E.M.Duke Rubber

Lets talk about ball hoods

Added 2025-10-22 11:00:08 +0000 UTC

Believe it or not, I have owned quite a few ball hoods over the years. Most of which never made it onto a picture, which I now deeply regret.

There was the bright white ball hood that allowed me to see shadows when people nearby were strongly back lit, raising the anticipation of what was going to happen next. Or the bright orange ball hood with the halloween pumpkin face on the front! Awesome, but it did get the feedback that moans coming from the inside of a jack-o-lantern was too much for my play partner and broke the scene completely.. lack of imagination if you ask me.

I learned lessons about the construction too. I have bought all of mine so far from LatexCatfish in China. Generally very well made, super comfortable (claustrophobia aside) and a good price. But.. the material thickness makes all the difference in world.

My early hoods were bought with price in mind, so I specified them with 0.4mm on both the inside and the outer layers, playing with the colours, getting bored and selling them on ebay.. These were all really comfortable, but never really gave any real sense of isolation from the world outside that I couldn't get from a blindfold and regular tigthfitting hood. The problem was that as the pressure increases, the outer layer inflates and gets bigger with relatively little pressure. So you quickly get a fully inflated ball hood but not a lot of pressure.

This all changed when I got the hood you see here.. 0.8mm heavy rubber outer and a 0.4mm inner. The heavy black latex needs a lot more pressure to inflate, pressure which is exherted on your face and head in return.

As you zip on the hood (partially inflated to help get it on properly as noone likes a limp ball sack) you feel the isolation straight away. The breathing tubes that were clamped between your teeth initially, move to fill your mouth. The taste of rubber fills your senses. The outside world gets quieter and muffled.

Then you inflate.. the pressure is exquisit.

Even the slight sounds go away, all except the crystal clear sound of the breathing tubes bouncing off your head and the inside of the hood everytime you move. It is true then that your other senses become more atuned. Every touch is hightened, every movement needs to be more cautious. I even become much more aware of the temperature of the room and leaning against a cool wall becomes entertainment of its own for a time.

Then.. then you get to play..