubber on the form, the sensual feel, the perverse mode, the loss of human identity, the objectification, the idea of being hermetically sealed, the feeling of being “the other”, the overtly kinky sexual association, the breath control associations of masks or even just the smell! For me I think it is all these thing in different measures and something more. My fetish really does include the love of what is obviously (to everyone else) an inanimate object. Some people have worshiped trees, rocks or fellows. This Looney is dedicated to the latex that gives me so much back and spending long periods in TE involves dedication and me making some sacrifices. All disturbingly common human behaviour patterns maybe...
Now the footnotes…
BTW – the powerful desire to strip off latex after sexual climax seems to be very common, but I can report that it is also eminently curable! I used to get around this by being physically locking in with no access to the key (!), but Latex Lady & others gave me the necessary encouragement and hints on how to overcome this and now I often don’t even get a slightest impulse to de-rubber. Overcoming this impulse really is possible – assuming you have at least the slightest interest in seeing what happens if you stay rubberier for a few hours longer….
BTW2 - One thing I didn’t deal with was the comment “and train your psyche to deal with the social issues.”… That’s because this is still work in progress for me!
Sealed
In examining the wearing rubber, there are the practicalities / challenges and then there are the positives aspects and thus inspiration we need to have the driving force to overcome the challenges. We better get some of the challenges out of the way first otherwise the motivations are merely theoretical.
Although interesting in the subject, I don’t feel I can contribute anything fundamental or staggeringly new on challenges of sociology or clothing politics (for want of a better name), partly because I generally only wear my fetish clothing in non-public manner and not for any “scene”, fashion or extroverted reasons.
Nevertheless in response to the assertion “rubber will never be mainstreamed for regular clothes because..” [comfort issues and fetish motives], I will say that “never” is long time! Some very strange things which are either uncomfortable and/or worn for (sometimes oblique, sometime overt) sexual motives have come to become mainstream fashion at one time or other. Things that would have been impractical or unthinkable right up to the time they suddenly became mainstream. At one end of the continuum you have (in the West) ever shorter skirts in the second half of the 20th century right, ever more dangerous high heel shoes, right through to body modification, which is routine and (to western eyes) extreme in some cultures (piercings, feet binding, neck rings). So I accept we are a way from any degree of rubber clothing being acceptable clothing in all situations, but I actually think this may change in time. Since my childhood I have seen it become acceptable for women dress more and more in “men’s clothes”, sporting short “men’s” haircuts and then there was the (near) fetish of the punk fashions that became widespread the late 70s.
How do I feel about it? Well it’s not going to affect my current activities, but yes I think it would be generally a good thing if people were not inhibited by society and able to wear anything that makes them feel good or allows them to express themselves. And, although it’s not what drives me, I think future generations of fetishist will owe the current trailblazers (e.g. Blackie and Latex Lady) a huge debt of gratitude when they feel at ease wearing latex in public.
That said, I do think that you are pretty much spot on in identifying the 3 fundamental aspect (or motivations) in wearing latex : physiological, social and psychological – although in examining the subject it is often difficult to talk about one without the other. For example, the impermeable nature of latex is equally applicable to physiological, social and psychological aspects wearing the material. You could put the argument that, for example, latex’s (often) figure hugging propensity, sensual nature, sexual “practicalities” and overtones all have physiological, social and psychological aspects. This is not to diminish the validity of examining all three aspects.
We all know there are challenges of latex lifestyle. The most obvious are the physical challenges and practicality of being totally sealed in an impermeable material for long periods. If we assume an aim of being as total encased in latex as possible, for extended periods, challenges would include:
- maintaining a safe and comfortable body temperature
- dealing with sudden changes in environmental temperature
- dealing with perspiration
- dealing with condensation (both in suite and on goggles / eye pieces)
- allowing for all the other body excretions
- providing mechanism for required nourishment
- having the desired access to breathable air
- ensuring the total enclosure kit is complete enough (to the desired level of encasement/bondage) while allowing the wearer to pursue any necessary activities.
- Avoid painful pressure sores after long periods.
- Ensuring that the suit does not impede blood flow to extremities while being sufficiently close fitting.
- Dealing with vitamin deficiency due to lack of sun-light on skin.
- Having some strategy to exercise enough to prevent atrophy and maintain a level of physical fitness while either not overheating while in latex or spending too long out of latex while exercising. For me this is the ultimate physical challenge….
A challengingly long list, but, if you take them one at a time, it is not that they are insurmountable; it’s just that they are challenges to be overcome. Some are much more difficult to deal with than others. They could be solved by engineering a way out, which might include throwing money at the problem or might mean a compromise in comfort v endurance v degree of encasement.
