Selfbondage: Hidden Key Flag Football (Solo/M)

[bigsmile21]

With some funds from Santa, one of my shopping stops yesterday was the sports gear store. I found some black padded boxing gloves, a double-sided mouth guard, and four flag football straps: each had two Velcro flags threaded through a white strap with double D-rings at one end. I got the gloves as they’re the cheapest replacement for fist mitts, with Velcro wrist wraps that can make for easy application and safe removal. The mouth guard was for some eventual gag work.

I had an idea for how to use the flag football straps the moment I saw them. Each was about $2, and they’d been sitting in a bin in the back of the store for so long that the barcode was wearing away. With my items in tow, I wrapped up the day’s errands (mostly laundry and groceries since I’d been away for the holidays) and headed home. Later that night I detached all eight of the flag football straps from their Velcro. My idea was to slip keys between some of the flags and the Velcro fixings, mix them up, then hang the straps around my bedroom. Each strap would have two flags; that meant one strap could have up to key keys (or as few as none!). I decided to use a small key for a suitcase lock, a skinny key for a small padlock, and a larger key for a long Brinks padlock.

I locked wrist and ankle restraints on using the suitcase locks (same small key would unlock all four). As always, I kept a backup key in my pocket, zipped closed to prevent it from slipping out during my struggles. I hung the straps around my room: the first on my door handle, the second on the cabinet, the third on the closet, and the fourth from right side of my bed frame which had about two feet of space from the right wall. I had no idea which straps held which keys and was getting more excited. Next piece of equipment to apply was the padded leather gag, locked by the small padlock. It filled most of my mouth comfortably and pressed my tongue down. I tried pushing it out with my tongue but there was hardly any give.

I considered my where I wanted to start in the floor of my room. I chose to start backed up against the closed door, so I’d have immediate access to at least on of the straps. Next item to go on was a padded leather blindfold. No locks for that, since the padding filled in the sockets under my eyebrows to keep the blindfold in place. Next, I applied my old wrestling headgear, which was made of two hard plastic black cups connected across the top and back of the head by adjustable Velcro straps. There was also an under-chin strap that helped keep the headgear in place. This item further secured the gag and blindfold to my head, leaving me without sight, with muffled speech, and slightly muffled hearing.

I reached behind me for the long padlock and threaded it through the D-rings in the wrist and ankle restraints. It took some finger fiddling, but I finally felt the lock click shut, putting myself into a semi-rigid hogtie. For now, it wasn’t too cumbersome since I was sitting up, but moving across the room would be challenging.

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I sat there in silence for a solid minute, thinking through my movements around the room. There were eight flags to pull, but only three keys. Two of the keys would offer immediate release: the suitcase lock key would unlock any of the leather restraints, while the Brinks key would free me from the hogtie position. Once my hands were unbound, I could remove the headgear and blindfold as well. The third key was for the plug gag, which I’d need free hands for in order to remove. Each strap hung at most a foot off the ground, easily with reach if I sat up. True, sitting up from a tight hogtie would be challenging. I’d also need to either catch the key or listen very intently for if it fell to the ground. The largest key had a key ring attached to it, so it would jingle once it contacted the floor. The smaller keys would only make a slight thud.

I pulled behind me on the first flag but didn’t hear anything. With my back against the door I would have felt any key falling against my back. I reached for the second flag and tugged it free. I hear the distinct noise of the Velcro separating, but no key kitting the floor. I felt around for at least two minutes, fanning my hands out as much as possible. My heart was beating louder in my ears. If both these flags were truly duds, that meant I still had six more flags to pull. I sat there for another minute, my hands feeling around on the floor once more. I had to make sure I wasn’t leaving any keys behind. Doing so would be really disorienting if I had to make my way back across the room to where I thought I’d started.

The next closest flags were hanging from the cabinet to my left, about two feet away. I slowly leaned down to the left and found myself laying on my side. The hogtie puled my limbs backwards and forced my chest out. Sitting up had meant I could spread my knees out some, giving me more space and less pressure on my arms. Laying down on my side, there was hardly any give in the position. I had to essentially drive with my butt, as that was my new center of gravity. There wasn’t any room to kick my feet out or bring them in because they were stuck in place if I didn’t want to bring my arms back any further. Two minutes of butt scooching later, my hands felt the front of the cabinet, and fortunately the bottom of the flags. A tight as the hogtie was, there wasn’t much freedom to push or curl myself up into a sitting position. Getting to the flags on the third strap would be very challenging.

I tugged on the flag in my right hand and felt a small thud against my right shoulder. It fell in front of my body, so I’d have to shimmy on the floor some more in order to get it. Before doing that, though, I tugged at the other flag, but nothing fell. This strap, assuming I hadn’t missed the falling another key, had one of the three keys and a dud behind the other flag. I pushed my pelvis forward and freed up a few inches of forward movement. The back of my left hand was still pressed against the carpet, but it was the first part of me to feel the small key. I grasped it in both hands and felt the teeth. It was for the lock holding my gag in place, currently useless to me. I considered leaving it, but instead decided to slip it into my right sock. It made me feel safer just knowing I had at least one of the keys, even if I couldn’t use it right now.

At this point I had a few options. There were two more strands remaining: one hanging from the closet and the second on the other side of my bed. Getting to the closet strand would require me scooting up slowly against the closet, as I currently couldn’t reach the strands from the ground. The fourth strand would be low enough to the carpet for me to reach but it would be a tight squeeze between the bad frame and the wall. Four flags left, and only two keys. Good news was either of the keys could free me. Bad news was I had no idea which approach was best. Mathematically, there was a 50/50 chance of finding a key behind a flag. Also mathematically, it was equally likely that one of the remaining strands had no keys behind its two flags. Getting to either strand would be a lot of work but tackling the closet strand first would be much smarter than trying to back out of the narrow corridor between my bed frame and the wall, restrained as I was.

