Hitachi-Style "Gee Whiz" Attachment

Hitachi-Style Vibrator Attachments

Flex-O-Pleaser

Silver Bullet Vibrator

Twinsu

Vibrating Periscope

Good Vibrations: The New Complete Guide to Vibrators

But too many options can also be daunting. Especially if you've never tried a vibrator before, seeing dozens in a web catalog -- even a super-cool and vastly thorough web catalog like ours -- you may not even know where to begin. And that's what this guide is for. We can't tell you for sure what vibrators will help get you or your sweetie where you're going; but we can give you some ideas and guidelines to help you decide what you might want to try.

Right off the bat, we'd like to put two major misconceptions to rest.

Major Misconception 1: Vibrators are for women only.

It's true that women have done terrific PR for vibrators over the last couple of decades, and many folks just assume the little honeys are girl toys only. We'd like to assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Vibrators are certainly great toys for women; thousands of women have learned to have orgasms from using the things, thousands of women count on them as their most reliable source of orgasms, and women probably do play with them more than men. But men can use and enjoy vibrators as well. A man can run a vibrator up and down the shaft of his penis; he can use it on his nipples; he can insert it in his butt for prostate stimulation; he can use it with artificial-orifice types of male masturbation toys to make them vibrate. With some vibrator designs, he can even use them to make his hand and fingers vibrate, adding some extra zip to the basic jerk-off experience. The possibilities are... well, if not quite endless, then definitely pretty darned vast. So to all you men who are reading this, on the assumption that you're just shopping for your wife or girlfriend: You can get in on this action, too.

Major Misconception 2: A lot of folks assume that a vibrator is supposed to be used like a penis or a dildo.

They automatically go for the long skinny shaft-like things, not because that's what would really work best for them, but because it matches the picture they have in their mind of what a vibrator is and does. So if you automatically think "phallic" when you think vibrator, we advise you to get that image out of your head for a moment. Many women who use vibrators -- perhaps even most of them -- use them for external stimulation, on their clits and outer vulvas, and never use them internally at all. Even people who seriously enjoy getting fucked don't always like to be vibrated inside their pussies or butts; when it comes to internal vibrators, we've heard comments like "Too much stimulation" or "It's more annoying than arousing." Of course, we've also heard comments like "Mmmmmm" and "Yum" and "More, please." Many women (and many men) do like insertable vibrators, and we carry a number of them, along with several attachments that can convert an external vibrator to an innie. We're not suggesting that you banish the thought of a phallic vibrator altogether. We'd just like to suggest that you spend some time thinking about all the options and deciding what vibrator you personally might like, rather than leaping to the vaguely dick-shaped things right away.

So fine. We want you to think about what vibrator you personally might like. But how are you supposed to do that if you've never used a vibrator before -- or if your past vibrator experiences have been disappointing? Isn't that why you're reading this Buying Guide? Well, fear not. We have some definite, specific ideas about how to choose a vibrator -- or vibrators -- that's likely to make you happy.

The best way to figure out what kind of vibrator you might like is to think about what kind of non-vibrator stimulation you like.

When you're masturbating or having sex with a partner, do you prefer direct or indirect stimulation? Mild or strong? Focused on a specific spot, or diffused over a wider area? Inside your body or outside? Knowing what kind of play your body likes without sex toys is a good way to figure out what it might like to play with when you do haul the toy bag out.

For example. A lot of women's clitorises are too sensitive to tolerate much in the way of very direct sensation, and as a result, they prefer indirect stimulation. Instead of having their clit tinkered with directly, they like to sort of sneak up on it, playing heavily with the vulva and the area right around the clitoris, and only applying light, teasing sensation to the clit itself. If that's the case, we'd like to recommend the Hitachi Magic Wand. The Magic Wand may be the most widely known vibrator, and it's certainly among the most popular. Thousands of women had their first orgasm with it, thousands of women have their most reliable orgasms with it, and thousands of women swear by it. And we don't disagree for a minute. The Magic Wand is great. With its large, soft head (about the size and shape of a tennis ball), it provides very strong, deep vibrations -- but the vibrations are diffused over a fairly wide area, providing sensation that's powerful without being too direct.