How an individual deals with the challenges may depend on the nature of their desire to be encased and on how long they are aiming to spend in latex. I don’t claim to have dealt with them all to the extent of making them all a non-issue in all circumstances, but I am merely on the road to finding successively more effective ways of coping with each challenge as and when I chose to increase the latex to non-latex ratio of my lifestyle (and the degree of my total enclosure).
While some of the challenges require a specific strategy, others require adaptation or familiarisation. For instance, I notice that when I visit very hot climates the locals have acclimatized and are not sweating as profusely as I am (despite common biological ancestry). The same is true in cold climates, at sea, at high altitudes, dry climates… Part of this may be strategy (to quote Coward, in some countries “…only mad dogs and English men go out in the mid day sun…”) but there is also an element of the body adapting to the new norm. It is my contention that, given the right “training”, the human body has the ability to adapt to a degree where it can noticeably perform to increase comfort levels when perusing the goal of a latex lifestyle.
Of course no amount of acclimatisation is going to be enough to overcome all these challenges in all situations. So the question is, are you looking to endure the worst the latex enclosure has to offer to satisfy a submissive desire? For some (like Blackie) the endurance is the motivation and a sweaty challenge is the aim. I can understand this and have sometimes deliberately gone for this and more in making life hell in rubber. But my current aim is to wear rubber for far longer periods than my skin could tolerate being regularly saturated with water and bodily waste, not to mention being uncomfortably hot / cold. I also want to be able to adequately function (e.g. work, play) while wearing latex and the key to this has to be to stay comfortable and (for me) above all stay as dry as physically possible.
So after taking what physical steps I can, my next step has been to adapt my routine behaviour in order to stay within the margins of what is practical with a rubber lifestyle. For me this means modifying my WHOLE lifestyle so that I can use my behaviour to control my metabolism (or my response to rubber encasement) and therefore my body temperature, perspiration and bodily functions. This is ongoing and being refined day by day. Some of it is controversial, others common sense. For example, avoiding some foodstuffs and stimulants that contain ingredients that increase your rate of perspiration, excretions, urination and general metabolism. Even the actual moment I chose to first get into latex is critical (time of day and what I was doing beforehand).
However, the most fundamental impact of a latex lifestyle is the pattern of behaviour that I find sustainable once in latex. On the positive side there are lots of things that I spend the bulk of my life doing that are totally possible while in latex TE, even if not quite as easy as when in vanilla. Much of my work is quite possible (basically thinking, using a computer, talking on the phone) and the bits that are not possible are mainly to do with how clients and fellow workers (society) would react to me where I to visit site in latex TE! Most other housebound activities are totally possible, including sleeping, eating, listening to music, reading and of course sex... And if this were all that I wanted to do, I am sure I would already be on course for 24/7 latex lifestyle…
And this is were it gets difficult for most of us. A decade ago I think I would have been more than willing to give up virtually all outside activities to achieve a latex lifestyle, if I had only had the courage, dedication and knowledge needed to attempt what everyone said was an impossible dream… Now I find that despite my best efforts (!) I have accumulated some of the usual vanilla interests and attachments that give me an extensive set of reasons to want to be out travelling, socialising or playing (backpacking, photography, and sailing). These activities are (often) impractical while in latex TE for either social or physical reasons.
So, my latex lifestyle is about dealing with the physical difficulties, finding the right balance, making sacrifices and taking control. If you are serious about a latex lifestyle you first need to think about how you are going to sustain yourself financially such that you get the opportunity to wear latex most/all the time. If you have an independent means or have a partner who will support you, that’s ideal! For the rest of us, you really have to take control of your career to give you the latex lifestyle and living standard you want. I am (currently) lucky as I took the necessary risks to become freelance long ago and now work mainly from home. Others will have to make their own tough decisions which make take years to accomplish. There is little I can do about the time the customer requires me to spend working on site, but the rest of my life is about the hard sacrifices I chose to make. I find that I cannot spend 24/7/365 days in latex and have great social, family and outdoor life (maybe others can). But given that I am truly dedicated to latex, I can endeavour to find the mix that gives me the least possible time out of latex while staying sane and happy.
To achieve a latex lifestyle I therefore now hit the biggest challenges. The physical stuff is almost the easiest to deal with – you just need to come up with a technique or strategy to deal with it. Ultimately, if you can’t do 23/7 everyday, do 20/7 - whatever the limitation, just find the limit and go for the max that is achievable. One day, one day off, Three days on, two off – whatever. But for me, when I have spent 48 to 72 hours continuously in rubber, it is often not my physical condition that makes me want to strip off but that I want / need to go achieve something out in the real world that would be impossible while dressed in rubber.
