A bondage hood — also called a gimp mask or bondage mask — is a fetishistic hood. It may be made from rubber, latex, PVC, spandex, darlexx, or leather. Full-faced hoods are typically used for head bondage, and to restrain and objectify the wearer through depersonalization, disorientation, and/or sensory deprivation: no ordinary face, limited sight or sound, and a head that reads as sealed gear instead of a person with a name. The hood is the piece that finishes a gimp or total-enclosure look.
Breathing risk and scene use
The use of bondage hoods can be hazardous if breathing is impeded. Airway, overheating, and panic are the practical limits, not just the look. Players who want the objectification, disorientation, and sensory cut still have to keep the wearer able to breathe and able to stop the scene. That is the line between head bondage as kink and a medical emergency. A hood that looks perfect in a photograph is still a problem if the wearer cannot get air.
Pulp Fiction and related gear
Bondage hoods are frequently referenced in popular culture, most notably in the film Pulp Fiction. Related practices and objects include total enclosure fetishism, the gimp suit, and hooding as a restraint method. On a BDSM equipment map the hood is the head piece: rubber, latex, PVC, stretch fabric, or leather, full-face when the point is to erase the person and leave only the mask.
