An Introduction to Strokers and Sleeves

This article was first published in 2021. We are reposting it because it remains one of our most viewed pieces!

When using a stroker was first proposed to me, I must admit that I was a bit skeptical. As a cis guy, I thought I was evolutionarily gifted with the perfect masturbation tool: a hand. After trying out a couple of different strokers, I am now certain that my first thoughts about my hand were wrong, and that you can certainly improve the experience with or without a partner by using these toys. 

What is a Stroker?

A stroker is a toy that falls into a larger category of male ‘masturbators’. The stroker I tried, the Tenga Flex Stroker, provides a malleable casing that covers the whole penis and provides stimulation as you move it up and down – stroking yourself (or having a partner use it on you). It was made with quite a soft, jelly feeling material and were ribbed on the inside. All that was required to use them was a bit of personal lubricant and cleaning was surprisingly easy!

The instructions were super simple, so I was ready to get down to business with the Tenga Flex Stroker. I lubricated the inside and inserted the erect penis into the opening. I was immediately blown away by its pleasant tightness and the ease with which it glided up and down. Typically, I do not cum very quickly from either sexual intercourse or masturbation, so I was throttled by a sensation that I was about to finish not even a minute into using the stroker. I slowed down and began alternating stroke pace and depth, noticing that the ribbing and shape of the internal cavity provided different stimulation at different depths of insertion. For me, rapid strokes with just the head of the penis felt pretty incredible. Also, this one rotates quite a bit as you stroke, which is a novel, and  very pleasurable sensation.There is an outer rubber cylinder around the soft casing, which allows the rotation – it also has an airhole in the top of the rubber cylinder which generates two very distinct sensations. By far, the greatest advantage over hand-based masturbation was the orgasm. DAMN. I found myself uncontrollably pushing myself as deep as I could into the stroker as I finished, completely similar to when having sex with a woman. What is more, the aftermath / after effect of the orgasm felt very similar to one from actual intercourse and not like one from hand-based masturbation (which are very different for me – and the orgasms from sex are far better). Overall, I came out of that session with a feeling that I had been missing out on something for a long time!

Cleaning

This was one of my principal worries before ever buying a Fleshlight, a stroker, or anything similar. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and easy it was to clean these. Both are fully invertible to clean the inside. Once inverted and cleaned, the dried pretty rapidly when laid on a hand towel. One really cool benefit of the Tengo Flex Stroker was the ability to use the cap from the outer cylinder (which has a long, pole-like- attachment) to invert and reverse the inner casing and also as a stand to increase the speed of drying. Overall, cleaning took less than 30 seconds for each model.

Final Impressions

I discovered through this process that my hesitance to experiment had prevented me from a really pleasurable experience. I greatly enjoyed using the sleeve -the sensation it generated and the handy design for cleaning / drying. If you are like me, and had thought that it is unlikely that anyone or anything could do as good a job of stroking as you, give it a try; you will be pleasantly surprised!