Kinky gifts from science surplus

A reader writes, "Some BDSM enthusiasts have apparently taken over a science surplus website's tagging system to list popularly repurposed science/lab items. I suspect the website's creators did not have that in mind when they 'went social'."

Well yes, but it's also a timely reminder that American Science and Surplus is a trove of pure, unadulterated awesome, at reasonable prices, the kind of thing that makes great gifts for the kinky and non-kinky alike.

Items tagged "BDSM"

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Antinous / Moderator

Hmm. They don’t carry urethral sounds.
- http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair
  
  I should prefer new ones, if it’s all the same to you
http://glitch.tl/ Michael Smith

Made for your home darkroom, but loaded with dozens of uses for you creative types

Well its not going to get much darkroom use these days.

These guys are playing along.
- Charles Céleste Hutchins
  
  Oh, it’s getting darkroom use. Just nothing to do with film cameras.
http://www.facebook.com/postelwait Cameron Postelwait

they carry a bullwhip which makes this almost seem like the intended outcome. I bow to you, sciplus.com marketing manager.
- ldobe
  
  Also the electric flyswatter. It’s as effective a torture device as anything else I’ve been smacked in the face with
  - Meiles02
    
    We don’t get electric flies around here.
- BarBarSeven
  
  If you have ever met anyone from American Science & Surplus in Chicago — who are sciplus.com — you’d realize that they are as weird as these tags imply they are.
  
  Which is a long way of saying: None of this is surprising in the least.
  - kiptw
    
    I used to know them as JERRYCO, and their catalog was more rough-hewn than this, but you could see that they’d buy a million of something utterly useless if it gave them an excuse for a pun. For a while, they had a big store in Virginia Beach called “Grand Junquetion” (at any rate, it was associated with them in some way) with all kinds of appealing junk from little glow sticks (rarer then than now) to a liposuction machine, and all with quirky little signs bearing quips.
http://twitter.com/johnjreiser John Reiser

Here’s some photos of the interior. I think it’s their schtick. http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnjreiser/sets/72157632227749558/
- Kees Veling
  
  What a great place!
  Thanks fot the pics
Rummager

Clips, Clamps and Lashes, sure… but Heat-shrink Tubing? I don’t wanna know.
- retchdog
  
  at 1/4″ diameter shrinking to 1/8″, i can only imagine that it’s used as an aglet.
  - http://twitter.com/cjporkchop cjporkchop
    
    Thank you. You have allowed my mind to stop imagining possibilities.
http://egypt.urnash.com Egypt Urnash

Most of these objects have pretty obvious sex uses, but I’m still trying to figure out what people are intending to do with an 8′ diameter weather balloon. I mean, yes, it’s made out of latex, but it’s also described as super fragile. Best I can think of is maybe mummification play? Or maybe a DIY vac-bed, though I figure that’d break pretty easily.
- http://twitter.com/jere7my jere7my
  
  I have a friend who makes vacuum cubes, and I think the latex he uses is quite a bit thicker, especially given this from the balloon description: “The material is delicate and not made to survive brushes with pavement, pine branches, or clumsy physics students.” I’d expect vac-bed latex to be around 400 mils thick, and weather balloon latex to be around a hundredth of that.
- Boundegar
  
  It’s a Rover. Not strictly BDSM, but there’s room for crossover.
  - http://twitter.com/cjporkchop cjporkchop
    
    My google-fu fails me.
    
    Rover?
- http://profiles.google.com/tonyinabag tony m
  
  there are people who are into balloons. feeling, sound, popping (or the anticipation of whether it’s going to pop or not), etc. also, you can crawl inside of them once they’re fully inflated. (which, uh, i actually did once at a party. it was very bizarre).
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Insert it and blow it up inside.
  - http://egypt.urnash.com Egypt Urnash
    
    IMHO that level of inflation play is best reserved for impossible typesex on the Internet! I’m imagining the real-world consequences of having that done, and whatever hole I choose, it ain’t pretty…
Robert Becht

Thanks boing boing ordering my son some Xmas stuff right now. Notice all the hand drawn images? What is up with that?
- BarBarSeven
  
  Hand drawn images are more compelling. Every look through an old novelty catalog or comic book? The drawings of what the things might be are more enticing than what the things really are.
  - Robert Becht
    
    They are pretty cool. I just don’t see it selling many more items. I admire the commitment there. Could not find an item without a drawing no matter how mundane.
    - BarBarSeven
      
      You miss the point. The vast majority of surplus sites simply have boring pictures & robotic descriptions. In contrast, American Science & Surplus stands out. That’s how they score more sales than other places selling—let’s face it—piles of crap.
Jake0748

I was gonna say… “hey, where’s Antinous”? But oops, there he was, top of the comments. My bad. :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones

AS&S is awesome. I’ve ordered much too much stuff from them through the years.

The catalogs are indeed entertaining. They once offered “Non working electric buzzers.” For parts, presumably. The ad copy concluded “If one of the buzzers you receive proves to work, return it to us for a prompt replacement with a broken one.”
coolvoodoo

Another tried and true source for bargain BDSM gear: your local “dollar” or “99-cent” store! At least on the west coast….I went to some “dollar stores” on the east coast and the proprietors seemed amazed when I told them that the dollar stores in California really carried items that were only a dollar! Clothespins, duct tape, wooden spoons, spatulas, candles….well, you get the idea. Enjoy!
- http://twitter.com/cjporkchop cjporkchop
  
  Finally, a use for dollar-store candles that already smell like ass.
Ed Ligget. Tuba.

Pfft. I’ve been getting American Science and Surplus catalogs on and off since the early ’90s and they’ve always worked innuendo into many of their listings. I remember one for some wooden rods that were something like 1″x6″ and rounded on one end and the title of the entry was “Feed Your Beaver.”