Bottom Line: |
BDSM and D/s is a porn niche that I enjoy. I’ve always found that Kink.com offers some of the best BDSM and D/s videos available anywhere. One of my wishes was they would show more behind-the-scenes or ‘how to’ videos since in most of their videos the model is shown already tied up, suspended or whatever without ever showing how she got there. Then there’s just the basic stuff of a BDSM or D/s relationship dynamic that seems fascinating. Members to any of Kink’s sites didn’t usually get to peek behind the curtains. And then along comes Kink University and that niche is filled.
It’s important to note that Kink isn't a traditional hardcore sex site, though there is sex here. It isn't a typical BDSM, D/s site either. All of the videos have an instructional element to them regarding the BDSM and D/s activities seen throughout Kink sites. You’ll find videos on rope tying for beginners and for more advanced couples, videos on how to safely use some toys, how to build a home dungeon and how to have anal sex. There are also videos on how to get into the lifestyle, how to use positions and protocols. In short, if you can see it on a Kink site there is probably a video at KU giving you advice on how to bring that home.
If you’re a Kink regular the models here are those you’ll be familiar with. Kink seems to have a group of semi-mainstream-porn models who do a lot of fetish work and those models appear here too.
Production values like lighting, sound and editing are all typical of Kink sites, which is to say that they are among the best in the industry. Kink obviously cares about putting out good videos.
The site is currently fairly small but given the uniqueness of the niche I can’t fault it for that. There are currently 51 videos available and a new one is added each week.
Clicking on a thumbnail for a scene opens another page where you have the option to stream or download it. I didn’t see any resolution options for streaming. Downloads are mostly offered in MP4 version with four resolutions being offered, those being listed as hi, med, low and ‘full’ which is HD. Because of the nature of the videos I opted for the ‘hi’ files since they were the best compromise between file size and resolution. Those come in at a fairly low (by today’s standards) resolution of 960x540 and 1300kb/s. They don’t look bad on a 24” monitor or a 32” TV. I avoided the full HD downloads because they tended to be up to three times the size of the next lower file. I did download one HD file to be able to compare the specs and it came in at 1280x720 and 5000kb/s. Those specs aren't bad but I’d expect better in a 50 minute video that is close to 2GB in size. I wish the gap between the files wasn’t so big.
The site allows download managers and I had no trouble with the links timing out too quickly. I haven’t had any Kink memberships in a while but I don’t recall download speeds being this slow in the past. In the past I don’t recall download speeds being remarkable for being slow or fast, but my experience with this site is that they are far slower than I’m used to seeing elsewhere. But maybe I’m just hitting the site at the wrong times.
Other Kink sites I’ve been a member at have offered photos but I don’t see any photos here. Maybe I’m missing them.
I know some of my comments here have seemed a bit inconclusive and there’s a reason for that: it appears that starting a few days ago Kink has started to roll out a new look for all of their sites. I found their old look to be simple, effective and easy to use. Maybe it’s just that the look is new and will take some getting used to. Right now though, the site redesign looks like it was done just to give it a fresh look. For all I know maybe members were complaining that the site looked stale, but I’ll always be opposed to change for the sake of change.
One spin-off advantage to having a membership here is that it is among the lowest priced Kink sites. That’s important since once you are a member to one site you get a discounted price to all their other sites. I usually join through the cheapest site I’m interested in and then over a period of a few months rejoin other Kink sites that I like at a discount. I can save a lot of money this way.
Like so many other sites any recommendation has to be objective. This site offers 51 scenes (and growing) in a niche that isn't found anywhere else (that I’m aware of), the models are good looking and the production values are high. Objectively I can definitely recommend this site. Subjectively, well that’s your call obviously. BDSM and D/s videos are still considered outside the mainstream for porn so the market isn't huge, and the market for this site is further reduced because not everyone into BDSM and D/s would be into these ‘instructional’ videos. But if you do have even a passing interest in this kind of video I recommend giving it a try. |