Unexpected Sources Drive Progress of Sex Tech

What do the Marines, NASA, SWAT and aerospace have in common? Each has inspired at least one engineer to provide a new perspective — and a quality contribution — in the business of sexual pleasure.
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“We were doing a lot of personal experimentation with toys and we found that they weren’t very durable,” says Peg McIlnay-Moe, an aerospace engineer who co-founded Elemental Pleasures (NSFW) with her husband Dennis. “We thought well, we’re both engineers, we’re both inventive, how can we do this differently? What if we make toys out of metal?”
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The SWAT team isn’t always the first thing that comes to mind when you think about masturbation. On the other hand, they do have cool gear, and when they’re doing what they do best, who’s going to question that huge flashlight dangling from the tool belt?
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Despite resistance from friends and colleagues who worried that developing sex toys would “hurt our reputation as a family,” Shubin developed what has become one of the most popular sexual devices for men: the Fleshlight. It has now sold more than a million units and comes in a number of configurations to suit various orientations, goals and preferences.