CARNAL NATION

My box finally arrived! I tore open the package to find a bright blue, curved, extremely ribbed silicone vibrator. The G-Twist. The packaging was nice and it even came with a cleaning pad and toy fluid (a big plus—nothing is good without lube!). My husband was busy playing Internet poker, so I ran downstairs to get some double-A batteries. It was a little tricky to get the batteries in, but I figured it out eventually. At the base of the vibrator is the control dial. It's a smooth, ball-like dial that is super-easy to adjust; it takes just one little swipe of the finger to turn up the vibration, but it has no stop point when it's in the most powerful mode, so if you get too aggressive with it you will shut it off completely.

Once the hubby heard the G-Twist turn on, it seemed he was too distracted to continue on with his hand. Of course, I used the cleaning pad to prep the tool (no germs here please) and then we used the toy fluid. He went to town on me—he knows that those low-speed vibrations do nothing for me, so he turned it up all the way. At first, when things were slow and intimate, it was all working out. The ribbing was nice, coupled with the vibrations for outer stimulation. The curve was just right. Then it was time for entry. Once inside, it seemed that there was just not enough power to really handle what I needed. We went to adjust the speed, but I was right about the dial being too sensitive and we ended shutting it off a few times.

All in all, the G-Twist was a fun toy. The curve was perfect for outer or inner stimulation. The pronounced ribbing was fantastic as well. Plus it happens to be extremely quiet. (Good for those times when you want a moment alone in the bathroom without alerting the kids with buzzing noises!) The only downsides were the lack of good sturdy power and the dial that had no stop points to hold a certain speed. I'll use this again, but probably by myself for a quickie. For long, drawn out, crazy sex—I'll hold out for a more powerful toy that allows for more control.

The design of this toy is sleek and pretty cool. I wanted to insert batteries and use it as soon as it was delivered.

The ribbed design of this toy was something that I generally had never played with in the past, and it was actually quite pleasurable when inserting as well as when pulling it out. One suggestion: insert and pull out slowly. The ribbing on this toy is pretty severe for a boy to handle if done too rapidly.

There were a couple of challenges, however. As a gay man using it anally, when pressure is applied to the base after insertion either by you or your partner, the speed control would slip and adjust on its own. Some may find that exciting; I found it downright irritating.

Also, a suggestion to gay men using this toy: when using it anally, no need to insert as far as possible. Our "spot" to hit is in a very different location, and because of the sharp curvature of the toy, it doesn't need to be inserted fully to do its job. This toy was quite a bit of fun. The speed settings for a man, however, are pretty intense on the highest setting. I preferred keeping the speed a bit lower.

The use of this toy (for me, at least) was pretty straightforward. Not too versatile. I suggest extending foreplay with this toy as it was quite fun. Use it on your cock, balls and even orally and let it land close to your asshole on a low vibration setting. If its vibration doesn't beg you to stick it in, you are doing something wrong.

It was very easy to use, except for the speed control that I mentioned earlier, and cleaning it was a breeze. But do make sure that you remove the batteries and dry out that compartment during cleaning.

At a retail price of $64.00, it's a good value, considering the price of other vibrators in the same category. However, as a gay man, I would look for something a bit simpler and better designed for gay male anal usage. As the name suggests, G-Twist Vibe is a bit more catered to the g-spot rather than stimulating the prostate.

My friends Bill and Cindy came over for a little threesome, and were delighted to learn we'd be trying out a new toy: the G-Twist silicon vibrator made exclusively by Fun Factory, a German company, for Good Vibrations. The packaging itself was a feat of German engineering, complete with magnets holding the box closed, but our little team managed to get it open. Then we discovered another challenge: one needs a really strong, firm grip to get the top off and load the batteries. However, that may be the only down side of this remarkable toy.

According to the package, it was made with silicone approved by the "Federal German Health Department for use in medicine, cosmetics and foodstuffs." Perhaps that explained the toy's "skin": smooth, resilient and non-irritating, making it extremely comfortable as my friend pressed its firm yet flexible head against the swollen nub of my clit. Mmmmm, nice. The toy has a beautiful, ergonomically ridged curve that serves both as a handle and provides multiple opportunities for stimulation. Cindy proclaimed the grip "absolutely perfect." Initially, we thought the intensity of vibration too mild even at top speed, so Cindy switched it off to fuck my pussy.

A week later I thought I'd give the G-Twist another audition, so I brought it along to Dark Odyssey, Tristan Taormino's bi-annual celebration of erotic experimentation. In an impromptu orgy in my hotel room on the king-size bed, a voluptuous Asian girl I'd just met relentlessly rocked it in and out of my pussy as she was being fucked by my friend Alfred. She used the toy's oversized "sports model" vibration control knob to turn the buzzing onto max, and it elicited a deliciously spontaneous series of mini-orgasms way up in my cunt. So what's not to love?