Just before I move on, Dark says “People such as LadyII, whose circumstances might allow this could attempt it...99.9999% of the rest of us it is impossible.”. I find it interesting that you accept that a lifestyle like is 100% achievable (I hope everyone is OK for me to round to 3 decimal places ;o) ) – many ruberists not only do not believe her, but think the whole idea of 24/7 is “impossible”. (Incidentally, I find the term 23/7 to be splitting hairs when you examine LadyII protocols). I have no idea if she is for real (and have no idea of how anyone could categorically prove it to my satisfaction) but am convinced from her writing and my experiences that a rubber lifestyle technically possible if very, very difficult. If she is for real, then she has shown unbelievable dedication as a submissive and rubberist. In fact if she cheated one whole day once a month, it would still be massively impressive to me.
I hope she is for real, and, while keeping an open mind, I actually chose to believe there is much more than an element of truth in here story, mainly as I can think of no motive for her to deceive that seems compatible with what we have grown to know of her character. If I was in her position I know the biggest challenge would be the social isolation – but we are told she has a constant companion, a very organised fetish master, a rubberist son and a circle of fetish and s/m oriented friends that they meets up with. Well if all that was true, the biggest physiological challenge (the “latex isolation” effect) wouldn’t be such an issue and suddenly the whole thing becomes believable to me.
Now for the motivation…. You certainly need a strong motive to find the necessary inspiration to even attempt a latex lifestyle.
Dark invented a term “platonic notion of enclosure...” - which sounds fascinating and would like to here more about…. I wonder if this is this linked to the transition from (instant) sexual gratification to the sensual experience that 24/7 REPs have reported?
To go into all the reasons for “the psychological need to enclose in rubber” now would make this already long entry unbearably long, but can agree there is probably lots of reasons for lots of people. Some that are less strong in me are the social counter culture stuff or (I think) a direct need to be perverse. I am not into this for peer approval (although not being alone does help!). Dark also mentions sexual need, sensual need and these seem more applicable to me.
I have one further (rather ill defined) theory to put forward. Motivations for some people to have alternative lifestyles, appearances, sexual behaviour (as well as physiological disorders!) is in some part due to a specific strong personal identify or body image issue that may be at odds with reality. How this stuff gets into your head I cannot say, but maybe some of us have a strong image of themselves that includes a latex covering. Being in a non-latex state would cause an unpleasing mismatch between the personal self image and reality. As for what aspect of the (idealized) self image would be missing, for some it might be the shiny appearance, the figure hugging appearance, the flattering/firming “hand” of skin tight rubber on the form, the sensual feel, the perverse mode, the loss of human identity, the objectification, the idea of being hermetically sealed, the feeling of being “the other”, the overtly kinky sexual association, the breath control associations of masks or even just the smell! For me I think it is all these thing in different measures and something more. My fetish really does include the love of what is obviously (to everyone else) an inanimate object. Some people have worshiped trees, rocks or fellows. This Looney is dedicated to the latex that gives me so much back and spending long periods in TE involves dedication and me making some sacrifices. All disturbingly common human behaviour patterns maybe...
Now the footnotes…
BTW – the powerful desire to strip off latex after sexual climax seems to be very common, but I can report that it is also eminently curable! I used to get around this by being physically locking in with no access to the key (!), but Latex Lady & others gave me the necessary encouragement and hints on how to overcome this and now I often don’t even get a slightest impulse to de-rubber. Overcoming this impulse really is possible – assuming you have at least the slightest interest in seeing what happens if you stay rubberier for a few hours longer….
BTW2 - One thing I didn’t deal with was the comment “and train your psyche to deal with the social issues.”… That’s because this is still work in progress for me!
Sealed
Monday, August 08, 2005
Monday, 08 August 2005 – Physical And Mental Issues of becoming a Rubber Dependent fetishist.
Dark and others have talked and asked about both the physical and mental challenges associated with the possibility of becoming “rubber dependent”.
The physiological or physical effects on de-rubbering was a surprising for me when I first noticed them. After weeks of spending much of every day in latex, building up my exposure day by day, followed by a few days spent in rubber 24/7, I did notice that I felt very strange when wearing non-latex clothes. All sorts of sensations – some of discomfort – that you spend years acclimatizing to were suddenly apparent.
It reminded me of childhood sensations of being asked to wear “fancy” clothes to go to special events (weddings and the like). The first time I wore any new type of clothing as a child was always a challenge. Typically you were being asked to wear itchy, scratchy things that were too tight or too lose or that pinched somewhere. I just got through such things by looking forward to the massive release when I was back home an allowed to return to my normal clothes.
