[The following is letter I sent to a Yahoo group, a regional jackoff club that is very active and provides a connection and organizing resource for men to meet in groups and couples for JO. They exchange a dozen or so messages every day and reflect an enthusiastic community of masturbators. This letter was a response to a number of comments posted by guys complaining about the cost of organized gatherings]

“… Am I the only guy that sees $40 as expensive just to JO? …”

“… Joe, you sound like me….I can JO at home for free, and I can invite some other guys over to join me… ”

There is a major difference between jacking off alone and jacking off with others. A huge difference. That difference is worth something to lots of guys, worth enough to support with money to make it possible and keep it happening again and again. That value is why there exists something called a JO club.

No matter how vivid your imagination or how awesome your online porn access, solosex doesn’t provide the sensation of another living, horned-up man’s hand on your stiff prick, another nibbling your left nip, another nibbling your right nip, another ticking your balls and a hard cock in each hand, neither your own… Solosex doesn’t shoot a load of warm sperm on your nutsack just before you blow a massive load. Solosex doesn’t provide a furry butt or a smooth scrotum to caress in your fingers while you feel your your cum rising… You can imagine it and replay it during solosex, but the real thing is, literally, real. Those of us who have been to lots of group JO know the difference.

There seems to be some confusion here between solosex and social masturbation. They are not the same.

And yes, you can “invite some other guys over” to join you, and that means they have to already know and trust you, or be willing to go to a stranger’s home to JO, and the host has to have the space, time and living situation amenable to having strangers over in their home to (hopefully) JO. Many men are able to do this and have done so for decades, even before the Internet made it so much easier to find people, and for people to find us. It’s great when it happens and most JO clubs start with private JO parties.

But there are monumental advantages of having a predetermined time and a safe place, a club that builds camaraderie and community, an atmosphere of friendliness and positive feedback, the sounds and smells and sights of men masturbating and cumming, laughing and cheering after a buddy’s particularly awesome orgasm… And in 21 years and hundreds of events, I have never been to a JO party or club where there were not enough guys to have a great time, but I have had many, many experiences of trying to connect with one buddy in my or their home or hotel room and being left to bate on my own when they flake out or someone’s roommate or boyfriend or girlfriend shows up or they end up looking nothing like the pic they sent… 

These and other factors are exactly why jackoff clubs exist, why we have the word “Jacks” to describe them, and why it is worth supporting them with our presence and monetary assistance to make them possible. I assume Atlanta Jacks still exists for group JO and buddy JO and not just for solo JO. If a guy is perfectly satisfied to jack off alone, virtually any sex site, hardcore and soft, will do the trick.

There are thousands of counties in the USA, and entire countries all over the world, where JO clubs do not and/or can not exist. If you live where there is one and you have an opportunity to support it, it is worth recognizing that these organizations are unique and rare and should not be taken for granted. 

If you really want to go to a JO club and the cost is too high, I encourage you to contact the organizers and ask if there is some way to participate at a lower rate, buddy up with generous friends, offer to help run the event or some other way of supporting the club. Sometimes that works. If, however, you’re just as content to stroke your own meat solo, or if you have the ability to host others for free, it should not be an issue that you can’t afford it since you can be satisfied without the social difference.

Rain City Jacks in Seattle (my club) charges $40 for the first event when a member joins for a full year, and then $15 or $10 per event. We charge $20 for a trial membership. We offer discounts to students, military and card-carrying members of other JO clubs, and members can attend free when they volunteer or sponsor new members.

We also understand that that $40 or $20 barrier means that we are filtering out guys for whom the experience isn’t valuable. Frankly, if a guy thinks it’s not worth paying for, we don’t really want that guy there. We all want everybody in the room to WANT the experience and not just be a sexual tourist who’d rather be bating, fucking or sucking. We want everyone there to be an enthusiastic buddy bater… so we’re not worried about turning away guys who don’t consider it worth it. I want every man there to think it’s worth it…

We pay to rent an awesome playspace with lockers and room for up to 150 masturbating men. We also pay for all the Albolene, paper towels, baby wipes, snacks and beverages, loaner locks, mouthwash, soap for the showers, laundry for the towels, linens and furniture coverings, and we pay for insurance so that if one of our members should be injured on the premises, both they and the club will not go broke taking care of him… We have no fear of the law (because we’re 100% legal) and our members have no fear of attack, theft or personal exposure. They have no fear of HIV or STDs, no need to negotiate terms of play or any need to even disclose HIV status, no need for condoms… What they get for their money is a reliable, safe place to gather in significant numbers to be safely and freely naked, hard and fully male together.

I have absolutely nothing agains a guy who loves masturbating alone. That describes me too. I love my penis and I love the freedom to spend time making myself feel good and exploring it deeply. What I think must never be lost, and is worth reminding each other, is the difference between solosex and social masturbation, and the need to never take the latter for granted.