If you’re looking for an extremely affordable spreader bar set, the Sex Slave Bondage Restraint Wrist Ankle Handcuffs with Stainless Steel Pole Spreader Bar from GearBest may have you covered. A set that includes two spreader bars, four cuffs, and four keys/locks, this item provides everything you need to easily “spread” and “restrain” any four limbs of your partner’s body. While the product information claims stainless steel, the spreader bars feel much lighter than that, and I’d assume they’re some other material. The cuffs are made from some sort of faux leather while the lock and keys are made from a light metal. The wrist and ankle cuffs are fully adjustable to fit the size of the person that you’re playing with. (Need more BDSM advice or BDSM scene outlines to use these in? I have you covered.)
While all of the items are only packaged in a spacious, disposable, clear bag, there’s a lot of items within that bag. The bag includes no instructions or specific packaging, so you’ll need to experiment or find your own box if you plan on giving this as a gift. Within the packaging, you’ll find two spreader bars (one smaller and one longer), four lock and key sets, two wrist cuffs, and two ankle cuffs.
Each spreader bar has the exact same diameter – the only difference is the length. The smaller spreader bar is 10″ in length while the longer spreader bar is a little under 14″ in length. Each spreader bar also has two built-in O-rings on either side of the spreader bar. These two O-rings have unremovable clips hanging from them. These O-rings are removable by a tension area in the middle of the O-rings. The spreader bars are entirely unadjustable, so what you see is what you get. The bars are also surprisingly lightweight. They clearly are hollow on the inside, but if you plan on making your partner wear them for long periods of time, the lightness actually helps reduce body fatigue by quite a bit – especially on the arms.
That being said, the spreader bars aren’t going to be the most secure thing on the planet. If you have a willing submissive who isn’t into genuinely testing their bounds and trying to escape, this Gearbest Spreader Bar set will work great. If your partner really loves to struggle and has the muscle to go behind it, it’s quite possible they’ll end up breaking the spreader bars or pulling off the O-rings in their attempt to “escape”. Just keep this in mind. When purchasing an affordable spreader bar set like this, the offset of price usually comes with a weaker set of materials. These materials are entirely functional for most purposes – unless you’re really trying to play “can you break free?”
The cuffs are different lengths for the ankle and the wrists. The wrist cuffs, when laid out, are slightly under 10″ in length. The ankle cuffs, when laid out, are slightly under 12″ in length. If you’ll look at the cuff design, you’ll also see that the cuffs don’t fasten by themselves. You “fasten” the cuffs shut by using the locks included in the set and locking the loop that extends out of the cuffs. This prevents the leather of the cuff from sliding back off the loop.
This brings me to an important point: MEASURE YOURSELF BEFORE BUYING THIS. The ankle cuffs do not fit my ankles; they are about an inch too short. The wrist cuffs only fit my wrists at the widest notch. I’m a plus-sized woman, so sometimes, things don’t fit, and I expect that. However, my on-the-lower-end-of-“average”-weight partner only has two or three more notches left on each the wrist and ankle cuffs when they’re fastened. This means that a good variety of people – especially if you have a larger wrist or ankle – aren’t going to be able to fit these cuffs. Make sure to take a string or a tape measure and measure out the exact length of the wearer’s ankles or wrists.
The locks are something I would replace ASAP. The locks that come with this set remind me of the locks that I used to have as a child – that came with $5 diaries. They seem extremely flimsy, and their lifespan is probably very, very small. And you know what wouldn’t be fun? Having a lock refuse to open when someone is locked within the cuffs. So while it’s nice that the set includes four keys and four locks, I would use higher-quality lock and key sets to ensure your partner’s safety. As those mini lock sets are pretty darn cheap at your local brick-and-mortar store, it’s worth going higher-quality to prevent an issue down the road. I’ve messed around with the included locks, and while they’ve always functioned properly in my tests, having to cut open the cuffs if a lock refuses to open is not within the things I’d want to do.
So now that we’ve examined all of the individual parts, how well does it work as a set? It works. I can’t say that I have extremely high praise for its capabilities, but for the price, it does exactly as advertised. It works as a way to spread apart both the hands and the legs at the same time.
The “spreading” of the hands is a bit debatable. As the smaller spreader bar is only 10″ long, and it features about 3″ of O-ring and clip on each side, the hands can comfortable grasp and touch each other when bound into the spreader bar. You could switch the smaller spreader bar to the ankles and the larger ones to the wrist to alleviate this issue, but then the smaller spreader bar is doing virtually nothing for actually “spreading” the legs. It’s about the length of someone’s natural standing stance.
While we’re on the topic, the cuffs are decently comfortable. They aren’t particularly plush or super comfortable, but they don’t cut into the skin or cause any discomfort. While they may not be your first choice for hanging around in cuffs all day, they won’t be uncomfortable or cause any issues for while you’re playing. Just be careful about the thickness of the cuffs. Because of the rigidity and the thickness of the cuffs, these cuffs can cut into the base of the palm – exactly where the nerves are most exposed. Just be careful not to place too much weight or stress onto the hands while in these cuffs.
Cleaning this set isn’t particularly difficult at all. Almost all of the parts can just be easily wiped down with a slightly damp washcloth after use. Avoid getting these items near bodily fluids because of the difficulty of sterilization, but regular use should only require a little bit of a wipe down. For storage, you can figure out what setting works best for your regular partner and leave the cuffs curled up at that length, or you can lay the entire set flat. Don’t leave the cuffs curled up in a configuration that doesn’t fit the partner you usually play with as the cuffs will begin to crease from long-term storage in any particular circle. Just keep these cuffs out of direct sunlight, and you’ll be fine.
Overall, this spreader bar set could be a possible option for someone on a budget. It’s not the highest quality set, and it isn’t going to last a lifetime, but if you’re on a really tight budget, plan on replacing the locks anyway, and have wrists and ankles that fit within the cuffs’ limitations, this could be a set that might work for you. Just be aware that it may not give you the best “spreader bar” experience you could possibly have.