It was very much like for the first few days after returning to non-latex after my 24/7 latex experiments. The cloth of my chinos felt scratchy against my legs – like they were made of wool. I tried several different pairs to check this out but they all felt the similar. All the clothes seemed to be binding or knotting on areas that needed to move, such arm-pit / shoulder and the top the legs. They needed to work their way up a limb to allow the movement – which felt very odd compared to the rubbery stretch of my “normal” second skin.
The most uncomfortable thing was getting used to the brutal way the non-latex clothes felt around the crotch area. If I wasn’t being chaffed, then I was being squashed or cut into by the seams as I moved about. I found it impossible to resist the impulse to re-arrange myself to get comfortable. This was something that made it a bit challenging to be in public for a few days.
It wasn’t that my skin had been damaged during my time in latex. I am lucky to rarely suffer skin irritation due to long exposure to latex. Anyway, this felt different. My skin felt OK, it was just that everything outside felt odd. Even having air moving over my skin at my ankles, wrists and collar felt noticeably odd.
As I wore the non-latex for longer I noticed something else that I would normally only have been vaguely aware of - a lot of vanilla wear is not very breathable! In addition to this the usual solution is to wear socks / underwear – which, along with other areas can get sodden as the day goes on. On a hot day I found it very strange to think that I was being “vanilla” by wearing an extra soggy layer under my outer clothes. The way I found to help with the transition was to switch to mainly wear climbing or sailing base layer clothes that were specifically designed to wick away the moisture.
On a similar subject, another thing I became aware of is the smell. At the start of the day you clothes smell of the material and the perfume of the detergent and by the end of the day all the items have their own strange character…
In summary, after the first 24 hours out of latex, I don’t think I could have felt more uncomfortable if I had been wearing a canvas sack! Ironically, a lot of the physical challenges of wearing latex that had taken months/years of perseverance to acclimatise to had their parallels in non-latex clothing.
The skin physiology seems to adjust to life in latex, but possibly more importantly, the nerves and brain seen to slowly get adjusted to certain patterns of stimulus in response certain movements or even being motionless in latex (or vanilla). In anticipating these sensations, they become less noticeable and more a background factor. After days in latex, it still physically feels nearly the same as it did after an hour in latex (which is handy when I am looking for stimulation), its just that my brain does not constantly remind my of the feeling to the same degree (unless I want it to). The interesting thing is that my experience seems to indicate that it works for all clothes, not just latex. As a child, you have to adapt to feeling of wearing shoes, cotton, wool ….
Luckily for me, this uncomfortable effect on going vanilla has always been bearable and easy to overcome after the first few days. This is undoubtedly due to the relatively short periods I have managed 24/7 in latex. Also I have found that a good cure is to never go more than 24 hours out of latex!
The interesting question for me is, how physically difficult would it be to bear to go back to wearing non-latex clothes after spending weeks/months/years in a (near) 24/7 latex lifestyle?
And this is all before examining the psychological impact! I wonder what people think about this…
To be honest I still have some mental challenges after just a few days in 24/7 latex to overcome before worrying about the physiological barrier that would stop me taking off the latex. However, as others are noted, going several days without getting back into rubber does steadily become more difficult once you start on down the route to a rubber lifestyle. I think I might examine this whole area after some feedback and further reflection.
As for my future latex lifestyle, I am still at the tantalising stage of being very close to having secured a latex lifestyle friendly chunk or work. I should know in the next few days. If things work out, I will have some international travel (New York) but should also have plenty of time to work in rubber at my home office.
Sealed
The physiological or physical effects on de-rubbering was a surprising for me when I first noticed them. After weeks of spending much of every day in latex, building up my exposure day by day, followed by a few days spent in rubber 24/7, I did notice that I felt very strange when wearing non-latex clothes. All sorts of sensations – some of discomfort – that you spend years acclimatizing to were suddenly apparent.
It reminded me of childhood sensations of being asked to wear “fancy” clothes to go to special events (weddings and the like). The first time I wore any new type of clothing as a child was always a challenge. Typically you were being asked to wear itchy, scratchy things that were too tight or too lose or that pinched somewhere. I just got through such things by looking forward to the massive release when I was back home an allowed to return to my normal clothes.
It was very much like for the first few days after returning to non-latex after my 24/7 latex experiments. The cloth of my chinos felt scratchy against my legs – like they were made of wool. I tried several different pairs to check this out but they all felt the similar. All the clothes seemed to be binding or knotting on areas that needed to move, such arm-pit / shoulder and the top the legs. They needed to work their way up a limb to allow the movement – which felt very odd compared to the rubbery stretch of my “normal” second skin.
