rodeoh

Harness Showdown: Aslan Jaguar vs. RodeoH Briefs

Kate Sloan

I have finally acquired the two harnesses of my dreams – two of the best harnesses you could ever hope to find, probably. And while I love them both more than words can say, I am a sex toy reviewer – which means I have to be objective and helpful. So, like a cruel mother, I have to pit my babies against each other and write an exhaustive comparison.

The two harnesses in question: the Aslan Leather Jaguar and the RodeoH brief. (Both are pictured above with the Tantus Acute.) Alright, let’s get this show on the road.

Material

The Jaguar is made of leather, and HOLY FUCKING FUCK, it is the sexiest leather I have ever encountered. I don’t have a leather fetish but this harness just might change my mind on this front. It has that powerful-but-not-overpowering leather smell, and it’s soft and broken-in already when you get it. The pliability of the leather makes it feel like a second skin when you’ve been wearing it for a while.

For vegans and other folks who might have issues with leather, the Jag also comes in a vegan version, often for a slightly higher price.

The RodeoH is made of a cotton-elastane blend, much like your favorite pair of underwear. It’s soft to the touch and feels well-constructed.

Sizing and Fit

The Jag comes in two sizes, small and large. “Small” fits hip sizes from 26 to 44 inches; “large” fits 36 to 56 inches. I went with the small size because my hips are currently around 41 inches and I’m in the process of losing weight, so the small will continue to fit me. The hip and butt straps on the Jag are all super adjustable so you should be able to get a good fit no matter what your dimensions are. I’ve heard of some people needing to punch extra holes in the straps or trim the ends of their straps for sizing reasons, but I don’t think the typical person will need to do that stuff if they buy according to their (accurate) hip measurement.

The RodeoH comes in 9 different sizes: 23-24", 25-26", 27-29", and so on, all the way up to 52-55". While each size seems to allow for only a small range of measurements, the material is actually very stretchy and accommodating; I probably got a size or two smaller than I should have, and my harness still fits nicely, albeit snugly. RodeoH recommends sizing down for more control during thrusting anyway.

If you’re very small and have a hip measurement between 23" and 26", the RodeoH is probably the better choice for you because the Jag won’t get small enough to fit you unless you make some alterations yourself.

Getting In and Out

Obviously it’s hard to beat the RodeoH in this category, since you just step into it and pull it up, like underwear. Same dealio when you take it off.

The Jag looks a bit more intimidating to put on, but actually, if you leave one side undone each time you finish using it, it only takes a few seconds to step into it and get it fastened up. Here’s a video of the founder of Aslan Leather demonstrating this technique (it’s SFW – he puts it on over his pants).

Comfort

I find both of these harnesses very comfortable, though I think the RodeoH wins in this category simply because, well, it’s basically a pair of underwear. Hard to get much comfier than that.

I can imagine that the Jag could get a little hard to deal with if you were wearing it under pants for hours at a time, or if you had to sit on a hard chair for a while, because of the metal D-rings in the ass region.

I also have more slippage with the Jag – the butt straps sometimes give me a wedgie, possibly because of my sizeable booty. I don’t have this issue with the RodeoH because, of course, it doesn’t have straps.

Dildos and O-Rings

Neither my Jag nor my RodeoH came with extra O-rings. That makes sense for the RodeoH, because you can’t switch out the 1.5" O-ring it comes with; it’s sewn right into the harness, and has a little bit of stretch to allow for larger dildos. But you can swap out the O-ring on the Jag, so I was surprised that it didn’t come with any additional rings.

The O-ring that comes with the Jag has a 2" diameter, which is pretty big. I have some smaller rings that came with my Tantus Bend Over Beginner kit, so I put one of those in. Replacing the O-ring is easy: you just have to undo the 3 snaps surrounding the ring area, take out the old one, put in the new one, and do up the snaps again.

The unchangeable O-ring on the RodeoH makes it an unwise choice if you plan on using dildos significantly smaller than 1.5" in diameter. I find that dildos in the 1.25"-or-smaller range flop around a little in the RodeoH, while I can get them to stand at attention better in my Jag if I use an appropriately-sized O-ring. And of course, the fixed size of the RodeoH’s ring also means that it can’t accommodate dildos much larger than its ring’s diameter.

