Posted by Rorschach on November 19, 1998 at 15:01:15:
Okay. I got it in the mail about a week ago. Now that I've pumped a few times with it, i feel qualified to give it a review.
First off, yes it is a sorry looking contraption. Like the dud puts it together in his basement. (He probably does!) It comes in a medium size shipping box, is pretty damn heavy, and may be leaking a little oil even before you open it.
Basically, the main idea of the machine is that there's a motor, which is attached to a vacuum piston gasket. The motor spins around, and makes the piston move in and out, which sucks air out of the attached cylinder, then "gives" a little on the return stroke of the piston. theoretically, this is supposed to pulsate at the same speed as the heartrate, letting fresh blood into the penis while it is being pumped. The oil in question is on the rod of the piston - it needs it to keep from overheating. How to solve this problemo? Try a newspaper - works for me.
The machine is moderately noisy. I find that when my door is shut, the sound is negligible. it sounds like a real quiet dishwasher in the next room. if you're excessively curious you might go check, but if there's music playing, you wouldn't even notice it. some guys go so far as to put it in a special padded box to reduce the sound. hey, whatever floats your boat - mine's fine just sitting on the floor.
The included tubes are not of the greatest quality, but they function adequately. The rubber "comfort" ring in the bottom is a welcome addition, because the tube isn't very smooth on the edges. it's made of plastic, not lucite like some higher quality-tubes. The connector is NOT the hexagonal white plastic "click" type you'll find on kaplan or SF machines. It's just a nipple and a tube. I took a minute or two to look at my new pump and my old one, then figured out a compromise. my old hand-op had a 2" tube with a white connector. The CTC had a 2 1/4" with no connector. So I cut a little section of tube from the Kaplan tube, put it into the new tube, so i could connect both to the CTC "pressure screw." this screw is sort of a black valve which connects to the tube out of the machine, and gives you control over the vacuum level. YOU NEED THIS SCREW to pump without your dick bursting. the other end of it heks up the the tube that goes to your cylinder.
So how did it pump? Well, I've got to say that the speed and safety of the pump were enhanced by the "pulsating" action. I went from my original 7 1/2" to 8 1/4" inside the tube in about two minutes. Girth came a little slower, but not by much. I filled the 2 1/4" cylinder within about seven or eight minutes.
One thing you'll need is a lot of lube. Since the pump varies the pressure, your dick slides up and down in the cylinder somewhat. You'll feel it get kind of hot on the sides, if you're filling the tube to capacity anyway. That friction can kind of wear on the old johnson. I made sure i was WELL lubed before I went in, and when i switched tubes I added extra lube.
The results? Well, the length was about the same as the hand pump, the girth was greater, since i had a new larger cylinder. In the cylinder i was 8 1/4" long, after pulling out I went to about 7 3/4". Girth stayed about the same both inside and out, at 7" around (this up from my unpumped 6" round). So as far as the short term gain, it was similar. Long term I can't say, we'll see.
I think the major improvement in the CTC over a hand pump was the "fresh blood" factor. I had no petichia (little red spots) or blisters at all. Even when i pump with the hand pump carefully, I usually get one or two red spots. This time I had none. My dick never got purple i the cylinder, which it does in a constant vacuum environment like the hand pump. It was always a healthy pink to red color, and felt much better when I took it out. There wasn't the same tenderness or minor pain that there was with the hand device.
Hopefully, this will mean better and quicker results over the long term. I figure it will cut down the lag time between sessions, because it's less taxing on the dick than the hand pump. It also takes less maintenence during the session, I found I could read a book without thinking of it. It only requires a few tweaks on the regulating "screw" to make sure I didn't overdo the vacuum. After the pumping, I stayed "inflated" for a little bit longer, i think. That can only be good for long term results.
Is it worth $300 plus? If it's your first pump, probably. You'll spend half as much on a hand pump anyway, so just spring for the better machine. If you've already invested $100 to $150 in a hand pump, then it's a tough call. If you've got the dough, it's definitely an improvement. If you're strapped for cash, stick with what you've got for a while. This is definitely a pumpers "luxury" item. It delivers improved performance, but not quite so much as to justify the ball-busting price.
I hope this is informative for fellow pumpers out there. Comments or questions, please post 'em.
Pump long and prosper,
Rorschach