I could also use the backup key in my pocket. That type of ending doesn’t get brought up enough in these kinds of stories. I took stock of my hands and each limb was still covered in warm sweat. No tingling or cold sensation from restricted blood flow. My back felt fine. I haven’t ever had back issues and had worked out earlier that day, so my body was nice and loose. The blindfold was still secured, and my jaw was still comfortably fitted around the plug gag. The leather was soft, which made from better long-term bondage. I wanted to challenge myself, and was still having fun, so for now I chose to continue the challenge.

It was roughly five feet diagonally from my current position to the front of the closet, with one corner of my bed from blocking the way. I’d need to move up and then over like a knight in chess. Currently I felt more like a trussed-up turkey than a noble knight. Id’ gotten from the door to the cabinet by directing my butt forward. This time, I’d need to repeat what I’d done to get the first key: move my pelvis forward as much as possible and then scoot my bound limbs and shoulder across the floor.

It was a very slow and arduous trek across the carpet. A snail would leave a faint slime trail. I’m sure I left a faint trail of sweat and drool, quickly absorbed into the carpet and rubbing against my left shoulder and side. Once past the corner of the bedframe, I was able to rotate myself almost completely. My head no faced the door and my feet and butt were pointed towards the closet. It was much easier then to scoot towards the closet butt-first. Graceful? No. Effective? Yes.

I felt my toes touch the bottom of the closet. With a lot of effort, I backed into the closet and eventually righted myself upright. It was a balancing act of pulling my feet in close in order to move my shoulders up an inch at a time. I’d worked out earlier that day, but that moment right there was an additional core workout. Sitting up, I could feel the flags against my back, just barely touching my fingertips. In a combination of pinning the flags with my head and tugging at the bottom of the flags with my fingers, I pulled both flags at once. This made for a louder ripping noise as the Velcro separated. I didn’t feel anything fall against my back or hit my hands. And the louder noise could have easily dwarfed the sound of the smaller key hitting the carpet. I was still pretty sure I’d head the larger key and its keyring hit the floor if it did. I fanned my hands out, widening my knees in order to sink my hands closer to the carpet. If any of the leys fell and I missed them, it would be a very difficult way back from the fourth strand. This third strand must have had both duds, which meant that once I got to the fourth strand that both keys were waiting for me. Assuming I hadn’t left any behind me in my earlier pulls.

I leaned down slowly onto my right side. At this point my left shoulder was starting to pick up some carpet burn. Not sore, still, but it would be better to go on my right side for this last trek. Going onto my stomach would be problematic, as it would be a tight squeeze to get to the keys and I wouldn’t have much maneuverability to tug and retrieve the keys. Head-first, I scooted my body towards the final hanging pair of flags. Even though I was blindfolded, I could sense the closeness of the bedframe and wall after scooting forward two feet. The sound of my breathing was bouncing back to me more clearly, and there was less background noise. I carefully nudged my shoulder and then knees forward. If I bumped my knees against the bottom of the bedframe then I’d need back out and over a bit more before trying to move up again. I also had to make sure I didn’t try to move too much of me forward at once, which could leave me wedged tight against the bedframe and the wall. Going at the pace of a snail, it inched forward (do they call it “centimetered” forward outside of the U.S., or a different idiom?).

My head bumped slightly against the back corner of the bed frame. I could feel one of the straps against the (little) exposed skin on my face. If I had left the gag out, I could have pulled it free with my teeth, which may be an option for the future. I still needed to reach the keys, so I gradually pushed my shoulder and then back up against the wall. Once up, I scooted my butt over to the right and reached for where I thought the flags hung. I felt one, gripped it, and gave a downward tug. I heard a very clear jingling sound as the larger key first touched my arm and then landed onto the floor. My heart raced in excitement: first for finding a key that would release me and second for knowing I hadn’t left it behind. I reached around for it and felt the metal with my fingers. I picked it up and worked it into the long padlock. A moment later I was able to turn the key and pop the lock open.

There was an instant release of tension as my arms moved upwards away from the padlock and my feet. I moved them in front of me and let them hang there for a few seconds. I felt up and around to the headgear and released the under-chin strap. The headgear slid up and over my head, with the hair around my ears feeling cooler from the exposed air. I unbuckled the leather blindfold from my face and opened my eyes, blinking them several times. The clock across my room said I’d spent about an hour and a half bound in my predicament. It had felt longer, but also shorter at the same time. I could recall most of the moment-to-moment struggles right then, but also couldn’t quite connect the dots to how I got from one point to the next. I reached for the plug gag’s buckle and felt the small lock. I fished its key out from my sock and removed the gag. I stood, bending my knees for the first time in almost two hours. I got a cup of water from the fridge and walked back into my room, taking in the pulled flags laying in an almost random pattern across the carpet. I realized I still had the leather wrist and ankle restraints on, so I moved to the final flag. Pulling it free, the small key for the suitcase locks fell to the floor. I picked it up and set it next to the clock. I did a little bit of tidying up, leaving the restraints on. I ended up sleeping with them on, didn’t unlock and unbuckle them until this morning. Overall, a very fun and challenging experience. I liked the variability with the straps and look forward to trying out new scenarios in the future!

[MaxRoper]

This is great! You developed an excellent low cost, low tech method - one I'd never thought or heard of - and apparently it worked quite well the first time. Your detailed description of the ordeal was easy to follow, and I appreciated your emphasis on the backup key.

I wonder how disappointed you would've been to find the right key earlier in the session. Thanks for posting!