Both harnesses work best with flat-based dildos that don’t have balls, though I imagine you could get a testicled dildo into the Jag with a wide enough O-ring and some gentle jimmying.

Fucking/Thrusting

Full disclosure: I don’t currently have a willing strap-on partner, so all the testing I did in this department was done in mid-air or in a faux vagina I made by cupping my hand. Sorry!

When my Jag is properly adjusted and tightened all the way around, it’s very stable. I do find I get some slippage in the back D-rings after a while, but that’s easily fixed by quickly tightening ‘em up.

The RodeoH is definitely less stable and there is more flopping around and less control, because of the lack of straps and tightenability (that’s not a word, I know, but I just coined it). As I said above, buying a size or two smaller can help a bit with this, but I think if you need a lot of stability, you’re gonna need an old-fashioned two-strap harness.

Pleasure for the Wearer

The Jag was designed specifically so that the dildo would rest on top of the clit during use, creating more pleasure for the wearer. And damn, it works. Mine doesn’t sit directly on my clit but maybe an inch above, which is actually where I prefer to be stimulated – on the upper shaft of my clit. Even just fucking my hand produces a lot of pleasure for me. I don’t know if I could reach orgasm that way, but it feels pretty awesome.

The dildo sits higher in my RodeoH, on my pubic mound, so there is some pleasure but not as much. However, the RodeoH has something the Jag doesn’t: a little pouch behind the dildo, where you can tuck a bullet vibe if you so desire. That makes up for the less-than-ideal dildo placement, if you ask me.

Should you want to use a double-ended dildo like the Feeldoe, the Jag is your man: there’s no fabric or leather between the dildo and your body, so you’re free to self-penetrate as much as you want. The RodeoH has some fabric behind the dildo so you can’t use double-ended dildos with it, and it’s hard (if not impossible) for the wearer to receive any genital stimulation while wearing it.

Sex Appeal

As a femme person, I definitely feel hotter in the Jag. The leather and styling strike me as classically sexy without being particularly gendered. The RodeoH, on the other hand, feels pretty boyish; I can imagine myself loving the look of it if I was doing some kind of boy/butch roleplay, but as my regular girly self, it doesn’t quite gel with my aesthetic and gender identity.

However, RodeoH has a lace panty style which is sexy as hell and very feminine. Options, yay!

Price

You can get the classic RodeoH brief for $45, or the boxer style or panty style for $49. As far as high-quality harnesses go, those are excellent prices.

The Jaguar is anywhere from $95 to $120 depending on where you get it from. The price was a pretty big deterrent to me, honestly, on my student budget. I only ended up buying the Jag because EcoSex was having a Canada Day sale and I was able to get it for $85 including shipping and tax. And even that felt pretty steep to me.

Other Considerations

Aslan Leather products have a lifetime guarantee, so if your harness breaks, they will repair or replace it for free.

My (cis male) boyfriend is able to comfortably wear the RodeoH and fuck me with dildos that way. His average-sized (about 6") penis doesn’t get squished by the harness even when he’s hard. Harnesses specifically for cis dudes do exist, but they’re pretty pricey as far as I’ve ever seen.

Aslan harnesses are handmade here in Canada, while RodeoH harnesses are made in China.

RodeoH harnesses can be worn as makeshift underwear if, say, it’s been too long since you’ve done your laundry. (Naughty!)

Conclusion

…Well, I don’t know if I have a conclusion. I don’t think either of these harnesses necessarily came out on top; it all just depends on what you’re looking for in a harness. I know that both will serve me well in my lifetime, even if I don’t have a strap-on partner at the moment.

Both of these harnesses are gorgeous, well-made, and get the job done. I’m so happy I own them.

What’s the harness of your dreams? Or, what’s your favorite harness you’ve ever tried?

Review: Vixen Creations Maverick

Kate Sloan

I ordered the VixSkin Maverick impulsively one night when I was having a major craving for girthy silicone cock.

This is not usually something I crave. Ordinarily I stick with my moderately-sized toys and they fill up my smallish pussy pretty well. But lately I’ve been wanting to push my vagina’s boundaries – not just because bigger toys are starting to feel good to me, but also because I don’t want to be limited as a sex toy reviewer.

