The Armory is not what you think it is! To start off, this building is a historical building located in a residential area of Mission District. This building was originally built for the United States National Guard and was later unused in 1976. The building served no purpose until 2006, when an Internet pornography company called Kink.com decides to buy it off. Kink.com specializes in BDSM pornography for the sexual minorities with a definite open-mind and curiosity. Film production was done in this building everyday. Don’t judge a book by its cover. From the outside this place truly did not seem like a place where porn is made.
The building looks to cover at least 2 blocks of the street. As you enter the building for the 2-hour tour you will notice that the inside resembles a castle, with the high-ceilings, concrete walls and floors, the overall cold and nippy temperatures. Two friendly tour guides escorted us and we were taken to a waiting room to wait for the entire group to show up. The maximum size of each tour is about 30 people. You are not allowed to take your purses while on tour therefore you are to put your purses and bags inside a locker.
Room after room, and four stories tall, you will find each room serving a purpose. One room is called the “Ultimate Surrender” room, which is of course a sexual X-rated wrestling match between two females. As told by our tour guide audiences can watch the wrestling match live just like a professional UFC or boxing match. Stepping on the floor you will notice it is all padded and soft. As the tour guides told us the purpose is for the actors comfort to prevent a sore knee or any physical pain after filming.
Another room is a room where they stored all their sex toys and sex machines. We were not allowed into this room but were allowed to peek inside from outside a locked door. Perhaps all the sex toys you’ve heard about are all here. From afar you can see a wide variety and some of which you may have never seen before. All of these toys are used in production. We were assured that all toys are cleaned after each usage!
The next room is the butcher room. Fake plastic meat hung in the middle of the room and the fake plastic butcher knives as well. I personally do not understand this room and how anyone could find this surrounding to be kinky. I thought it to be a cross between a butcher room and a horror flick.
Besides these mentioned rooms, the tour guides took us to about 6 more rooms in total where each was also of different themes and settings. Anytime you walk in the hallway and if you see the red lights lit outside of the door, it means filming is in progress and you are not allowed to go inside. Also you will notice there are also large kegs. The kegs are filled with lube. There is no shortage of lube at The Armory!
You can visit the official website for reservations: http://www.sfarmory.com
Thanks for sharing Virginia – I’ve never even heard of that place, much less heard about what is inside. What an odd place to visit – but those types of places are certainly the memorable ones!
~ Dave