Packing with TransTape Tutorial

25oct

Packing with TransTape Tutorial

by Jamie Blum 1 comment(s) Blog

As some of you may know, I'm a huge supporter of a company named TransTape. Time and time again I find myself thanking TransTape for existing. Whether it's for giving me new confidence, keeping my chest in place or even keeping my other spare parts in place. So here, I will gladly share how to pack with TransTape.

You may be wondering, "didn't we already cover packing?"

Yes, yes we did

Except this time, I'm a lot more educated on packing with TransTape and all I have to say is WOW. I've always felt the need to pack so I've been packing for a few years and typically used the techniques I described in my last posts.

If you've read them already, you may remember that I didn't have much information or experience packing with TransTape. I was a lot more concerned with easy-peasy-lemon-squeezie ways to pack, whether it was a DIY or buying packing briefs. I didn't, and still don't, like the idea of wearing a traditional harness for packing.

Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that!

HOWEVER

This new information may or may not change your life like it did mine.

While packing with TransTape, you don't need any special underwear or harness. You just need some tape, an O-Ring and your packer.

This gave me a whole new sense of freedom and a whole new bond with my body.

I will gladly take you step by step, with photos, to help you pack with TransTape for the first time. I was blessed enough to be invited up to Maine to spend a whole weekend with some of the most amazing people I have ever had the opportunity to meet, including the lovely creator of TransTape, Kai. You're the best!

One person in particular though named Quyen, also known as Jayden Jamison aka @thegoldendragking (follow them), was nice enough to show me how to do this. They were patient, made me more than comfortable and judging by how close we got, we're basically besties.

Thank you so much Quyen.

Step One

Gather your materials! The materials I recommend for this are:

1 Roll of Large TransTape, any color or pattern

1 Packer of your choosing

1 Pair of scissors, sharp enough to make clean cuts

1 O-Ring that fits your packer nice and snug

1 Pair of tweezers

Step Two

Starting off with about two and a half to three sections of your tape, add or take away depending on the size of your pelvic area.

It was helpful for me to hold it up to my waist as I figured out the sizing I would need.

If you cut it on the small side, you may lose some stability.

But you also don't want it to be too big either, the excess tape will fall in to the crease of your leg and that could lead to discomfort.

Once you figure the amount of sections you need, go ahead and cut it

Step Three

Once you've cut your sections out, it's time to shape it and round some corners.

The goal is to achieve a shape similar to an upside down house, but with rounded corners.

Take your time with this step, you really want to get the shape to rest comfortably on top of your pelvic bone.

Once you cut one side, hold it up to yourself again and see how well it fits against you.

When you decide it looks good and fits right, fold it in half and trim the excess off.

This way, both sides are even and it saves you a mild headache from trying to get it perfect.

Don't worry about it being perfect!

Also, save your scraps!

We can use them in a future step!

After you've trimmed the excess, your final product should kinda look like this.

That looks like an upside down house, right?

Everybody's body is different so at this step it is very possible and totally okay to have something that doesn't quite look like this.

Shape it for your body.

Step Four

Now that we're shaped up, time for the fun part!

Once again, hold up the tape to your body and determine where about you need your packer to be.

I personally use a stand to pee and for that you might need to place it a little bit lower than someone using a regular packer so you can still use it comfortably.

After playing with placement for a bit, go ahead and place the O-Ring on the back of the tape where you need it and cut a cross shape.

You can fold it in half when you cut it as well to make it even, just make sure the diameter of the cut is the same as the O-Ring.

Now, after matching the O-Ring with your first few cuts, we're going to cut the flaps in half.

You should end up with eight little triangle flaps all together.

Place your O-Ring around that area and once again match up the ends of your cuts to the edge of the ring.

The goal is to fold over the ring, so this part is important for the security and support of your packer.

You can always cut more if you need, but the more you touch the sticky part in the next step, the more your natural oil will affect the adhesive of the tape.

Step Five

Using your tweezers, start pulling the backing paper of the flaps back and exposing the adhesive underneathe.

Like I said in the last step, the more your natural oils interact, the more your adhesive will be affected.

When pulling back, make sure you leave enough room for the flap to fold over your O-Ring and stick to itself on the other side.

The better you are able to fold, the better your tape and packer will hold.

This step is oddly satisfying.

At some point, you will probably look like this.

And that's what you want!

Feel free to rip the paper you pulled up to make it a little neater and not like you're opening a gift you've been excited about.

For whatever reason I'm chaotic, chaotic good, and like to leave my paper still attached.

I also like to prepare my spare O-Ring for packing ahead of time, making it super easy to put on when I'm ready to re-tape.

Step Six

Now that we're done cutting and peeling, it's time to fold.

Know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em.

