Barrel of Fun by Gender X

“Roll out the Barrel.. We’ll have a barrel of fun…”. That’s what I was expecting from a product that literally calls itself a Barrel of Fun. I think it’s fair to say that if you are going to make such bold claims in your product name, you kinda need to make sure you follow through…

I agreed to work on a collaboration with Good Vibes and they very kindly sent over the Barrel of Fun by Gender X. You may recognise that brand as we just reviewed their IN’s & OUT’s kit (which was fantastic by the way). So I’ll be honest and say my expectations were way up. You know much much I love a stroker, and even more so when you make it open ended AND vibrating too. There really can’t be any way that you can get this wrong… right? Well lets dive in head first and see if we did indeed find fun; or whether it was a barrel of laughs instead…

I would like to thank Good Vibes for sending us the Barrel of Fun by Gender X free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Affiliate links have been used in this post. 

First Impressions

First things first, this barrel has some heft to it. A solid 1lb of ABS plastic and TPE. It’s got the weight of a fleshlight, but in a shorter, more compact size. It therefore does give the Barrel of Fun a sense of quality – it looks and feels sturdy. The BoF (as I will refer to it henceforth to save time) is an open-ended masturbator that also features 12 modes of vibration. There are 3 constant speeds and then 9 varying patterns of waves and pulses.

The internal structure of the stroker is TPE and features various little nodules to provide additional sensations when stroking. It has an internal length of 3.5 inches and a diameter of 1.5 inches. Inside the box you’ll get the BoF, a usb charging cable and a little instruction sheet. On a full charge which takes around 60 minutes, it should provide around 80 minutes of play time, and it has a max sound level on its highest setting of 50db. On paper, this sounds like it should be rocking my world, right?

In Use

Sadly, my expectations were crushed when it came to using the BoF. It’s not that it’s inherently a bad product; there’s just a few things I would consider changing to actually make this a more viable option. My biggest issue arose from the actual internal sleeve itself. Now I’m not the biggest cock in the world (well, depends who you’re asking) – I happily pop myself into the ‘average’ category. And even I struggled to slide into this with ease. It wasn’t impossible; but it also wasn’t the easy ride I was hoping for. Now I appreciate some people do enjoy a tight ride (and hey, even I can get on board with that some times) but here – it just didn’t really feel that great. It felt more constricting than pleasurable.

Once I was able to slip myself inside, I will say the length is pretty decent; I there’s certainly an opportunity to incorporate something like this into some oral play. Watching the tip of your dick poke out of the open end is quite enthralling – perfect for your partner or play mate to tease and delight the exposed part? The texture does feel alright, and once I could get a good rhythm going – an orgasm was going to be possible. So it’s time to up the ante a little bit and try out the vibrations.

And… they’re OK. Not amazing. Not great. Just.. OK. Positives include the fact that the vibrations do indeed feel like they can be felt all around; they aren’t just focused on one specific spot which is often the downfall of products like this. However my issue is that I could feel them more strongly on the outside than I could on the inside. Now I’m not sure if this is because the TPE material inside is quite thick and it’s somehow dampening the vibrations but they did seem to struggle to really get through. Which is a shame because when I initially turned it on, it sounded like it was going to be pretty strong! Unfortunately it wasn’t the case.

But to give it it’s dues, despite everything not being perfect; I was still able to reach an orgasm with it, and it was certainly more satisfying with the vibrations than without; but each use left me desperately wanting more.

Clean-up and Maintenance

The BoF is fully waterproof and submersible so you can rinse this in the sink with some warm soapy water. The internal sleeve should be completely dry before storing this away for next time. You don’t need to apply any renewal powder or anything; I noted that after washing, the TPE didn’t get tacky or sticky – so I think you can skip out on that if you wish.

Summary

I think with some minor changes; this could be a pretty decent little toy. For starters, I’d reduce the thickness of that internal sleeve. Not by much but even a few mm of reduction would make a huge difference. You could even consider making the sides a bit squishy; so if you wanted a tighter ride – you can do that yourself. I’d also love to see some additional speeds; I needed a bit more power to get through that thickness.

It’s also a pretty price product as well; coming in at over $90. In its current configuration, I would honestly not pay any more than $50. I think there are some people out there who would really enjoy this. That said, I’m still interested in trying out more from the Gender X line in the future. But right now, this Barrel is running on empty and it’s unlikely I’ll be jumping in there again.

Where to Buy

You can pick up the Barrel of Fun by Gender X from Good Vibes, who ship to over 250 countries world wide. Not your vibe? Don’t worry – there’s plenty more on offer!

I would like to thank Good Vibes for sending us the Barrel of Fun by Gender X free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Affiliate links have been used in this post. If you would like to help support the work we do, please consider making your purchases through these links. It all goes back into the blog! Alternatively, please share this with someone you think would enjoy it! Thank you!