The most uncomfortable thing was getting used to the brutal way the non-latex clothes felt around the crotch area. If I wasn’t being chaffed, then I was being squashed or cut into by the seams as I moved about. I found it impossible to resist the impulse to re-arrange myself to get comfortable. This was something that made it a bit challenging to be in public for a few days.
It wasn’t that my skin had been damaged during my time in latex. I am lucky to rarely suffer skin irritation due to long exposure to latex. Anyway, this felt different. My skin felt OK, it was just that everything outside felt odd. Even having air moving over my skin at my ankles, wrists and collar felt noticeably odd.
As I wore the non-latex for longer I noticed something else that I would normally only have been vaguely aware of - a lot of vanilla wear is not very breathable! In addition to this the usual solution is to wear socks / underwear – which, along with other areas can get sodden as the day goes on. On a hot day I found it very strange to think that I was being “vanilla” by wearing an extra soggy layer under my outer clothes. The way I found to help with the transition was to switch to mainly wear climbing or sailing base layer clothes that were specifically designed to wick away the moisture.
On a similar subject, another thing I became aware of is the smell. At the start of the day you clothes smell of the material and the perfume of the detergent and by the end of the day all the items have their own strange character…
In summary, after the first 24 hours out of latex, I don’t think I could have felt more uncomfortable if I had been wearing a canvas sack! Ironically, a lot of the physical challenges of wearing latex that had taken months/years of perseverance to acclimatise to had their parallels in non-latex clothing.
The skin physiology seems to adjust to life in latex, but possibly more importantly, the nerves and brain seen to slowly get adjusted to certain patterns of stimulus in response certain movements or even being motionless in latex (or vanilla). In anticipating these sensations, they become less noticeable and more a background factor. After days in latex, it still physically feels nearly the same as it did after an hour in latex (which is handy when I am looking for stimulation), its just that my brain does not constantly remind my of the feeling to the same degree (unless I want it to). The interesting thing is that my experience seems to indicate that it works for all clothes, not just latex. As a child, you have to adapt to feeling of wearing shoes, cotton, wool ….
Luckily for me, this uncomfortable effect on going vanilla has always been bearable and easy to overcome after the first few days. This is undoubtedly due to the relatively short periods I have managed 24/7 in latex. Also I have found that a good cure is to never go more than 24 hours out of latex!
The interesting question for me is, how physically difficult would it be to bear to go back to wearing non-latex clothes after spending weeks/months/years in a (near) 24/7 latex lifestyle?
And this is all before examining the psychological impact! I wonder what people think about this…
To be honest I still have some mental challenges after just a few days in 24/7 latex to overcome before worrying about the physiological barrier that would stop me taking off the latex. However, as others are noted, going several days without getting back into rubber does steadily become more difficult once you start on down the route to a rubber lifestyle. I think I might examine this whole area after some feedback and further reflection.
As for my future latex lifestyle, I am still at the tantalising stage of being very close to having secured a latex lifestyle friendly chunk or work. I should know in the next few days. If things work out, I will have some international travel (New York) but should also have plenty of time to work in rubber at my home office.
Sealed
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Thursday, 28 July 2005 – Searching for reasons to get out of my rubber TE?
Blackie (& all),
Chlorination would certainly help with your elaborate / extensive gear. Particularly with items that are worn close to the skin. I don't know if chlorination aids getting into subsequent layers as I have not tried that. I can say that there is still fairly hard to get (disposable) non-chlorinated black surgical gloves over my chlorinated suite gloves (this is an advantage once on as they stay put).
The chlorination process is fairly unpleasant and I would be interested in less aggressive methods. The problem I had was with the volume of chlorine gas released in a short period. As far as I can see, short emersion times are not a prerequisite - so a slower reaction should work just as well. In fact a slower process would help with difficult items which require turning inside out.
One thing I would like to try is to add diluted acid in stages to slow things down. Some say that a 24 - 48 hour soak in bleach works just as well - but leaves a stronger bleach smell for longer. I would worry about leaving it in for that long as the bleach would have time to soak into the latex (which is slightly porous) and effect it. Having said that, I have soaked latex for 3 hours without any ill effects. Like you say, bleach is great for cleaning up heavily "used" latex anyway...
Be v. interested in your experiences.
Been reading your blog (& posts elsewhere) extensively. Your approach is different from mine. Your experiences seem more intense and physically demanding. Although my lifestyle is often physically and mentally taxing - I usually try to structure my sessions, and in fact whole life, to make it easy as I can to stay in rubber for as long as possible. You deliberately seem to go out of your way to make it as challenging as possible "in there" - putting yourself into hot locations, places where you have to walk long distances, situations where you cannot easily control the experience - and then manage to stay sealed up for hours and hours in many layers of thick heavy duty latex. Respect! No wonder it sometimes takes you a few days to recover...
