Once you’ve got a good strap-on harness, you need a dildo to go with it. Where harnesses are very personal to the wearer’s body and gender expression, dildos for strap-on sex are personal to both the person doing the fucking and the person getting fucked. The perfect dildo will make the wearer feel affirmed in their presentation and feel good against their body, and will also be a size and texture that the receiver can get down with.
Less Realistic Dildos
Whether or not you want a realistic-looking dildo is totally up to you and anyone you might use it with. Sometimes the thing that feels best to your head and body is a dildo that looks a little like it could be part of it — and sometimes the thing that feels best is lime-green tie-dye with swirls. If you lean more in a non-representative direction, the Tantus Silk is super simple, comes in small, medium, or large and is smooth, firm silicone with a slippery finish. The smallest is 5″ long and .75″ in diameter, while the largest is 6.75″ long and 1.375″ in diameter — in addition to being a good option for working up to more intense penetration if you want or for anal play, the size means they’ll be compatible even with harnesses without adjustable o-rings. For something a little bigger, try the Fun Factory Stubs Magnum, a smooth silicone dildo with a slight g-spot curve that’s 7.5″ long and 1.5″ in diameter. And for size flexibility but colors that defy realism, the Paris G-Spot Silicone Dildo by BS is handmade, silicone, has a great g-spot curve, and is 6.5″ long and 1.4″ to 1.9″ in diameter at the tip and base respectively. BS also makes a turquoise-and-rainbow burst dildo, a black-and-rainbow pride dildo, a sport-striped dildo and a cow-spotted dildo if you like the shape and want different colors and patterns.
More Realistic Dildos
Sometimes a more realistic dildo is what seems better to your head and body. For whatever reason, more realistic dildos also seem (anecdotally) to be better constructed — there seem to be more dual-density options, with a broader range of sizes and more tactile-feeling silicone. The VixSkin Mustang Royale is, hands-down, my favourite everyday dildo to fuck and get fucked with. It’s squishy on the outside but has a firm core, so it stays where it’s put in even enthusiastic fucking. It has a squishy, sculpted base that lines up with the wearer’s labia if the wearer has labia. And it’s medical-grade silicone, easy to disinfect, and comes in three flesh tones — just realistic enough without being super veiny or approaching the uncanny valley. (For something with a little more diameter, the VixSkin Buck is also fantastic.) New York Toy Collective’s Shilo is also a dual-density silicone dildo, meant for pack and play with a firm, bendable core and a squishy exterior. It’s 7.25″ long, 1.5″ in diameter and has a prominent head to target a g-spot or prostate. And Semenette POP is a sturdy silicone strap-on dildo with an inner tube and pump so the wearer can come all over or inside someone. It works for play, it works for artificial insemination if you’re into that, and it comes in two flesh tones, flat black, or pink. There’s also a Semenette POP refill kit. (If you like the feel of the Semenette POP but not the functionality, Fun Factory’s Boss dildo is the same shape and comes in strawberry and black.)
Double-Ended Dildos
Using a double-ended dildo in a compatible harness can be a great way to fuck and get fucked simultaneously — you can use them alone, too, but a harness means you don’t have to rely as heavily on your ability to do kegels while coming. The Fun Factory Share is a flexible silicone double-ended dildo. (There’s also a version of the Share that works with a bullet vibe, but body of the toy is firmer and less flexible.) For a more intense experience, the Fun Factory Share XL is a longer, thicker option with ridges for texture and curves for g-spots. It’s silicone and comes in pink or black.
Vibrating Dildos
Personally, vibrating dildos just don’t do it for me — the vibrations are never strong enough, and never in the right place. If you’re set on a vibrating strap-on dildo, though, and don’t want to make a regular dildo vibrate by adding a vibrating cock ring or something like the Love Bump, check these out: If you want a dildo that works for strap-on sex and works as a vibrator, but not necessarily at the same time, the Vixen Mistress with Vibe is a slim, shiny silicone dildo with a removable bullet vibe in the base. (Note that the bullet vibe sticks out a little though, and might not feel totally comfortable worn directly against your body.) The Tantus Feeldoe is a firm, shiny double-ended dildo that also uses a removable included bullet in its base. And the Luxe Vibrating Dildo is a USB-rechargeable silicone dildo that vibrates harder the harder you squeeze it, and has a flat, harness-compatible base. (Because it has an internal motor, note that this is the only dildo in this list that you can’t boil to disinfect; instead, wash it with antimicrobial soap and water, and cover it with a condom for safer sex.)
Accessories
The Love Bump slides onto any dildo to add realistic balls and an extra pocket for an included bullet vibrator. It’s silicone and comes in three flesh tones. If your dildo is on the smaller side, or doesn’t have a base big enough for safer anal sex, a stabilizer ring will help it fit snugly into your harness. Finally, any silicone dildo should be used with a water-based lube like Sliquid Sassy, which is thicker and great for both vaginal and anal penetration, or Sliquid Organics, its organic counterpart.
Lesbian Sex 101 is Autostraddle’s series on how to have lesbian sex for queer women and anyone who finds this information applicable to their bodies or sexual activities. Employment of the term “lesbian sex” in this post uses “lesbian” as an adjective to describe sex between two women or people who identify with that experience, regardless of the sexual orientation of the two people involved.
Sex ed almost never includes queer women or our experiences, so we’re exploring pleasure, safety, relationships and more to make that information more accessible. A lot of the language in these posts is intended to make them easy to find on search engines.
Some of the body parts we talk about will be yours or your partners’ and some won’t. Some of the pronouns will be yours or your partners’ and some won’t. Some of the sexualities will be yours or your partners’ and some won’t. Some of the language will be yours or your partners’ and some won’t. Take what you want and what applies to you or what you can make apply to you and your partners and your experiences, and leave the rest!
Thanks Carolyn! Great round-up.
I’ve been in the market for a non-realistic double-ended that is very small on the receiver’s side for a long time. But it seems like such a thing doesn’t exist.
This one is pretty small and the longer end is shaped like fingers: https://www.wetforher.com/strapless-dildo/29-double-dildo-four-black.html
Thanks for rounding that up! In fact I have that one and it’s too big :-( Two fingers is quite small but I need more like one finger :-( It’s also really long.
Small market problems!
Are there any decent dual-density non-realistic dildos out there?
New York Toy Collective’s Shilo has a realistic shape, but comes in lots of fun, unrealistic colors and is totally awesome.
(Also, I think the Shilo & the POP got switched up in the graphic!)
The Vixen Mustang also comes in some funky colours!
Do you have any tips on how to choose? I’ve never used one and have no clue what to look for. (Choice on the visuals is easy personally – no realistic ones for me.)
Oh, and if you have any recommendations that ship from the EU that would be extra awesome because shipping sucks. (Pun very much intended)
Thanks for the list!
I have a similar question! For obvious reasons, you can’t try out and then return sex toys. But I don’t necessarily want to drop $100+ on something and then hate it. I’m mostly thinking about how to decide on size/shape/curvature here; I agree with Yasmin that less-realistic is better for me, visually.
1. i’d like to register at least two positive votes for vibrating dildos
2. thank you for this wonderful & useful guide carolyn!
Any advice on where to find the smallest possible one for beginners? Like .5” (or .75”, since you said that was the smallest) width? My partner and I are both pretty small and nervous about it being too big. I bought a toy fairly recently and it was too big and it was painful
Also, where to buy.
Sorry, I’m very new to all of this