Autostraddle Anonymous Sex Toy Review:
Over the last few years, sex toy companies and stores have asked us to review their toys in exchange for, you know, their toys. This week, one of our anonymous reviewers tried out the Ramona Harness by Switch Leather Co., sent to us by Babeland.
- Size: small (adjustable up to 34″ hips), medium (up to 40″ hips) or large (up to 50″ hips). Strap to accommodate up to 80″ hips available by special order from Switch Leather.
- Dildo compatibility: 2″ o-ring. Ring snaps that can fit rings 1.25–2″ in diameter.
- Materials: leather with solid brass or nickel-plated steel hardware
- Color: black leather with nickel or brown leather with brass
- Price: $135
The Ramona in oak/brass, size medium. (I wear a 32″ waist pant).
I’ve been looking for a great leather harness for some time now, and fell in love with Switch Leather Co’s Ramona strap-on harness the first time I saw it. The brown leather and brass matches my personal style more than the usual black leather, and simply looks and feels incredibly sexy.
Switch Leather is run by two queers in Portland, Oregon. They have extensive leatherworking experience, and hand-make each harness from scrap pieces of Horween Chromexcel leather so it’s environmentally friendly, ethical and American sourced. Besides crafting a quality product, Switch Leather focuses on including all bodies and offering products for all shapes, sizes and anatomies.
My first impression of the Ramona harness was wow, this is really nice leather. It’s luxurious to touch. It’s gorgeous to look at. It smells amazing. This harness is a leave-it-out-on-the-nightstand-so-you-can-look-at-it type of harness.
The Ramona is easy to put on and adjust, feels very solid and sturdy and doesn’t slip when I wear it; I wore it for an hour without tightening the straps. The leather feels soft and stretches a little during wear, so it’s not stiff, but it also doesn’t loosen. You can either wear the harness above or below your hips, and position it wherever you want and it’ll stay. The D-ring hardware doesn’t pinch the way buckles can.
The Ramona has a leather driving panel between your body and the o-ring, which I personally prefer to harnesses in which the o-ring sits against the wearer’s body — the panel feels sturdier and my hair doesn’t get caught or pulled out. The drawback is that you can’t use a double-ended dildo or feel the texture of the base of, for example, a Mustang Royale. (Switch Leather’s Camryn harness is similar, cheaper and compatible with a double-ended dildo.) The only downside I found was the metal o-ring can be a bit harsh on the receiver if the penetration is deep. If you find this is a problem for you, you can switch out the o-ring with a rubber one and that should solve the issue.
I threw my old leather harness away when I bought the Spare Parts Joque a few years ago, which quickly became my go-to. I felt like my old leather harness never really got clean enough to use with multiple partners or folks I wasn’t fluid bonded with, and antibacterial soap doesn’t kill HPV. I’m also really lazy — I use harnesses often, with multiple partners, and I want to throw them in the washing machine on a hot water cycle. But wearing the Ramona makes me feel extremely sexy in a way that the Joque never does. And it’s just as effective and positionable. It’s my new hot date harness (for fluid-bonded partners) and I’m really enjoying using it.
To care for the Ramona, rinse it with warm water and use saddle soap, like Fiebing’s White Saddle Soap, to clean it. I highly recommend conditioning your leather after you clean it — just like conditioning your hair after a shampoo — so it stays soft, with something like Otter Wax Leather Salve, Leather Honey or Bickmore Bick 4 Leather Conditioner, though note that conditioning leather can sometimes darken it. This is the type of high-quality leather that will soften and become silky smooth with use, so use it often.
