It's enclosing, binding, constrictive, protective, form fitting and sensual. And besides, it feels REALLY good.
Seriously, there's just something about putting on a nice tight fitting rubber suit that just makes me tingle all over. Rubber isn't the only thing that will do this for me. Sports gear, firefighter's turnouts, etc. will produce much the same effect. Basically, it's not only a sensual experience but something about being totally enclosed in something protective that does it for me.
I've not researched the phsychology behind a gear fetish much, but from what I've determined it seems to be just one of those things that either you have or you don't. If you are here than you are at least curious about it so you may just be one of us.
If you've never had the experience of trying on some rubber gear, and want to try it in a way that seems somewhat socially acceptable, you might try scuba diving. While it's not quite the same thing as a catsuit, if putting on the wetsuit gets your engine going than you might want to pursue things further at some point. If not, you can still enjoy the wonderful world of scuba.
As I've said, sports gear (especially hockey and football) are serious turn-ons for me as well. I was recently talking with someone who really gets excited by the idea of wearing gear but has several rather vanilla room mates. I suggested to him that ice hockey might be a good sport to take up since that would allow him to wear the gear and have a legitimate excuse for having it around the house. Hell, that's part of what got me into playing hockey in the first place but I found out I liked it so much I'm still playing it to this day.
I even went to the extreme of being trained as a firefighter so I could learn about that gear. While that is a bit much for most folks, it was something that interested me so I did it. I've never been employed as one, although I was trying seriously for a while, but I enjoy wearing turnouts from time to time. I even have some proximity suits that I use when things get really hot sometimes. ;-)
Then of course there's motorcycling leathers. I started riding when I was 17 and have been riding ever since. If you have ever been to Silicon Valley and tried to drive anywhere during the day, you'd know that motorcycles are the ONLY way to get around quickly here. I can ride in 30 minutes what will take me 1.5 HOURS in my car. (Well enough ranting about Bay Area traffic.) One nice thing about leathers is that if I'm just going for a pleasure ride I can put on a rubber suit underneath and no one out there will be any the wiser. I can only do that on cool days, however, but fortunately the Bay Area never gets all that warm.
It's not only wearing the gear that I like; I also really enjoy hanging out (in more ways that one. ;-) ) with other people who are also wearing gear. Getting a couple of gear fetishists together in a room with each bringing some bags'o'gear can be a dangerous thing.
And for those of you who are a bit squeamish about certain rather nasty bugs that are around these days, it's hard to transmit anything when everyone involved is wearing several layers of rubber and/or gear. Think about it; if I'm wearing a full body condom and the person(s) I'm playing with is(are) doing the same, not much is going to get passed around.
If you have any questions about any of this, or would like to share your own experiences or thoughts on the subject, please feel free to email me.
In Gear,