What do RACK and other consent models mean?

RACK stands for Risk-Aware Consensual Kink. It's a way of thinking about consent that puts honesty about risk at its centre. Consent here means a yes that's freely given, informed, specific, ongoing and withdrawable at any moment, and RACK adds that every activity carries some risk, and the people taking part should understand those risks, talk about them openly and agree to them together, knowingly and freely.

RACK is one of several consent models people use in BDSM. Understanding it helps any couple have clearer conversations before a scene, whatever kind of play they enjoy and whatever furniture they use.

What each part means

Risk-aware

Every activity carries risk. Being risk-aware means learning what the risks of an activity are, being honest with each other about them, and deciding together which you're comfortable with and how to reduce them. It means doing your research, and learning hands-on skills in person from experienced, reputable educators before trying them.

Consensual

Informed consent depends on the risk awareness that comes before it: you can't fully agree to something whose risks you don't understand. You reach that agreement sober, and the scene stays sober as well.

Kink

Kink covers the wide range of activities and dynamics people explore together, from light restraint to long-term power exchange.

Where RACK came from

An older model, Safe, Sane and Consensual, or SSC, came first. Some people felt the word 'safe' didn't fit, because no activity is entirely free of risk, and RACK grew out of that conversation. It asks people to understand and agree to risk openly, instead of describing an activity as risk-free.

Other models exist alongside RACK, and what matters is the conversation each one encourages.

Other consent models

Two other models put the emphasis elsewhere.

A model built on Personal Responsibility, Informed Consensual Kink, known by its initials, puts weight on each person taking responsibility for their own choices and their own research.
The 4Cs, Caring, Communication, Consent and Caution, put care and conversation alongside consent and caution.

Each model emphasises something different, and they share the same core: talk openly, understand the risks, agree together, and stop the moment either partner signals, with no discussion or override in the moment. Use whichever language helps the two of you have that conversation well.

RACK in practice

Before a scene

Talk, out of role and sober, about what each of you wants and doesn't want.
For each activity, talk about what could go wrong and how you'd reduce the risk.
Agree hard limits, which are never crossed, and soft limits, which you approach with care.
Agree a safeword and a non-verbal signal.
Agree what aftercare each of you will need.

During a scene

Stay within what was agreed.
Check in regularly, and listen to the answers.
Stop if anything changes. The safeword or signal ends the scene immediately, and is never discussed or overridden in the moment.
Never leave a restrained partner alone, even briefly.

After a scene

Give and receive the aftercare you agreed.
Talk later about what worked and what didn't.
Adjust your limits and plans for next time.

Being honest about risk

RACK asks people to look clearly at risk without being frightened of it. For restraint, that means thinking about comfort, about keeping the means to take off every restraint within reach, and about how a restrained partner will communicate. For furniture, it means checking a piece before each scene and knowing what it's designed for.

Every piece is made in S235 steel, the beds and crosses carry welded D-rings, and nothing we make is designed to hold a person's weight off the ground. Before each scene, check the frame, its fixings and the finish around the rings. If anything has moved, loosened or chipped through to the steel, stop using the piece and contact us before it's used again. If a piece is to be fixed to a wall or floor, that work belongs to a qualified tradesperson.

How to have the conversation

Talking about risk can feel awkward at first, and it gets easier with practice. Choose a calm time, away from the bedroom, when you're both sober and neither of you is tired or in a hurry. Take each activity in turn. Say what appeals to you about it, what worries you, and what you'd need in order to feel comfortable trying it. Listen to the answers without trying to persuade.

If either of you isn't sure about an activity, leave it out for now. A limit can always be revisited later, out of role, in another conversation. Write down what you agree, so there's no doubt when the scene comes.

A RACK conversation, worked through

Take one activity: light restraint on a bed, with soft cuffs on welded D-rings. A RACK conversation might name three risks and agree how to reduce each.

The restrained partner can't give a signal. Agreed answer: a safeword plus a non-verbal signal that works in the cuffs, rehearsed before the scene, either of which ends it immediately and is never discussed or overridden in the moment.
A cuff becomes uncomfortable. Agreed answer: regular check-ins, and the cuff comes off on any report that it feels wrong, no reason needed.
The restrained partner is left alone. Agreed answer: never, not even briefly, with shears and anything else that releases a cuff kept within reach.

Add who checks what before the scene, the frame, its fixings and the cuffs included, and the conversation is done. It needn't take long, and it makes the scene better for both of you.

Hard limits, soft limits and maybes

Sorting activities into three lists makes a risk conversation easier. Hard limits are never crossed and never revisited in the moment. Soft limits are things approached with care, or only under conditions you've agreed. Maybes are things either of you is curious about but not ready for. Write the lists down, date them, and look at them again whenever either of you wants to. A maybe can become a yes, a no or a hard limit, and any of them can change, out of role, in a later conversation.

RACK and furniture

Risk awareness starts before anything arrives. Check that a piece will reach the room by sending us your narrowest door, stair and turn before you order. Assemble it from the printed instructions and re-tighten every fixing before first use. Know what it's designed for, and check it before every scene. Our guide to checking your furniture before each scene sets out the routine.

What RACK asks of you

Agreement alone doesn't justify any risk: RACK asks for informed, careful choices, and for consent that can be withdrawn at any moment. A partner can always say no, change their mind or stop, whatever was agreed beforehand.

RACK works alongside skill. Hands-on techniques, especially rope and restraint, are best learned in person from experienced, reputable educators, and practised carefully before they're used in a scene.

Questions about RACK

Do we need to choose one model?

No. RACK is a way of thinking, and you can use it without adopting any fixed rules, or without ever naming it. What matters is that you talk openly about risk and agree together.

Does RACK apply to light play?

Yes. Even light restraint carries some risk. A short conversation about risk, limits and signals before every scene is the RACK approach.

How does RACK fit with a long-term dynamic?

In a long-term dynamic, RACK means revisiting agreements regularly, talking about risk whenever something new is added, and making sure either partner can pause the dynamic at any time.