Review: Master Series “Kink in the Dark” Bondage Set

I don’t have many glow in the dark toys and I’ve always thought that was somewhat of a shame. Glow in the dark condoms were a huge hit when I was in high school and even recently, companies have put out glow in the dark dildos (which, by the way, I really want to try). I wasn’t sure if a glow in the dark restraint set was the place to start, but I was eager to give it a shot when Betty’s Toy Box offered me one to review.

Being made by Master Series, I had a certain idea of what to expect. I have a number of products from Master Series because they mass produce kink toys you can get in most sex shops which means they’re accessible, but not the highest of quality. Still, they’re normally not half bad for their price point so I happily took the opportunity.

Appearance 

The biggest appeal of this set is, of course, the ability to glow in the dark! At first glance, the set just appears to be white leather, but with some prep time under very direct light, I put this product to the first obvious test. So…does it glow?

It does indeed! Since I intentionally kept these toys under a light for about 30 minutes for their glow test, they gave off a bright green glow. They don’t glow as nicely without prep time, but they definitely still work without intentional charging under a light.

In the daylight, they’re still a fairly attractive set of cuffs. White isn’t the most popular color for a kink toy, but it’s something different in my collection, which I welcomed. The metal attachments on this set are a pretty rose gold color. The set seemed decently sturdy but I still had to put them to a real test.

Sizing

Before I even got to put these to the test in a scene, I noticed a glaring problem with the Kink in the Dark Hog-Tie Bondage Set. My partner helped me put these cuffs on for testing purposes and we both immediately noticed the sizing was off. I’m a plus size person with relatively chunky wrists but these cuffs can literally slip off my wrist on the tightest setting.

Normally I’d be happy with a set of cuffs that runs slightly large, but these are so ridiculously large that they’re basically useless for most people. Anyone smaller than myself would probably not be able to use the wrist cuffs at all. The ankle cuffs also run large but since they don’t easily slip off like the wrist cuffs, it wasn’t as big of an issue to me. Still, it’s pretty disappointing to know before I even get to play with these cuffs that they’re not going to be very effective.

Betty’s Toy Box and the product packaging both list the sizing as:

Wrist Cuffs: 12.5 X 1.75 Inches adjusts from 5.5 to 9.5 inches
Ankle Cuffs: 15 X 1.75 Inches adjusts from 7.25 to 12 inches 

However, I’ve measured the cuffs laid out on a surface and found that the wrist cuffs measure almost 16” long in total and the tightest setting is around 10”. The ankle cuffs measure about 18” long and the smallest size starts at 12”.

Since the average wrist size is less than 8”, I consider this a major problem with this product. Not only is it mislabeled on the actual packaging, it renders the wrist cuffs useless for the vast majority of users. The sizing on this product was certainly disappointing, especially since the box was clearly mislabeled by the manufacturer.

Performance

I was able to have a bit of fun with these cuffs but they definitely aren’t effective as bondage equipment for anyone semi-serious about kink. The set glows beautifully in the dark and being a bigger person means I was able to toy with this set a bit without issue. That being said, if I was any more of a bratty submissive, these cuffs would be entirely useless. I think it definitely took the fun out of the scene to know I could get out of the bondage at any moment if I just slipped my hands through the loose cuffs.

Unfortunately, I encountered yet another issue with this product during the initial test scene. I gave the cuffs a bit of a stress test by actively trying to pull my wrists and ankles apart and I was actually able to bend the connector clips and temporarily break the set without much effort. They were able to be fixed but it required that we actually stop the scene to address the issue and frankly, that was the last straw for me.

Conclusion

My experience using the Kink in the Dark Hog-Tie Bondage Set wasn’t ideal but I still had a bit of fun testing these. While the novelty of a glow in the dark bondage set certainly sounds appealing, it doesn’t set you up for the best kink scene possible. Being able to see what you’re doing is important for a lot of kink scenes so having to play with this set in a dark room is limiting to my usual routine. That being said, it can definitely be a fun date night activity if you’re looking to spice things up a bit–that is, if they fit you. 

Because the sizing issue is so glaring with this product I honestly can’t recommend it to anyone. Even my plus-size wrists didn’t want to stay in these cuffs for long and even when they did, the set was very easily broken so I don’t feel confident in recommending this set to anyone.

If you really want to give glow in the dark bondage a try, I recommend trying glow in the dark wrist cuffs and ankle cuffs from NS Novelties over this Master Series set. Unless they have also mislabeled their packaging, they’re more likely to fit the average user.

The Kink in the Dark Hog-Tie Bondage Set was sent to me by Betty’s Toy Box in exchange for my unbiased review.
As always, all writing and opinions are my own.