It's a very versatile toy, too, good for lots of people and lots of kinds of sex play. It's a good vibrator for couples, especially lesbian couples; the head is large enough that you can position it between two people and get them both off. The large, soft head makes it a good choice for men to use as well; many men like the intense-but-not-too-focused feel of the Magic Wand running over their dicks, and it's a good size to give the dick a lot of coverage. Plus the vibrations are strong enough to make it a good companion to artificial orifices and other male jerk-off toys. And if you want internal vibrations inside your pussy (for women) or inside your butt (for women or men), you can get a variety of attachments designed to fit over the Hitachi head, with dildo-like protrusions that transfer the vibrations to your most inner secret special places. And there's a nubbly silicone sleeve that fits over the head too if you want more texture for surface play with the Magic Wand.

On the other hand, if your preference is for more direct, intense sensation focused on a very specific area (such as, oh, just for example, let's say the clitoris), you may prefer the Wahl Two-Speed Coil Vibrator. Coil-type vibrators like the Wahl produce intense, high-frequency vibrations focused tightly on a small area; so if you're the kind of girl -- or boy -- who likes a whole lot of stimulation right on your hot spot, the Wahl might turn out to be your very best friend. (I've been using mine for nigh on fifteen years now.) The Wahl comes with a number of attachments included, most of which are supposedly meant for massage rather than sex; we also sell an assortment of attachments for the Wahl that are definitely meant for sex and work quite well for it.

Now, if you like a balance between these two extremes -- if you like more tightly focused sensation without the somewhat jackhammer-like feel of many plug-in vibrators -- you might be a good candidate for the Eroscillator Plus 2 or the Eroscillator Top Deluxe. The Eroscillator is engineered to produce vibrations by making the head rotate in an oscillating motion, rather than moving it in an up-and-down motion. This creates a sensation that's intense without being overwhelming, which a lot of folks like. Most of their attachments are clearly designed for the clit, and are meant to create a variety of external sensations; but they do also make one for using inside the pussy, and we think guys may be very entertained indeed by the French Legionnaire's Moustache attachment that comes with the Top Deluxe model.

Another important factor to consider when deciding which vibrator to get is how and where you're going to be using it.

Are you going to be using it for masturbation, or with a partner? Do you want to use it while you're having other kinds of sex play (fucking, sucking, getting spanked, etc), or do you just want to focus on the vibrations? Do you tend to stay in the same place when you're doing the nasty -- and is that place near an electrical outlet? Or do you tend to wander over hill and dale, doing it in the living room or the backyard or at the top of a redwood tree?

Here's why we ask. The thing about the three vibrators we just talked about is that they plug into the wall. This makes them quite a bit more powerful than any battery-operated vibrator; but it also limits their versatility, it being somewhat hard to plug in a vibrator if you're, say, camping, or in the back seat of a car, or even in a European hotel room with an incompatible electrical system. The Hitachi and the Wahl are also on the bulky side, which can get in the way during sex with a partner, especially when combined with the cords. That's why many folks prefer the convenience of a battery-operated vibrator.

Now, battery-powered vibrators generally aren't as powerful as the plug-in ones, and some people find them a bit frustrating, saying that they provide enough sensation to get them worked up without being powerful enough to actually get them off. Battery vibes aren't always as well-made, either, and they may die on you more quickly than your average plug-in vibes (which have been known to last for years). On the other hand, they also tend to be less expensive, which is good if you don't want to spend a lot of money trying something that you're not sure about. And some people love the things. I personally know a woman who's been happily using an el-cheapo cylindrical plastic vibrator for years. She's tried Magic Wands and the like, but they just don't do it for her like her cheap plastic thing, and now she won't switch to any other kind. Sure, it burns out every year or so, but they're cheap, so who cares. She just buys a new one, and goes on happily buzzing away.

Another reason for choosing a battery vibrator is -- how to put this delicately? Oh, screw delicacy. Another reason for choosing a battery vibrator is if you want vibrations deep, deep inside your pussy or your butthole. Yes, there are attachments with dildo-like protrusions that you can put on your Hitachi or your Wahl plug-in vibes; but the longest of them is just 4" long, and the innie attachment for the plug-in Eroscillator is even shorter than that.