Sorry.

Anyways, place your O-Ring on the adhesive where you need it and start folding your flaps.

Once again, use the tweezers when you have to touch any of the sticky parts to maintain the most of the adhesive.

When you fold, the flaps should make at least some contact with itself, keeping the ring in place.

Pop Quiz

Did you save your scraps?

If you did, awesome! Scroll on my friend.

If you didn't, no problem! That's perfectly fine.

Instead of using your scraps, go ahead and cut another section of your tape off the roll and cut it in to a bunch of little pieces the size of your flaps.

The goal we're going after is not being able to see the color of your O-Ring when you look at it.

So go ahead and cut a good amount of flaps up!

Step Seven

As you see here, my lovely assistant Squeak has helped me cut up a bunch of mix match shaped scraps.

For me, I'm not the most detail oriented person on the planet so it doesn't matter that the flaps match.

If you're a sucker for details, cut the pieces in rounded band-aid looking strips for the most effective hold.

What we're doing now is folding all of your extra strips in the opposite direction of how we did the other side.

Start your flap from the sticky adhesive side and fold it over to the regular tape side.

Ultimately, you want to cover every spot in between the other flaps, ensuring that you have the best security for your johnson.

If you're doing this and used up all of your flaps but can still see the ring, no worries!

You can either cut some more out or you could continue on.

You will still have great support, the spare flaps are just for further insurance.

Believe it or not, you are pretty much done!

This is how you should see your flaps coming from the inside.

As you see, mine are a little chaotic, how I like it.

Having the strips coming from both sides helps ensure that your little buddy isn't going anywhere.

The adhesive TransTape uses is incredible, so don't worry too much about it.

Just making sure you know how to get the most out of your pack!

And don't forget to do a test strip with TransTape to make sure your skin does not have a reaction before you apply!

Warning, you're about to see a realistic packer any moment now.

The kind TransTape sells, by the way.

I do also recommend cutting one extra band-aid shaped strip of tape to go across the top of your packer gear, like this, for extra hold at this point.

Especially if you use stand to pee gear.

What I recommend the absolute most though is, buzzing your down stairs.

I don't recommend going bald due to ingrown hairs, but cutting it down to a quarter inch to half inch will definitely help in allowing the tape to stick as much as possible to your skin with the adhesive.

I wouldn't skip this step, just saying.

Step Eight

This is what you should pretty much be looking at.

Your packer should fit nice in snug in it's O-Ring and you should have a decent amount of tape above it to help get a good grip and keep it in place.

When you go to place it, being in front of a mirror can really help with judging a natural looking placement.

And if you have a super close friend, significant other, family member etc, this would be the time to ask for help like I did.

It's a little tricky applying for the first time.

When you go to apply, keep in mind whether or not you will be using this as a stand to pee or not. It definitely makes a difference.

For a stand to pee, it's a good idea to hold your packer where it needs to be for easy-peasy peeing and then apply the tape while the packer is still in place.

If someone is helping you, have them hold the tape while you adjust your packer to where it needs to be or vice-versa.

After you get the placement down, go ahead and peel the backing, press the adhesive to your skin and then rub the tape to heat it up and activate the adhesive. If you need to readjust, that's fine, just don't rub the tape prior to pulling it back up.

You may lose some of the effectiveness of the adhesive the more you pull up and readjust though.

And that about sums it up, guys.

If you've made it this far, you just might have a packer attached to your body with TransTape, possibly for the first time.

So cool right?

Now, if that's true, I need you to do something for me.

I need you to do the helicopter.

Did you do it? Yes?

It was amazing, wasn't it, I know it was.

Next time we revisit packing with TransTape, we can dive into my personal packing experience and the Art of Peeing.

We've all been waiting for that one.

In the meantime, stay awesome, stay beautiful and stay you.

You are loved, it gets better.

Talk to you soon,

Jamie

Welcome to the cool kids club!

My name is Jamie and I'm a young (ish) transman born and raised in the Hudson Valley of New York state. I started my transition in May of 2017 and since then, I've made it my mission to live unapologetically as myself and spread awareness through my pursuit of happiness. I am the creator and writer of Spilling T blog, a proud affiliate of TransTape and when I'm not outside with the best dog ever or hanging out with my two cats, I make and sell my own beard care products through Buckaroo's Beard Care. I'm always looking for my next adventure and have been skydiving, road-tripping, hiking in the mountains and even served for a short time in the United States Marine Corps. My life has had its fair share of twists and turns and I hope to use those experiences to create helpful and relatable content that may help someone else navigate a difficult time in life.

Beards, Socials, Tape and Writing

Use code FINALLYME10 and Find Your Freedom with TransTape!

https://linktr.ee/jamieakajames

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