Fleshlight

The Fleshlight (also marketed as the Fleshjack) is a sex toy designed and marketed by Interactive Life Forms (ILF). The Fleshlight is named for the flesh-like material used in its inner sleeve, as well as the plastic case that houses the sleeve, which is fashioned to look like an oversized flashlight. The inner sleeve is available with vagina, anus, buttocks, mouth and a more discreet slot-shaped orifice. All inner sleeves also come in a choice of various colors and internal textures.

The Fleshlight was designed by former police officer Steve Shubin who was suffering a period of forced abstinence while his wife was in a high-risk pregnancy. He was granted a patent in 1998 for his invention, as a "device for discreet sperm collection".

Material
The Fleshlight is stated to be made of medical and food grade, phthalate-free polymers. According to the Fleshlight website, the insert is not made from latex, plastic or silicone. The Fleshlight FAQ claims the material is "a company secret covered by a series of US patents" but according to the patent itself (which is public), the material is an elastomeric gel being formed from a mixture of 90-94% by weight of plasticizing oil and of 5-9% by weight of a block copolymer comprising an admixture of a styrene ethylene butylene styrene block copolymer and a styrene ethylene propylene styrene block copolymer combined in a ratio of 1:5 to 5:1. Due to the chemical composition of this material, it is only suitable for use with water-based lubricants, as oil-based lubricants or soaps will damage the material permanently. The clear or "ice" colored insert is significantly "stickier" than the normal colorations due to the lack of pigment.

Recent products
The Fleshjack brand was launched in April 2007. Fleshjack is essentially the same as a Fleshlight, but specifically targeted toward the homosexual male demographic.

ILF most recently created the Fleshlight Girls brand due to the growing response to introduce actual molds of women's vulvas. Currently, ILF features seven models which include: Kat Young, Lia19, Sandee Westgate, Brooke Skye, Raven Riley, Vanilla Deville and Puma Swede.

Reviews and criticism
The Fleshlight is described in "Sex Toys that Changed the World," About.com, as having "raised the bar exponentially" for sex toys made for men.

The Toronto Star called it a "top pick" which was "both versatile and fun".

In a humorous 2002 essay describing a Fleshlight "test drive", on-line sex journal Nerve.com reviewer Joe Maynard called the Fleshlight the "ultimate faux vagina." He noted problems with lubricant leakage, but admitted that the Fleshlight "feels like getting a blow job — only no teeth."

Other writers have pointed to shortcomings with the product. In their Sex Toy book, writers Em & Lo include an entry for Fleshlight but indicate that some may find the casing "heavy, unwieldy and too wide", noting that "you can't squeeze the casing to increase the pressure around your dick," but noting that one could remove the flesh-like insert from the case and apply pressure manually. Another review called the Fleshlight the "king of boy toys," but also stated that it took a while to get used to cleaning it.