XR Brands STRICT XL Bondage Board Review

Specially crafted for bondage play wherever you go, the XR Brands XL Bondage Board essentially unfolds into a bondage playground – and can be used anywhere (quite literally!).

When not in use, the XR Brands Strict XL Bondage Board folds up – into about the size of really, really thick suitcase. Two carrying handles help you get it where it needs to go, and once you get there, the XL Bondage Board can be unfastened, and it lays flat into a very-awesome bondage playground.

Each one of the four separate panels includes 4 or 5 bondage points along the outer edges of the bondage board. These bondage points are sturdy, long and thin D-rings that are very-firmly fastened into the wood that’s at the core of the bondage board.

When unfolded, the Bondage Board XL from XR Brands ends up at 65″ in length with 24″ in width. This is longer than the original Bondage Board XR Brands made – hence the “XL” designation. This 65″ length offers more room for bondage – especially if you happen to be playing with a tall person. While it’s still not quite human length for many tall humans, it ends up at 5 foot, 5 inches which is a lot closer than the last bondage board’s length at under 5 feet.

The Bondage Board XL does not come with any cuffs. You’ll need to provide your own – as well as any clips that your cuffs need to attach them to D-rings. (Might I recommend the Tom of Finland Wrist Cuffs?)

Now that you have the basics of this portable bondage system, let’s get into the details in this Strict Bondage Board XL Review:

Is the XL Bondage Board Comfortable?

Yep! The exact amount of comfort is really going to depend on your body size and weight, but for the most part, it’s pretty darn comfortable. It’s not quite like lying on a bed, but it isn’t like laying on hardwood flooring either. I’d compare it to laying down on slightly squishy carpet. You can still tell it’s a hard surface, but it isn’t obnoxiously noticeable on your less-squishy bits.

The XR Brands XL Bondage Board further improved the comfort with a recessed design for all of the D-rings. If you aren’t using a D-ring, you can fold it flat – and since it’s recessed into the board itself, that means you won’t really feel the D-ring – even if you’re wider than the bondage board itself (like around the hips). This means you can extend any D-rings you actively want to use, and you can keep the rest of them recessed for comfort – especially if you’re a thicker person or do a lot of wiggling during play.

If you have someone who doesn’t like lying down on firmer surfaces, you can modify that as needed. It’ll get a bit silly looking, but there’s room enough for pillows to fit between the D-ring slots throughout the XL Bondage Board. You can easily stuff pillows underneath the captive – or you can get some cheap foam and cut it into the exact size you need to add further padding to the XL Bondage Board for your partner’s comfort. I don’t think that will be necessary for most people out there, but it’s worth noting if the idea of a semi-firm surface is what’s keeping you from the XL Bondage Board.

How Well Does the XL Bondage Board Work for Bondage?

It’s a fantastic option for bondage. We’ve given it quite a run down – and we still haven’t seen any sign of D-ring weakness. All of the D-rings seem extremely well-fastened. With some close-up analysis, I’d actually guess that the rivets holding the D-rings in are fastened into the wood paneling in each spot. There are four rivets that hold down each D-ring, and as mentioned, each one of the D-ring spots is actually recessed into the flat surface of the faux leather. This keeps them out of the way when you don’t want to use them.

When you do want to use them, though, each one of the D-rings easily flips up and becomes a large, available surface for bondage. These D-rings are huge, and you could easily fit four to six bondage points onto a single D-ring if you needed to. The double-sided clips work great for attaching the D-rings of your restraints to the D-rings of the XL Bondage Board.

Speaking of restraints, it’s worth mentioning that the XL Bondage Board doesn’t come with any restraints. Honestly, if it did, it’d probably jump the cost another $100 to $150 to include “good” restraints that are worth the quality of the bondage board. Since most of us have bondage cuffs lying around our homes, this isn’t a huge deal at all. (In fact, you could easily get buy with a cheap pair of Sportsheets Cuffs if you want to.)

Depending on what bondage you want to do with your Bondage Board XL, I’d recommend having double-sided clips and some chains and locks. The double-sided clips will make it easy to move your partner’s limbs around the bondage board as you play, and the chain and locks allow you to “extend” the range of each one of the D-rings. This lets you give your partner some wiggle room – or lets you enjoy seated or standing positions with the Bondage Board XL. You can pick up the chain at a hardware store (ensure it isn’t scratchy), and locks are simple to find at big box stores – same with the double-sided clips.