Different though the approach is, I can see where you are coming from. Your tales are of pushing your personal limits and endurance, and are certainly "hot" (both senses). To me it seems like a submissive agenda, almost as if you are submitting to the rubber. I admire the dedication and perseverance in your chosen life style.
I haven’t perfected my breathing apparatus yet, so cannot claim to be wearing it all the time, but my lifestyle of rubber TE with frequent sessions of electro stim, poppers, rubbery orgasms and breath play is fairly fantastic! Like I said, my dedication to my lifestyle can take a heavy toll, but chlorination is just one of the things that can help with the burden.
Xvious & all,
Finding a reason to get out of my (chlorinated) rubber is starting to become more and more of a challenge now the weather here in the UK has dropped back to the low 20s.
It used to be a challenge to stay in for just a few hours... Partly for physically difficulties, but mainly because there were so many things I wanted to do that were incompatible with wearing rubber.
Over time, I have found methods & processes to cope with many of the physical limitations and I have adjusted quite a few things in my personal life to make it easier to find the time to stay encased in latex for longer.
Now, I find that being out of latex is LESS comfortable both physically and mentally than being totally encased. Time out of latex now feels physically strange and have often found I have the thought “this is a waste of my time” nagging away at the back of my mind. Relaxing and sleeping out of rubber is often a challenge now. This all seems to get worse, the longer I am out of my normal latex suit. It’s like I have developed a dependency wearing rubber and/or for my fetish lifestyle – or maybe I have even a mild addiction…
Up until now I have been “saved” by my remaining work travel commitments – where I had to be on the client’s site, I am only able to wear latex while not at work. There has been a fair bit of working away since late spring, but on the horizon, I can see that I am probably going to land a huge bit of work which can largely be done from my home office – and therefore I will have one less reason for not achieving my desired lifestyle. This period of constant home working should coincide with lower temperatures so making the wearing of rubber even easier…
Strangely, I feel slightly apprehensive as well as excited about this (prospective) longer lifestyle experiment. What if my fetish lifestyle dependency becomes pathological? I am not worried about the physical effects, but how much of a mental grip will it get? Will I be able to “handle it” and be able and willing to re-enter the “normal” world at the end of the project? In (say) 6 moths, would I be able to deal with needing to spend 8 hours a day “unsealed” and without my various fetish “supports”?
Sealed
Chlorination would certainly help with your elaborate / extensive gear. Particularly with items that are worn close to the skin. I don't know if chlorination aids getting into subsequent layers as I have not tried that. I can say that there is still fairly hard to get (disposable) non-chlorinated black surgical gloves over my chlorinated suite gloves (this is an advantage once on as they stay put).
The chlorination process is fairly unpleasant and I would be interested in less aggressive methods. The problem I had was with the volume of chlorine gas released in a short period. As far as I can see, short emersion times are not a prerequisite - so a slower reaction should work just as well. In fact a slower process would help with difficult items which require turning inside out.
One thing I would like to try is to add diluted acid in stages to slow things down. Some say that a 24 - 48 hour soak in bleach works just as well - but leaves a stronger bleach smell for longer. I would worry about leaving it in for that long as the bleach would have time to soak into the latex (which is slightly porous) and effect it. Having said that, I have soaked latex for 3 hours without any ill effects. Like you say, bleach is great for cleaning up heavily "used" latex anyway...
Be v. interested in your experiences.
Been reading your blog (& posts elsewhere) extensively. Your approach is different from mine. Your experiences seem more intense and physically demanding. Although my lifestyle is often physically and mentally taxing - I usually try to structure my sessions, and in fact whole life, to make it easy as I can to stay in rubber for as long as possible. You deliberately seem to go out of your way to make it as challenging as possible "in there" - putting yourself into hot locations, places where you have to walk long distances, situations where you cannot easily control the experience - and then manage to stay sealed up for hours and hours in many layers of thick heavy duty latex. Respect! No wonder it sometimes takes you a few days to recover...
Different though the approach is, I can see where you are coming from. Your tales are of pushing your personal limits and endurance, and are certainly "hot" (both senses). To me it seems like a submissive agenda, almost as if you are submitting to the rubber. I admire the dedication and perseverance in your chosen life style.
I haven’t perfected my breathing apparatus yet, so cannot claim to be wearing it all the time, but my lifestyle of rubber TE with frequent sessions of electro stim, poppers, rubbery orgasms and breath play is fairly fantastic! Like I said, my dedication to my lifestyle can take a heavy toll, but chlorination is just one of the things that can help with the burden.
Xvious & all,
Finding a reason to get out of my (chlorinated) rubber is starting to become more and more of a challenge now the weather here in the UK has dropped back to the low 20s.
