Bathmate Hydromax 9 Penis Pump Review

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Penis pump manufacturer Bathmate promotes its water-powered Hydromax product line as a way to increase the strength and frequency of erections.

Unlike many masturbators and penis strokers, the Bathmate Hydromax isn’t a single, one-size-fits-all device.

Instead, it comes in a range of models in order to suit penises of different lengths and girths. Bathmate encourages prospective buyers to measure themselves first to select an appropriately sized pump.

Nearly every Bathmate Hydromax penis pump size is available as a lower-suction power Hydro, medium-power, Hydromax, or, for a far more intense sensation, a HydroXtreme version.

Compliments of Bathmate, I was able to try out the Bathmate Hydromax 9 in exchange for an honest review.

Origins of a penis pump

The original Bathmate penis pump was invented in 2004 by Joan Oakes. He created the hydrotherapy penis pump to help a friend who had suffered a spinal injury, which prevented him from gaining and maintaining an erection.

Oakes, who has a Higher National Certificate in Mechanical Engineering and over 35 years of experience in engineering and manufacturing, decided to create a new type of penis pump that combined vacuum technology and warm water.

Instead, it comes in a range of models to suit penises of different lengths and girths. Bathmate encourages prospective buyers to measure themselves first to select an appropriately sized pump.

Compliments of Bathmate, I was able to see, or more accurately, feel a Bathmate Hydromax 9 penis pump for myself—and discover whether or not their penis pumps can fulfill Bathmate’s promise to provide “lasting improvements for your penis size, erection strength, personal confidence, and sex life” or if, and please excuse the rather obvious joke, it just sucks.

Unboxing the Bathmate Hydro 9

Over the years I’ve tried a dozen or so penis pumps but it’s only been on rare occasions that I’ve really enjoyed using them.

More often than not, I’m underwhelmed. To be more specific, I am usually disappointed by their distinct lack of suckiness—delivering less suction and, therefore, not as much sexual pleasure as promised.

Based on my past experience with penis pumps, they also tend to feel more artificial than organic. That’s fine if you like that sort of thing, but I found their lack of sensuality, if not disturbing, at least unarousing.

Not so with the Bathmate Hydromax penis pump. Honestly, I was flat-out amazed by how powerfully and organically it … well, did what Bathmate said it would.

The secret of Bathmate Hydromax’s lifelike suction power is water. I mean, it’s right there in its name, right?

How to use Bathmate Hydromax penis pumps

Before getting wet and steamy with a Bathmate Hydromax penis pump, you’ll need to give it a quick, warm water bath before getting your tub or shower, as well as yourself, ready.

When everything’s set, close the vacuum pressure valve, remove the Hydromax’s “comfort insert,” fill the pump with water, replace the insert, and you and it are good to go.

To free yourself from Hydromax’s suction grip, flip its valve open, and, voilà, it should slide off with little effort.

Related Read: The VDOM Robotic Penis Prosthetic

A cautionary manual

Bathmate cautions against using its penis pumps with a full erection as doing so can lead to bruising or ruptured blood vessels.

Their laundry list of “don’ts” also includes a warning not to use one for longer than two to three minutes at a time, if you’re diabetic, alcoholic, or diagnosed with a heart, lung, kidney, or any erection-related conditions.

After reading all the restrictions, and because I’m “old enough to know better but too young to care,” I was initially less excited and more worried about using my complimentary Bathmate Hydromax penis pump—and straining to read its manual’s nearly impossibly small font certainly didn’t help.

Using a magnifying glass, I read the even more alarming, “You must have full use of your hands, with the strength to operate the vacuum release mechanism. Decreased hand strength makes safe removal of this device difficult.”

I can attest that I feel I have fairly muscular digits; adjusting the Bathmate Hydro 9’s tiny valve was an (Instert Profanity Here) pain in the posterior.

In other words, unless you’re ridiculously fit, it’s probably not wise to insert any part of yourself into a Bathmate Hydromax 9, which, in my opinion, undermines its potential as a disability-friendly sexual device.

Related Read: Older Men and Sex: An Emotional Toolkit for Sex and Aging

The hard truth about erections

Despite these issues, the Bathmate Hydromax 9 is fantastically fun—a penis pump I’ll probably enjoy for quite some time.

I am skeptical about its claims that it can deliver “lasting improvements for your penis size, erection strength, personal confidence, and sex life.” That being said, I didn’t use the device regularly enough to say whether or not the Bathemate Hydromax penis pump affected my overall sexual function or erection strength. Bathmate recommends using the penis pump three to five times a week to promote penile health.

As I said, it was an enjoyable penis pump to use for pleasure, so that makes Bathmate Hydromax 9 stand out from the crowd.

The company’s promotional language does rub me the wrong way. In my mind. it reinforces the cultural idea that bigger penis size and erections are critical to sexual pleasure or engaging in mutually satisfying consensual activities with others.

But you’re not broken or a failure if you cannot get or stay hard. Even if your erections are frequent and long-lasting, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be happy or fun to play with.

As the AASECT-certified sexuality counselor and clinical sexologist Amy Marsh put it:

“When a person is distracted by worries about the size and hardness of their erection, they are not paying attention to their partner’s responses, or to the other pleasurable sensations in other parts of their own body. Distracted sex is actually not much fun for anyone.”

If you enjoy penis pumps, then, by all means, consider getting your hands, and other body parts, on a Hydromax Bathmate. As far as suction-based penis pumps go, it’s one of the best.

However, if you’re worried your penis is too small, or you can’t instantly get hard or stay hard for hours on end, remember you are not your penis—and wonderful lovers aren’t born but made when we love others as we love ourselves.