So if you know that you want vibrations on the inside -- and you know you want them all the way in -- you probably want a battery toy. We have a few we can recommend that are specifically designed to give you that deep down satisfaction. The Flex-O-Pleaser (no, we don't name these things) has a vibrating dingus that sits at an angle at the end of a long, firm-but-flexible shaft. The angle makes it great for vibrating both the G-spot and the prostate, and it's plenty long enough for just about anyone. Then there's the Waterproof Vibrator. The Waterproof Vibrator is -- remember at the beginning of this Guide, when we were talking about what people tend to think of when they think of vibrators? The Waterproof Vibrator is that; a long, smooth, straight, hard plastic shaft that tapers to a smooth point at the tip. It doesn't have a flared base, so it's not really useful for anal play; but it's definitely long enough to get as deep inside your pussy as you wanna be. And there's the Silver Bullet Vibrator and the Hyper Bullet -- small, bullet-shaped, egg-like things attached to a battery pack by long wires -- which are good if you want deep internal vibration without a lot of... well, stuff getting in the way. The Silver Bullet Vibrators will also fit inside two dildos and two butt-plugs -- the Treasure Chest, the Bobbi Sue, the Tristan 2 (with hollow neck), and the French Kiss -- which are designed with notches in the base for exactly this purpose. So if you want a nice solid silicone dildo or butt-plug that vibrates, combining one of those with a Silver Bullet Vibe is a good way to go. That said, we also sell several silicone vibrators with the vibrators built right in or provided in the packaging, so don't think that the only way to get silicone vibrations is to buy a bullet vibe and a separate silicone sleeve/shaft.

There's a few other vibrators that we'd like to give honorable mentions to before we close.

Japanese battery-powered vibrators tend to be stronger and better-made than most other battery vibes; so if you want something with the convenience of batteries and something close to the strength and reliability of the plug-ins, that's a good way to go. The Natural Contours Vibrators have a delightful shape and gentle vibrations to them; they're made to fit the contours of a woman's body and genitals, and the four different designs are all loaded with curves and grooves that feel extremely good on (and in some cases in) your pussy. The Micro-Mini Vibrator is a tiny little thing, small enough to easily slip into your pocket or purse, and it packs a fair amount of power for such a dainty toy. Its small size makes it extremely convenient for travel and for partner sex. And the Vibrating Periscope is in a class by itself. The vibrating shaft has a clear domed tip with a tiny light inside, and the base is equipped with a mirror and a viewing port -- so you can see whatever the shaft is inside, making it a great toy for playing doctor, mad scientist, naughty nurse, or probing alien abductor. The actual vibrations of the Vibrating Periscope are pretty wussy, but that's so much not the point of this toy that we don't even care.

We also have a few quality vibrators made specifically for G-spot and Prostate play. The Girlberry sports a nubbly silicone head on top of a gently undulating shaft; it's long enough to get to all those tickly spots and has a flanged base which you can use for butt-play or even strap into a harness. The Waterproof G-spot Wand is made of firm plastic and has an angled tip for direct G-spot stimulation and seems perfect for those of us who need firmer pressure in those areas. The Slim Jim Probe is a series of vibrating bloops made especially for sticking up your butt and has a fancy computer that enables it to deliver various vibrating programs of varying intensity.

Finally, we like to say a few words about buying vibrators as gifts or surprises for other people.

We get a lot of phone calls and emails here at Blowfish from men who want to buy a vibrator for their wives or girlfriends, and who want us to tell them exactly what to get. The absolute best advice we can give these guys, more important than any of the stuff we've been quacking on about, is to get her in on the decision. Sure, we can tell you what kinds of vibrators our other customers like (the Magic Wand leads the list, followed closely by the Flex-O-Pleaser), and we could even tell you what kinds of vibrators we personally like. But that's really not very relevant when it comes to deciding what kind of vibrators your honey is going to like. If there were one vibrator that worked best for all women, we'd be carrying that vibrator and no other (unless there were one other vibrator that worked best for all men). The reason we carry so many varieties is that different people like different vibrators -- in fact, some people like different vibrators for different moods and occasions -- and your partner can tell you a lot better than we can what she might like.

If you're having a hard time talking about sex toys with your sweetie, we understand and are very sympathetic. And we're very sympathetic indeed with the desire to help your partner enjoy sex more -- and yes, vibrators may well be a good way to do that. But in our experience, springing a vibrator on someone without a word about it beforehand isn't usually the best way to introduce toys into your sex life. Unless you're pretty darned sure you know what she wants -- or unless it's her birthday or Valentine's day or something and it absolutely has to be a surprise -- you're probably better off getting her input. If you want a starting point for your conversation, you could look at our catalog together, reading through this buying guide and looking over the different options. We even sell a book about buying and using vibrators (Good Vibrations: The New Complete Guide to Vibrators, in case you need more info and ideas than we've given you. If you're looking for a birthday or holiday surprise, you might even get the book or the video with a promise of a vibrator to come, rather than the vibrator itself.

Best of luck, and happy vibrating!