As for what you can restrain onto the XL Bondage Board, your gear and imagination is the limit. You can use rope strung through each one of the D-rings for a full body immobilization scene. You can use a collar, wrist cuffs, waist cuff, thigh cuff, or ankle cuff to restrain those body parts onto the bondage board. You can use a bondage cock ring to fasten a penis to the D-rings of the XL Bondage Board. Really, if the object has a D-ring or a way to loop a strap or chain around it, it can easily be fastened to the XL Bondage Board. There’s a LOT of possibilities there (even if all you tend to do is just fasten the wrist and ankles like a lazy Domme like me).

Positions for the XL Bondage Board?

As we’ve been experimenting with the XL Bondage Board, we’ve figured out some fun ways to use it for our sex and bondage play – so I figured I’d pass them on.

Laying Flat: Whether face-down or face-up, the most-obvious use for the XL Bondage Board is just the most-borig, most-commonly displayed position with your partner laying flat on the XL Bondage Board. This portable bondage board is 65″ in total length, so it’s quite possible that your partner may be longer than the board. (For femdoms, I’d imagine this will be more common.) It’s not a huge deal, though. Just add a bit of chain to the D-rings if needed if choosing to restrain any body part that falls outside of the bondage board. For us, my 6-foot partner didn’t really feel like she “hung off” the board. The backs of her feet pressed into the carpet (instead of the board), but they were still close enough to the board that I could bind them into the restraints with double-sided clips.

Kneeling on All Fours: You can also get away with any sort of kneeling position – and you have the built-in bondage points ready to go right there. I’d really recommend that you get something soft and cushiony for the knees at a minimum, but if you’re going to place the elbows onto the XL Bondage Board, something soft might be nice for them too.

Propped Up Against the Wall: We’ve had some success propping this up against the wall. Not as much as with the original Bondage Board (which folded in half very nicely) because it only had two panels, but the XL Bondage Board still works for propping it up against the wall. Just place two of the panels against the wall and have your partner sit up against them. As long as your partner isn’t sitting forward very often, their upper bodyweight will keep the XL Bondage Board pressed against the wall while keeping their wrists restrained to the wall as well.

Supported and Bend Over: This one is shown on the packaging (and shown above), but we haven’t tried it (honestly). It looks like you can partially fold the center-most panels of the XL Bondage Board – then chain them together with a sturdy chain to ensure they stay at a bend. I would imagine this would feel a bit pokey in the abdomen – and probably wouldn’t work as nicely for plus-sized individuals- but it is an option that I want to mention. I don’t see anything about the XL Bondage Board that would make this problematic – just ensure that you choose very-strong chain for doing the supporting. When playing, you’re going to be wiggling and pulling that chain taut, and letting the XL Bondage Board fly flat would likely pinch skin – then feel extremely uncomfortable if it was trying to nonconsensually stretch your partner because of the placement of the thigh cuffs you’ve used.

Sitting Up While the Board is Flat: There’s literally no reason that your captive needs to “lay” on the board. They can easily sit down on it – and you can strap their ankles, thighs, or wrists down. I recommend doing this on one of the edges of the XL Bondage Board as best as possible. If you do it in the middle, it makes the furthest-out panels move around like “wings” as your partner flutters or struggles. Towards the ends, you get a lot less movement from the rest of the board.

Standing Up while the Board is Flat: You’ll want chains to make this happen, but it’s very doable. In this case, I recommend putting heavy objects on the two furthest-out panels – and having your partner stand on the middle two panels. Their own body weight will keep the XL Bondage Board in place, and you can strap their ankles or wrists down to the board while they stand on top of it. We found this super helpful for anytime I wanted my partner to be “forcefully” involved in an activity where I wanted him to watch or observe. (We used it to keep him place, waiting, as my towel bitch while I was showering.)

Kneeling on the Folded Up Option: There’s no reason that you can’t “use” the XL Bondage Board while it’s folded up. All of the D-rings are snuggly protected inside of the folded-up shape, but you can use it for kneeling on top of (for a fun balance challenge) or bending over for a spanking. It’s 16″ in height, uncompressed, while folded up, so it’s about on-par with some of the sex furniture out there in height.

Half-on, Half-Off While Laying: Want to do a messy activity on the lower body while using the XL Bondage Board for bondage? Just lay 90-degrees from the board – so your upper body is on top of the board and the lower body is comfortably far away from the body. The weight of the upper body holds the board in place, and you can fully outstretch the captive’s arms to make use of the full length of the XL Bondage Board. Now you can enjoy squirting, watersports, or wet play on the lower half of the body – without ruining the XL Bondage Board. (I’d recommend a towel or something soft beneath the back at the point where the board ends. Depending on your weight and how you’re positioned, that spot might be a bit uncomfortable.)