It used to be a challenge to stay in for just a few hours... Partly for physically difficulties, but mainly because there were so many things I wanted to do that were incompatible with wearing rubber.
Over time, I have found methods & processes to cope with many of the physical limitations and I have adjusted quite a few things in my personal life to make it easier to find the time to stay encased in latex for longer.
Now, I find that being out of latex is LESS comfortable both physically and mentally than being totally encased. Time out of latex now feels physically strange and have often found I have the thought “this is a waste of my time” nagging away at the back of my mind. Relaxing and sleeping out of rubber is often a challenge now. This all seems to get worse, the longer I am out of my normal latex suit. It’s like I have developed a dependency wearing rubber and/or for my fetish lifestyle – or maybe I have even a mild addiction…
Up until now I have been “saved” by my remaining work travel commitments – where I had to be on the client’s site, I am only able to wear latex while not at work. There has been a fair bit of working away since late spring, but on the horizon, I can see that I am probably going to land a huge bit of work which can largely be done from my home office – and therefore I will have one less reason for not achieving my desired lifestyle. This period of constant home working should coincide with lower temperatures so making the wearing of rubber even easier…
Strangely, I feel slightly apprehensive as well as excited about this (prospective) longer lifestyle experiment. What if my fetish lifestyle dependency becomes pathological? I am not worried about the physical effects, but how much of a mental grip will it get? Will I be able to “handle it” and be able and willing to re-enter the “normal” world at the end of the project? In (say) 6 moths, would I be able to deal with needing to spend 8 hours a day “unsealed” and without my various fetish “supports”?
Sealed
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Thursday, 21 July 2005 - Forget talc and lubes?
The claim is “Forget talc and lubes, chlorination of your rubber items could be the way to go…”. The question I set out to discover was does it work and is it worth the bother? After all, I was quite happy using my particular brand of Silicone…
Chlorination – what’s that? Well it’s a DIY chemical process to give your latex clothes a “non-stick” surface. The process is described elsewhere, so I will concentrate on reviewing the outcome of the process.
I carried out the process on a Cocoon neck entry latex suit with attached gloves and feet and I also processed a mask. Once processed they were very clean and smelt more like a swimming baths than rubber. The chlorine smell is not overpowering even when wearing, just clean a smell which does seem be fading.
Then the feel test... On touching the surface with my fingers, I did notice it being slightly different - sort of silkier. I am not sure what I was expecting but it did not feel dramatically different and still felt very "rubbery".
However, then I tried on the suit and – unbelievable! It’s going to be difficult to describe the experience in words, but the practical upshot is that putting on a cat suit is EASIER than putting on a pair of cotton jeans. Pulling up the legs, I was reminded a little of the feeling of pulling on lycra / spandex. Chlorinated rubber just glides over the skin (as long as both are reasonably dry) with zero resistance.
There is an important time saving here. Even with the practice of wearing rubber almost daily for years it normally takes me some time to get into my outfit. There is carefully applying just enough lube to just the right places in the suit, then doing the same to myself. As I use minimal lube, there is then a careful process of easing myself into the suit so as not to strain or damage the suit (which becomes more important when you are wearing your rubber daily for long periods). Sometimes the are some “gymnastics” needed towards the end. Once on, I then normally have to spend the first few minutes, tweaking the fit to ensure the fit is comfortable around the areas of stretch and sensitive areas. With a chlorinated suit, you just pull it on and zip up and the suit sorts itself out in the first few minutes while you walk around and move about. When you come to take off a chlorinated suit, there is no lube to wash off or get dust stuck to. Usually we are talking no more than a quick wash under the shower if you got it dirty and leave to dry.
This time saving has an important physiological effect. Putting on chlorinated rubber is no longer a chore and something to plan. It can be a snap decision. It’s no more taxing than any other clothes. Several cycles of changes to and from mundane clothes are possible as and when needed. I have noticed another side effect – so far my suit does not leave the faint rubber odour on my body that others can sometimes detect. Not sure if this is a permanent effect, but at the moment it does mean I don’t need to shower after each and every change if otherwise clean and pushed for time.
What’s it feel like to wear? Wearing it actually feels better than normal, particularly at first, as you don't have talc or lube getting in on the act. Just you and your dry-feeling rubber. The garment hangs differently and even sounds a little different.
At first the latex just glides over your body like silk. Frictionless. It’s almost like you are not wearing rubber at all – but some sort of stretch material. However, after a time, this effect slowly fades as moisture levels increase in the suit. As this happens, the suit starts to feel more rubber and a little stickier (like normal rubber). This is not a bad thing as after a time you want to be reminded that you are wearing rubber after all.
