I was pretty sure from the get go that when I started PE I wanted to incorporate pumping in a Bathmate Hydromax into my routine. Well over a decade ago I owned a “hobby” air-pump that I used a few times, but never felt an affinity for and never used regularly or seriously. It was purely recreational and did not have any kind of gage on it, etc. Frankly, I was a bit afraid of it. I could have studied up on pumping or found someone to advise me, I guess, but I was not doing PE, so it went into the back of a cabinet and eventually got thrown out. However, the Bathmate products seemed different on most accounts, better designed and safer in terms of distribution of pressure, etc. There is also a strong culture of using them here and on other similar sites where guys are not just playing around with them, but using them for real gains. I’m sure they are a very lucrative product for the manufacturer and distribution channel with high margins, but also well-designed and I felt like my one and only penis was worth the best on offer. So, I decided on a Hydromax XTreme. That means that it comes with several extra do-dads that I don’t really need, but what I really wanted was the hand pump option for better pressure control once I get very accustomed to the device and how my erection responds to being pumped in it. The XTreme models come in two sizes, X30 (smaller, but not small) and X40 (large but not gigantic). Based on seeing the physical product in person in local stores in San Francisco I felt like the X30 would likely be bigger than I’d ever need, but my girth is already over 5 inches and more girth gain is on my priority list, so Harrison the BP rep and I discussed it and decided that an X40 would be the better decision for a “long term investment strategy.” I did not want to pump for 14 to 18 months in an X30 and then max out on girth and need to buy the X40 anyway...

I waited until I had really researched it all the way through before purchasing the X40 from Harrison’s company. It came right on time and all pieces and parts seemed very well engineered and manufactured when I opened and examined it.

I was impatient to try it for the first time and had done minimal trimming of my pubic hair, but was sure that I’d have to do some to get a good seal for the suction. My first session was in the bathtub. The short synopsis is: “It did not go well.”

No matter what I did at least one of my balls got sucked up into the tube via the opening in the comfort pad, which is a standard part that attaches to the base of the pump and helps with the seal. It was uncomfortable, frustrating, and even painful. To try to compensate for the “horrible ’floop’” (the sound you here as it eats your balls) I pressed the pump uncomfortably into my pubis. I also applied too much pressure in the hopes that that would create a seal tight-enough to prevent my scrotum and balls from going in. Not only did that not work, but the “over pumping” caused a pin-head-sized red spot on my glans (a very mall burst blood vessel). AWFUL FIRST EXPERIENCE. The spot dissipated own its own in less than 24 hours. No problem. But a second attempt at pumping while standing in the shower (with the included strap on) also sucked my balls — and this was after I had shaved a completely clear narrow arch above my dick out of my pubic hair that was just large enough to fit the contact surface of skin to the rim of the comfort pad. No spots from the 2nd session, but too much “flooping” all the same. STILL NOT GOOD.

I’m a researcher involved in product design for a living. I am accustomed to talking to people who use real or prototyped products and help manufacturers figure out how to make them maximally appealing to their customers. Nothing about this was falling into the “appealing” category for me, so I started analyzing what seemed to be going on and I determined that the opening on the comfort pad was JUST TOO LARGE for my existing crotch equipment. I don’t have a 3D printer that I could make a replacement comfort pad with — one with a smaller opening closer to the diameter/circumference of my erection, so I began two wonder what might help. I had heard of “pumping sleeves” that fit over the end of air-pumps to accomplish a similar function, but did not see any designed or specifically recommended for Bathmate products. However, seeing a non-PEGym-related guy pump in an air tube with a silicone cockring around the base of his penis and watching how it made contact with the tube as the base of his dick “packed” it gave me an idea. And, coincidentally, I found an older rubber cockring that I don’t use anymore in a drawer and serendipitously it was precisely the right size for my experiment. The pictures are worth 1,000 words, so that’s why they are here.

I won’t go into much more detail, but suffice it to say that for me, my idea WORKED! This is what the inserted cockring does for me:

1) snugs up the diameter of the comfort pad so that nothing but my erection will FIT into the chamber of the tube while I get my initial seal

2) helps center my erection and keep it more away from the edge of the tube. (I have a slight upward curve, so my glans tends to “reach up” towards the tube wall when I’m fully erect during the pump session.

01-x40-Solution-smll.jpg

02-x40-Solution-smll.jpg

03-x40-Solution-smll.jpg

04-x40-Solution-smll.jpg

05-x40-Solution-smll.jpg

It does not always stay exactly where it starts when I’m getting the seal at the beginning. the lower 1/2 of it is often pulled at a 45-ish° angle into the comfort pad by regular pumping pressure. However, I’m not aware of this until I finish the session and remove myself from the pump. Once the initial seal is obtained, I don’t think the ring moves around much (if at all), and it definitely does not contribute to an discomfort.

I’ve had at least three good days of pumping sessions (sometimes twice per day during the “boot camp” that Big Al had me on) using my X40 for warm up and warm down. So that’s 4 seals per day, and I’m quite good at it now. I like my Bathmate a lot. I probably would be just as happy now with an X30, but I’m not sorry that I got the X40, and unless something changes in the next week or so, I’ll stick with the bigger model for at least the next 2 years.

I do WISH, however, that the Bathmate designers would offer an optional comfort pad with a narrower opening. There must also be guys out there who have a lot of length already who need the X40 for that factor, but who are 5 inches or less in girth too. It’s even a potential UPSELL product accessory for them and their marketing strategy and it would be a SUPER EASY piece to tool for and manufacture. I kind of don’t believe that they don’t make and sell it already.

I may yet end up with a pump sleeve that will fit on the base of the X40 if the cockring solution begins to fail for some reason. If anyone can recommend a specific manufacturer and model, PLEASE DO!

Happy pumping, fellow Bathmaters and GREAT GAINS!

PS: If you would like a PDF of this, feel free to PM me and I can e-mail it too you.