Anywhere and Everywhere: I think one of the biggest points of the XL Bondage Board is just exactly how “anywhere” it is. If there’s ever been places where you want to do bondage – but haven’t had the bondage points – that’s exactly where the XL Bondage Board excels. We’ve used it laying down on the couch. We’ve used it on the bathroom floor. We’ve tossed it onto the bed. We haven’t done it yet (mostly because we haven’t been to a party since the pandemic), but I fully intend to find a good portable, shoulder-strap bag to carry the XL Bondage Board for use at kink parties too. That’s the cool thing about it. Its built-in bondage points literally anywhere without harming or changing anything about your environment. It’s a lazy Dommes (and renting-her-place-Domme’s) dream.

What Can You Do on the XL Bondage Board?

You can pretty much do anything you’d like with the XL Bondage Board. With two bondage points per “panel” and some bonus bondage points on the edges of the board, you have a whole lot of different ways to use the XL Bondage Board. It can be used for full immobilization scenes as well as bondage-for-intercourse. It can go from a casual bondage board used to “park” your service submissive all the way to a fun way to restrain two people to each other. It’s really up to the limits of your imagination.

Only things that I’d caution:

• Ensure your partner’s body weight is comfortably on top of the board. Your partner’s weight on top of the board is what keeps the board in place. If your partner isn’t on top of the board, when they pull on their restraints, it’s going to “lift” the board – and possibly tip them over depending on the position. If you’re going to do something with light weight on the Strict Bondage Board XL, make sure you weight it down with other, heavy objects.
• The XL Bondage Board probably can’t take a serious wet play BDSM scene. The faux leather wipes up relatively nicely from smaller messes, but because of the bendable design and all of the small crevices near the D-ring attachment points, I really wouldn’t depend on the XL Bondage Board for your aquatic or watersports scenes. I’d try to keep most of your intense squirting scenes off of it as well.

Is the XL Bondage Board Portable?

So, presumably, you may be looking into the XL Bondage Board for portability. After all, this portable bondage platform folds up into an easy-carry rectangle when all four panels are stacked up on top of one another. That’s very accurate.

When we’re just taking the physical footprint into account, yeah, the XL Bondage Board is portable. It’s large and thick, and slightly awkward, but it’s compact enough that you can carry it around with one hand – and it takes up less physical space than some of my hard-shelled luggage items.

It isn’t easily portable, though, which is probably what a lot of people are looking for. This fucker is heavy. At about 30 pounds, it isn’t something you just toss over your shoulder and head out. Speaking of putting it over your shoulder, the XL Bondage Board’s carrying straps aren’t long enough to be put over the shoulder – so you’re going to be hand-holding this beast. I’m possibly just a wimp, but carrying 30 pounds in my hands with forearm strength only without the ability to toss it over my shoulder isn’t an easy endeavor for me.

As the final nail in the coffin, the XL Bondage Board doesn’t come with any sort of storage bag. This means that it’ll look like itself – but folded up – if you attempt to take it somewhere. If you’re porting it around the house, you probably don’t care, but if the goal was to easily take this into a hotel lobby and pretend that it’s a yoga prop, that’s not happening.

That all being said, we HAVE had success porting it around. You just have to get creative with it. We tossed it into a full-sized duffel bag with shoulder straps, and that made it much, much more palatable to carry around. It was honestly much easier to carry around than the time I stuffed the Motorbunny into that same duffel and made my partner carry it around a play party all night until I was ready to surprise him with its existence.

(It’s worth noting that the strap that “fastens” all four panels together is a velcro strap – and that strap is also entirely removable from the XL Bondage Board. There is no point that connects it to the XL Bondage Board – not even a loop. This means it’s really-not-hard to lose that strap – and ensure that you never have a way to easily fold up the XL Bondage Board ever again. Make sure to treat that fastening strap like gold – and don’t lose it!)

XR Brands Strict Bondage Board XL Review Final Thoughts

I really, really love the XL Bondage Board. It isn’t as portable as the original Bondage Board (mostly due to its size and heft – but also due to some choices on the manufacturer’s end), but the longer length and the ability to make bondage happen – anywhere – makes it all worth it.

You can get quite a few positions out of the XR Brands Strict Bondage Board XL if you’re creative, and most importantly, you can use it virtually anywhere in your house that has the space for a human being to lie flat. The D-rings all along the edges of the board mean you can really do the types of bondage that you want; there will always be a D-ring close-at-hand.

It’s comfortable enough, it folds flat for easy, discreet storage (especially in homes with limited storage), and once it’s unfolded, you have a world of bondage options available at your fingertips.

I can see the Bondage Board XL being particularly helpful for those who live in apartments (like myself), aren’t handy enough to properly install bondage points in their home (also me), people who travel a lot and want to have bondage access at their fingertips, and people who don’t want to add bondage points to their already-perfect home. In all of those cases, the Bondage Board XL does a fantastic job of providing a playspace for (honestly) hundreds of different kink uses.