So, I bought the Maverick. And I kind of love it.

Maverick is made of a material called VixSkin that you may have heard me rave about before (and again, and again). It’s dual-density silicone, meaning that it’s firm on the inside and squishy on the outside.

There are basically two camps of people, those who prefer O2 and those who prefer VixSkin, and your preference will depend on whether your orifices like toys that are soft and squishy (VixSkin) or relatively firm (O2). Personally, I lean toward the former group, but it really depends on my mood.

The Maverick is 2″ in diameter. That’s pretty fucking girthy. I was expecting pain or a lengthy warm-up process, but actually, the first time I inserted my Maverick, I experienced neither. I lubed it up, slowly slid it in, and was pain-free the whole time. Hallelujah.

The secret to Maverick being so comfortable is, of course, its squishiness. I would say that a 2″-wide VixSkin dildo feels more like 1 ½”-wide firmer dildo – so keep that in mind, whether you love that stretched-out feeling or would rather avoid it at all costs.

Maverick’s head is big and exaggerated. Its coronal ridge juts way out, and is followed by another ridge that’s meant to look like a retracted foreskin. That’s some significant and hella noticeable texture, and it feels highly pleasurable and realistic.

Maverick’s girth and shape allow it to feel good even when I’m not moving it. The head pushes against my G-spot while I clench my muscles or even while I’m holding still. I am not a squirter (yet?) but I’m sure this toy could make me squirt if I was. The G-spot pressure is that intense.

The base is a suction cup. Maverick looks funny and awesome when firmly attached to my shower wall. One time I forgot it in there by accident, and had to run back and grab it before anyone else used that bathroom. That story isn’t really important information to include in a review, I guess. Oh well.

One night, I had my boyfriend put on my RodeoH harness and fuck me with the Maverick. It was fantastic, even though my boyfriend has zero experience using a strap-on. The dildo stayed in place really well and we had no issues, even though we were fucking pretty hard. (Also, can I get a round of applause for my boyfriend for being secure enough in his masculinity to strap on an enormous dildo and use it on me?!)

To sum up, the Maverick is a dildo I would wholeheartedly recommend to seasoned size queens as well as SQs-in-training. It’s well-designed, high-quality, and makes me feel lucky to have a G-spot.

Cheap Orgasms, Anyone?

Kate Sloan

I usually believe that a more expensive sex toy has got to be better than a cheap one. After all, my all-time favorite toy costs $140 plus a $40 attachment; runners-up cost anywhere from $79 to $139. These toys are pricey for a reason, and that reason is: they’re good.

However, some quality sex toys are, indeed, cheap. Here’s a few solid and inexpensive options…

1. California Exotics’ Turbo Glider is a popular, classic, traditional vibrator. It’s made of hard plastic, the only sex toy material I’m aware of which manages to be non-porous, body-safe, and cheap. It’s waterproof, has some very pleasing texture, and is also the strongest battery-operated vibe I’ve ever come across. At $16, you can hardly call it an investment, but if it was, it’d be a worthwhile one!

2. Don Wands’ Bent Graduate is a wonderful glass dildo that goes straight for the G-spot. It’s double-ended, easy to get clean, and comes in cute colors. What’s not to like?

3. Tantus makes a dildo called Acute which is tiny but hits my G-spot like a mofo. Seriously, I’ve switched over to this toy many times mid-wank because the dildo I was previously using just wasn’t cutting it in terms of G-spot stimulation. It would also be fabulous for pegging, though I don’t currently have a willing partner for that one! At only $32, it’s an absolute steal for a toy I use as often as I do.

4. Another California Exotics toy! (See, they’re not all bad.) The Eclipse vaginal balls are one of the best kegel toys I’ve found – lots of delicious bouncing, sturdy retrieval cord, cute design – and they also happen to be made of body-safe materials. Plus they cost $23. I recommend these all the time to people who are looking for balls to put in their vag, because I’ve tried several and these remain my favorites.

5. The RodeoH briefs harness is arguably not that cheap on the whole, but as far as harnesses go, you’re not going to find a better one for any cheaper. It retails for $45, looks foxy on just about anyone, holds dildos in place for sexytimes, and doesn’t have a million straps you have to snap and adjust and fiddle with. This is the only harness I own and I don’t have any desire for another, because this one does its job so damn well.

