Wahl of orgasms
People come up to me all the time and say, “Quizzical Pussy, I was so entirely sorry to learn of the demise of your Jack Rabbit.”
At this point I always give my little funereal grimace/smile that I practiced when all my grandparents were dying off; I nod gravely. “Thank you for being here. It means so much to the family.”
But the conversation doesn’t end there. How could it? The next question is only natural, and it comes as surely as dry-humping appears at your first unsupervised high school party: “So, if you don’t mind my asking, Q.P., what are you doing for orgasms these days?”
It’s an excellent question. It deserves a good answer, and thorough. Of course sometimes I get orgasms from my boyfriend, Laramy. You know how solo orgasms can be every bit as satisfying and powerful as those you experience with an ultra-hot, highly-skilled partner? Yeah, me neither.
If I could work out a way to do this feasibly, I’d probably want 97% (with a 3% margin of error) of my orgasms to be partner orgasms. But guess what? That isn’t likely to happen, ever, given any logistics at all and my cartoonish desire for more and ever more orgasms. So masturbation is still eating up huge swaths of my sex life.
I love jacking off. It’s one of the coolest feelings ever, but putting something (like, say, a Feeldoe!) in my vagina is a big masturbation commitment for me. If the person I’m fucking doesn’t put something inside me I feel like I’m going to go insane (not in anything approaching a good way). This sort of treatment elicits a whimper that clearly says, “There are no fingers, toys, nor penises inside me right now! Heavens, why not? And did your mother know you were diabolically evil while she was carrying you in her womb or did she come to find out later? Also, still nothing in my pussy!? Hate you. Hate. You.” … I mean, all that’s in the subtext of the whimper. But on my own I can’t be arsed to penetrate myself. Clit work is clean and powerful and entirely satisfying when I’m fucking me, and (let’s face it) not really all that turned on in the first place, compared to when there’s real lust and attraction and all that.
I’m not sure if it’s normal, pathological or quirky that sex with someone is a related-but-entirely-different animal from sex with myself. I’m guessing it’s fairly common.
Anyway, for my purposes, jacking off with my Feeldoe isn’t going to replace my rabbit (whose shaft was barely ever used–especially after all the fancy rotation functioning died, but whose little bunny ears gave me more orgasms than I can possibly even try to begin to count) as my sexual staple. And clearly my Hitachi Magic Wand was not going to step up from its glamorous life of pummeling knots in my shoulders to meet the challenge. No, my new mighty mighty foot soldier of love isn’t even from the glamorous side of the I’m-a-personal-massager-not-a-vibrator-dammit tracks. Indeed, these days I’m getting most of my orgasms from the humble Wahl 7-in-1 massager.
I rode horses when I was younger, so for a long time Wahl was synonymous with the roaching of manes and the clipping of bridle paths. Much like Hitachi makes everything from automatic teller machines to elevators to sex toys, Wahl makes animal clippers, soldering irons, and… fucking magic, baby.
I’ve had my Wahl 7-in-1 (also known as the 2-Speed All-Body Massager) for years. It isn’t flashy, it isn’t sexy, it definitely wasn’t my first choice when I had those amazing flickering jack rabbit ears at my disposal, but it is solid and reliable and profoundly good at what it does.
Looking at the utilitarian, clunky, blow-dryer/glue-gun-esque form of the 7-in-1, I defy you to muster up an ounce of surprise when you learn that the design hasn’t changed since the nineteen-smumblies. It’s heavy for its size, made of hard gray plastic, and comes with little rubber-like attachments that slip over the peg at its muzzle. You use a little trigger at the handle to turn the thing on and adjust the speed from ooooooooh buzzy to aaaaaaahehehe jackhammer! and back again. It’s whisper-quiet for the power it’s packing.
It comes with seven exciting(!) attachments. I don’t really like them all, but they end up covering a lot of bases and I could certainly see how someone might have entirely different favorites than I do…
General Body kind of looks like a megaphone or the bell of a brass instrument. I have never figured out how this attachment is a good idea. In full disclosure, I think this attachment is floating around in my closet because I accidentally-on-subconscious-purpose lost it, so maybe it never got a fair shake. Still, I tried it several times and blah.
Deep Muscle looks like a pierced nipple with a barbell and two concentric nipple ring-shields. That’s the sexiest thing you’ll hear about this attachment all day, I bet. Or at least I never really use it, because I find it insipid.
Spot Application is kind of just this huge nipple thing, and it’s definitely my go-to attachment. I cannot use this on high, but it’s glorious on low. If I had to pick just one attachment and throw all the others into a volcano (or my closet), I’d be surly about it but there would be no question. Spot App, it was always you.
Scalp has lots of roundish-but-still-pretty-pointy teeth arranged in three circles on a big dish. It has an “Oh god I’m not putting that on my genitals” look to it. Of course for you people, I tried it. It’s quite lovely on one’s scalp (as you might hope), but really much nicer on my pussy than I thought it would be. Like lots of little fingers with a light, tickling touch. Don’t press hard, obviously, unless you have a special interest in lots of little fingers with an ouchy, stabby touch.