What is it like for longer periods / latex lifestyle? Well I haven’t had the opportunity to wear the suit for very long periods yet – a single 8 hours session has been the max so far. But even for this relatively short period I can tell it has only enhanced the experience. At the end of the session, I felt as comfortable as when I entered the suit.
I can see it being particularly relevant to those embarking on a lifestyle of extended, constant or near-constant latex encasement. Finding lubes that are compatible with such a lifestyle and their skin can be a challenge for some. Also keeping clean can be challenge. The time and effort involved every time you need to change can also be a trial with non-chlorinated latex.
Problems with chlorinated latex? Well the initial process is unpleasant and nerve racking but on the other hand it is quick and once done its supposed to last the lifetime of article. Other down sides… Well it can affect the finish - and other than that… well if there are any I will let you know!
At the moment, the only problem is finding any reason that I would want to take off my suit…. And finding the time and opportunity to stay in there for longer… And I am making some progress with this issue too!
Sealed
Chlorination – what’s that? Well it’s a DIY chemical process to give your latex clothes a “non-stick” surface. The process is described elsewhere, so I will concentrate on reviewing the outcome of the process.
I carried out the process on a Cocoon neck entry latex suit with attached gloves and feet and I also processed a mask. Once processed they were very clean and smelt more like a swimming baths than rubber. The chlorine smell is not overpowering even when wearing, just clean a smell which does seem be fading.
Then the feel test... On touching the surface with my fingers, I did notice it being slightly different - sort of silkier. I am not sure what I was expecting but it did not feel dramatically different and still felt very "rubbery".
However, then I tried on the suit and – unbelievable! It’s going to be difficult to describe the experience in words, but the practical upshot is that putting on a cat suit is EASIER than putting on a pair of cotton jeans. Pulling up the legs, I was reminded a little of the feeling of pulling on lycra / spandex. Chlorinated rubber just glides over the skin (as long as both are reasonably dry) with zero resistance.
There is an important time saving here. Even with the practice of wearing rubber almost daily for years it normally takes me some time to get into my outfit. There is carefully applying just enough lube to just the right places in the suit, then doing the same to myself. As I use minimal lube, there is then a careful process of easing myself into the suit so as not to strain or damage the suit (which becomes more important when you are wearing your rubber daily for long periods). Sometimes the are some “gymnastics” needed towards the end. Once on, I then normally have to spend the first few minutes, tweaking the fit to ensure the fit is comfortable around the areas of stretch and sensitive areas. With a chlorinated suit, you just pull it on and zip up and the suit sorts itself out in the first few minutes while you walk around and move about. When you come to take off a chlorinated suit, there is no lube to wash off or get dust stuck to. Usually we are talking no more than a quick wash under the shower if you got it dirty and leave to dry.
This time saving has an important physiological effect. Putting on chlorinated rubber is no longer a chore and something to plan. It can be a snap decision. It’s no more taxing than any other clothes. Several cycles of changes to and from mundane clothes are possible as and when needed. I have noticed another side effect – so far my suit does not leave the faint rubber odour on my body that others can sometimes detect. Not sure if this is a permanent effect, but at the moment it does mean I don’t need to shower after each and every change if otherwise clean and pushed for time.
What’s it feel like to wear? Wearing it actually feels better than normal, particularly at first, as you don't have talc or lube getting in on the act. Just you and your dry-feeling rubber. The garment hangs differently and even sounds a little different.
At first the latex just glides over your body like silk. Frictionless. It’s almost like you are not wearing rubber at all – but some sort of stretch material. However, after a time, this effect slowly fades as moisture levels increase in the suit. As this happens, the suit starts to feel more rubber and a little stickier (like normal rubber). This is not a bad thing as after a time you want to be reminded that you are wearing rubber after all.
What is it like for longer periods / latex lifestyle? Well I haven’t had the opportunity to wear the suit for very long periods yet – a single 8 hours session has been the max so far. But even for this relatively short period I can tell it has only enhanced the experience. At the end of the session, I felt as comfortable as when I entered the suit.
I can see it being particularly relevant to those embarking on a lifestyle of extended, constant or near-constant latex encasement. Finding lubes that are compatible with such a lifestyle and their skin can be a challenge for some. Also keeping clean can be challenge. The time and effort involved every time you need to change can also be a trial with non-chlorinated latex.
Problems with chlorinated latex? Well the initial process is unpleasant and nerve racking but on the other hand it is quick and once done its supposed to last the lifetime of article. Other down sides… Well it can affect the finish - and other than that… well if there are any I will let you know!
At the moment, the only problem is finding any reason that I would want to take off my suit…. And finding the time and opportunity to stay in there for longer… And I am making some progress with this issue too!
Sealed
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