What are your favorite toys for under $50?

Review: RodeoH briefs harness

Kate Sloan

The first time I was ever penetrated by a partner, it was with a strap-on. My girlfriend at the time had recently bought a harness-and-dildo kit, a pink and grey beaut that looked mad cute on her. It wasn’t good sex at all – in fact, it was pretty horrible, since this was a first for both of us – but it left me with a feeling of determination: I wanted to have good strap-on sex someday. Not with that same girl (we broke up before we had the chance to get any better at fucking each other), but someone, eventually.

So I was really excited when Conscious Contraceptives offered to send me a RodeoH harness. I’m in a straight relationship now, and my boyfriend has no interest in pegging, but I still felt I needed to have a harness in my collection. Even if it’s not for years, I know I’ll have awesome strap-on sex someday.

RodeoH makes really, really nice harnesses. Compared to the one my girlfriend had way back when, which was super strappy and took a minute or two to get into, my RodeoH is a dream. Imagine a wonderfully comfortable pair of cotton/spandex men’s briefs, except with an O-ring and a little dildo pocket in the front.

The briefs are obscenely cute, in a Shane McCutcheon-y kind of way. The wide, supportive waistband bears the company name and looks hot as fuck sticking out of low-slung jeans. It’s rare that I’m willing to use the phrase “super fly,” but that’s how these briefs make me feel.

The O-ring is sewn into the harness, unlike some other designs which have swappable O-rings. This means that you’re stuck with the one that’s there, but fortunately, it’s got some stretch to it. At rest, it’s 1 ½" in diameter; with some jimmying, I can get my slightly wider Tsunami to fit into it, and it also works just fine with smaller dildos like the Acute (see?), though you’re obviously going to get a bit more flopping around if the dildo you choose is smaller than the O-ring’s diameter. Lengthwise, I’ve had the best success with dildos in the 5" – 5 ½" range; toys longer than that, like my VixSkin Mustang, tend to flop a lot and are difficult to control with this harness. I’m utterly vexed as to how to get this harness to fit toys with big balls, like the Tantus Raptor; I bet it would be possible to squish ‘em through, but I love the RodeoH too much to risk breaking its O-ring. (I don’t even like the Raptor that much, anyway…)

A note on sizing: I ordered my RodeoH based on my waist measurement, stupidly not realizing until later that you really should do it by your hip measurement. So I got a size large when I probably should’ve gone for an XXL. However, amazingly, the harness actually fits me comfortably! The cotton/spandex blend is so stretchy that I can easily wear these briefs all day and only experience very minor muffin-top. RodeoH also recommends sizing down in general because a tighter fit ensures more control when thrusting.

One potential issue some buyers might have with the RodeoH is that it doesn’t allow any access to your pussy (or whatever) underneath the harness. This might be a positive feature for female-bodied genderqueer or trans folks with body dysphoria, who want to fully conceal their junk so only the dildo is visible or feelable – but the average harness user probably wants their genitals to be accessible, at least some of the time. This also means you can’t use double-ended dildos with the RodeoH briefs, though this issue was remedied with their boxer-briefs.

If you want some clit lovin’ while wearing a RodeoH, I recommend slipping a bullet vibe behind your dildo of choice – the pocket holds it nicely, and it stays in place reasonably well on my clit while thrusting.

Speaking of my clit… When I’m wearing the RodeoH, the base of the dildo rests on my pubic mound, not my clit. Again, the stimulation issue is easily resolved by wearing a bullet vibe inside the briefs, but if you want to get clit stim from the dildo and thrusting motion alone, it’s probably not going to happen unless your anatomy is very different from mine.

Overall, though, I love love LOVE this harness. I can’t imagine a better one to be my first. It’s comfy, sexy, low-maintenance, works with all my favorite dildos, and gives me the utmost confidence that I’ll have truly epic strap-on sex one day. It’s also blessedly inexpensive for a harness: only $45! Pick up a RodeoH for your strap-on adventures; it’ll do ya good.

Thanks so much to Conscious Contraceptives for sending me this marvellous harness to try out! Did you know that they donate some of the proceeds of every purchase toward sending contraceptives to underprivileged communities? As if you needed more reasons to buy sex toys!