Facial…Hehe. Facial. This attachment looks more or less like a satellite dish. It feels roughly awesome, and mellows/spreads out the vibrations. I have it gently cup my whole pussy, one edge hovering over my clit and the other poised at my perineum. On the highest setting, this is just shy of “way too intense”, and it feels amazing. The Wahl’s high setting actually feels like it pummels you a bit rather than just vibrating politely, so if you follow my facial attachment method, there are some funny labia-slapping noises that you will not regret if you have any sense of humor (and/or are getting off like mad). You’ll also feel an interesting breeze, which is all part of the “Wahl facial” experience for me.
Knuckle-Joint looks like a rounded roof off a tiny toy house. This one is pretty good for applying direct pressure to the clit: you can use the rounded edge or corner to maximize intensity or a flat plane for a more dissipated effect.
Muscle Kneading is a deeply ribbed rectangular attachment. This one is a little better at actual massaging than getting me off. If this got misplaced somewhere in the depths of my closet I probably wouldn’t notice.
…If you have a super-sensitive clitoris, both high and low settings could be too intense for you, especially if you’re using an attachment that provides direct stimulation. But some of these attachments do diffuse the vibrations a little, which affords Wahl wider appeal than, for instance, the Hitachi Magic Wand enjoys. That is to say, I like the Wahl better and I suspect that many woman might feel the same way.
Did I mention that the Wahl is a plug-in, so you’re not burning through batteries? The cord is under 9 feet long by my measuring tape, so you don’t have crazy range to play with, but it’s serviceable. Also, extension cords exist.
Add to all that the Wahl 7-in-1’s durability and versatility, and the fact that you can get one for under $15 if you know where to look*, and you’ve got an absolute gem of an orgasm-giving machine. Oh, and I hear people use it for muscles or something too.
*It’s good to patronize sex-positive companies that promote sex education and all that, but most sex shops that don’t overcharge for most things still overcharge for this particular product. I have no idea why.
Hahaha. Look at the post I just wrote today.
The Wahl is the best thing ever, I’m pretty sure.
I pretty much grew up on the Wahl. It was my go to toy for years and years – at least partially because it was all I had. But I have to say that I love my Hitachi more. The Hitachi covers more ground which means it can find my clit when it tries to disappear right before orgasm.
As far as price goes, I bet that has more to do with the distributors than it does with the sex shops. When a product is marketed for sex it’s almost always more expensive than when it is marketed for something more vanilla like scalp massage. But I can check on this next Saturday when I work at my sex positive sex shop. I have access to all the wholesale price information. I can check to see if it is marked up more than the usual toys.
@Britni TheVadgeWig Whoa, awesome!
@Garnet Joyce Yeah, I think that although the Hitachi and Wahl are similar in concept, they’re really very different. I kind of get the feeling that in super general terms, very few people dislike the Wahl, but the Hitachi inspires more passion in the people it works for. But this theory is largely untested.
As for the sex marketing markup, that would be interesting to know. If distributors are gouging sex shops on the price, that’s pretty shady. Of course, the Wahl is definitely worth the $30-$40 that most places charge, but I felt it was important to let people on budgets know how accessible this toy can be.
re. the ‘Facial’ attachment…
I used to work at a sex shop in Austin, and one of the things that I discovered is that this attachment is actually a pretty good suction cup. So good, in fact, that we went around the store sticking various non-vibrating toys to it and making them vibrate! IMHO, the best ones for this were the silicone dildos with the flat bases… they transmitted the vibration much better than all of the crappy latex or jelly dongs that we had lying around. I bet acrylic or metal toys would be even better, but I don’t know if they would stick. Also, if you don’t want an entire vibrating dick attached to this already HEAVY vibrator, try a butt plug with a wide base :)
THIS POST BRINGS ME SUCH JOY. You did much more thorough testing of the attachments than I ever did. The spot tip is my fave as well. Also, yeah, I heard of someone buying the Wahl for over 40 bucks the other day, and I was like, ?????
To quote; “If the person I’m fucking doesn’t put something inside me I feel like I’m going to go insane …. Hate you. Hate. You.”
Ohehmgee, I LOVE how you phrased that! That entire thing sounds exactly like something I’d try to say, only you managed it much more eloquently.
As for the Wahl – I’ve never tried it, but you’ve made it sound terribly tempting. And who can beat that price for a toy?
I first discovered my parents Wahl-like “massager” in their closet when I was 14. I think it was an Oster or Sunbeam brand. After I broke that one in college, I was sad for awhile until I discovered you can buy them. I am now pushing 42, so I guess the Wahl, or the hairdryer style of vibrator in general, has been my sole device for (does math) almost 28 years.
When asked by others for advice about vibrators, I say, “Just get one that has a brand name you might see on a blender or a toaster.”
@quizzical pussy
Okay, I finally remembered to look into it. While we do mark it up a bit more than some other products, we’re definitely not marking it up as much as one would think by looking at the amazon price. We’re getting it for about the same price as Amazon is selling it for, but my guess is that they get a better deal on it than we do. We get it from a distributor, they probably get it straight from the manufacturer and in bulk.
So yeah, if you’re on a tight budget buy it from Amazon, but otherwise support your local feminist sex shop. We sell ours for $35 which is still a pretty decent deal.