Gauged pump users, what level of vacuum pressure do you use?

[ShelaVenna]

This is a kind of an odd question, but I’ve always wondered about it, and it surprises me that no one ever mentions the exact pressure they’re using. My pump measures pressure in inhg and “bar”. Lately I’ve been taking it easy and pumping only to 2 inhg for most of my session. I pump up to 3 inhg for a very, very short amount of time a few times per hour, and then go back down to 2 inhg. What pressure do you use, and for how long? Do you cycle up and down in pressure? Do you take breaks? Do you find you consistently get more swelling at a higher pressure? At what pressure do you start experiencing side effects and what are they? I’m just curious. It’s amazing that this site has been selling gauged pumps for so many years, but basically no one ever references the gauge measurements in their posts.

 

[ariadne]

Hi! You've perhaps been pumping for some time. If thats the case then 5 inhg should not be a problem. You should try being more confident/daring. The adverse effects of too much vacuum are the appearance of little red spots. If this happens you know to go more carefully - the spots should clear up quite quickly. If you find that 5 inhg is ok then you can try going to 7 or 8 for short times. If it feels too much then hold back of course, but the feeling can be quite noticeable (but not painful) and still be ok.
xx Ari

 

[ShelaVenna]

Hi! You've perhaps been pumping for some time. If thats the case then 5 inhg should not be a problem. You should try being more confident/daring. The adverse effects of too much vacuum are the appearance of little red spots. If this happens you know to go more carefully - the spots should clear up quite quickly. If you find that 5 inhg is ok then you can try going to 7 or 8 for short times. If it feels too much then hold back of course, but the feeling can be quite noticeable (but not painful) and still be ok.
xx Ari

I might do that if I thought it would increase growth, but I doubt it. I don’t think pumping works like weightlifting, where increasing your maximum “numbers” over time is necessary to keep progressing. I do wonder how much more short term swelling you get from pumping that hard. Does it drastically increase short term swelling, or is the point of diminishing returns much lower than that? I used to pump a lot and then stopped for several years and started up again. Lately I’ve been experimenting with long duration/low pressure pumping, but I’ve definitely done 5inhg in the past. I typically didn’t pump at 5inhg for more than a minute or two at a time though. I’m convinced that slim women are much, much more prone to nerve damage from pumping than larger people, especially larger males, and like I said before, I don’t really believe that pressures above 5inhg increase the rate of growth, so I’m really not motivated to fuck around and find out.

Are you saying that you personally don’t get blisters and petechiae at 8inhg? That’s shocking to me. I’ve heard plenty of people claim that it’s possible to acclimate to very high pressures over time, but I wasn’t sure whether they were actually speaking from experience or not.

 

[ariadne]

yes you make a good point about different physiques male/female slim/broad. For some physiques probably 5 is a high enough number and can be used safely subject to acclimatization. I confirm I've acclimatized to going higher without mishap.

 

[ShelaVenna]

yes you make a good point about different physiques male/female slim/broad. For some physiques probably 5 is a high enough number and can be used safely subject to acclimatization. I confirm I've acclimatized to going higher without mishap.

I gotta be honest. I think I’ve been massively overestimating the danger of nerve damage, even though I was never overly concerned about it. I’m sure no one else here is surprised. There was one specific person who I won’t name who is always used as an example of someone who suffered permanent nerve damage and possibly artery damage. I recently looked at her thread again and saw that she reported numbness and pain which seems reasonable, but she also reported swollen lymph nodes, full body joint pain, and tiredness. WTF? That’s not nerve damage. I’m starting to think she never actually suffered any nerve damage, permanent or otherwise. I’m sorry about whatever happened to her, but it I don’t think pumping had anything to do with it. If she didn’t develop nerve damage from pumping, than I can’t think of single person who did. She was the only one I was aware of, even though I assumed there had to be others. Of course, this changes nothing for me though. I still don’t see the point in pumping any harder than I already do, because I don’t think it’ll increase growth, and growth is all I care about. Normally people have to choose between increasing either total pumping time or pressure. I think increasing the pumping time is much more useful for actual growth. It might even be better for short term swelling, but I’m not sure.