Thongs,  the Fort is heating up.  I made my first beach day for the year, FINALLY!  This past Tuesday the weather was beautiful and the sun was heating up.  I spent a few hours in my skinz thong string and began my base tan.  The weather was so nice I decided to return Wed for a few more hours to work on my base.  Both days there were several thongers and g's on the beach, nice to see everyone enjoying the freedom the Fort has to offer.  I didn't see one female thonger on either day just us guys enjoying the beach. The tourist are starting to thin out and that makes for a better day at the beach. 

It seems the winter winds change the beach a little this year.  I'm talking about the west beach,  not the north beach.  Were the trees met the shoreline have erroded a little and walking north has been shortened a little.  I did get to venture to the north shore and it to was somewhat erroded.  I noticed the signs posted keeping bathers from laying in the dunes.  That stinks,  it was nice to be able to lay out up higher in the dunes, the sea breeze was nice in the late afternoon.  The signs say keep out to let the dunes renourish, RIGHT, it's to keep us thongers out.  I enjoy going to the west beach because it is more open and not as many tourist and families are around. 

I try to get to the Fort once or twice a week during the summer.  I only wear skinz string thongs or just my g-string.  I gotta get over to Clearwater to shop for a few new strings, so to rub it in,  but it sure is nice to be able to go the skinz showroom and try on the suits before you buy them.  The girls that work there are most helpful, especially when I try on a suit and ask there opinion!  See ya at the Fort.

G

Today was Friday and I spent most of the afternoon at the Fort a little rain shower was inland over stpete and it kept Fort under cloud cover for the first hour but then the sun came out around 1 and it was hot.  I got some great sun today.  Several thongers and gstingers really a mix today men and women.  The women were with guys but both were in thongs.  The west beach is unofficailly the thong and g-string beach of the west coast of Florida. 

G

Does anyone know if it iokay to walk up to the north end of North Beach in a thong?

The North end of the beach used be one of the main thong areas, but since most of it has been shut off for dune restoration, I don't think many people go there any more. (An aside - I hope that there is still a North end of the beach since Herricane Jeane blew through!)

Walking to the North end of the beach would invovle going through a lot of family areas. Although it's legal to wear thongs on any part of Fort DeSoto beach, I don't like to push it. And  you would have to be pretty sure of yourself, if you are a guy, to walk through those areas. A woman would have a much easier time of it if she is wearing a thong suit but probably not a g-string.

I did see a guy with his wife or girlfriend walk up toward the North section a week or so ago. This guy was even more committed to thonging than I am. He had butterfly wings tattooed on his back and another butterfly type of design tattooed on his butt. It was pretty obvious that this man had been working on his thong "look" for quite some time.

To answer your question, I think that it's legal, but you might be pushing the envelope of you go though the family areas.

A VERY few people bring their children to the main thong area, which now located south of the North Beach parking lot (A.K.A. "West Beach"). Many thongers are not comfortable when kids are around and for that reason I would avoid "hard core" main thong at the north end of West Beach that has a wooded area in back of it.

Some people do wear thongs further south of that area (but well north of the gift shop area), and there are families there as well. The crowd is pretty laid back, and I don't think that you would hear many, if any, negative comments. That might be the best place to try with your son.

Rock1212,

the same happens to me, I sometimes feel that other men wearing thongs at the beach , are checking me out.

I agree that it not necessarily means that anyone is gay.  I reckon it is just curiosity, as thongers are not very common, we feel as bumping into someone who is in the same dimension as us.

To speak on the beach to other men wearing the same "unusual" swimwear style, I think it's great for the thongs cause.  Perhaps that guy walking by with his girlfriend, felt himself threatened by such a display of masculilne confidence.  Or perhaps he was homophobic, ( or perhaps he was just a repressed gay man...)

It's polite to speak to other thonger men on the beach, it's like finding someone else who speaks the same language in the middle of a foreign crowd.  However I must admit that the fear of being hit by gay guys, or being confused of being gay, might sometimes stop me a little bit to be more friendly with other men wearing thongs at the same time as me.

Again it's just a matter of self confidence, if it happened to be a gay guy, I just try to make it clear that i am not gay and just try to be friendly.

John Howard

Lets hope the Ft. doesn't become TOO well known.  I love seeing my fellow thongers out there but I like the quiet and private nature this beach offers as well!  Hanging out in just my y-back thong from Skinz and listening to the soft tide is just about as relaxing experience that I can imagine.

Keep the Ft. a secret!  Shhhhhhhhhhh!!!!

Reply to beachfolks,

I think it's a good idea, for every suit ued on a public beach, to have a back strap. You don't want to push them into making a special new rule. Rules are by definition restrictive and once they start the process it tends to get out of control.

Because we are taking about a state park it will probably end up as a state wide rule or law. At the state level Florida is controlled by some right wing legislators with strong religious ties. We don't want some politico making this his "Family Value" issue for the next election.

I think the addition of a rear string helps people think "It's just a thong". The string does not make a tan line because it's between the cheeks.

I do think 'pouch only' suits are taking it too far on public beaches that are not designated as nude. If you continually step over the limit then they will make new rules and laws. I would not be surprised to see them try a no thong rule with some tricky language about the dimensions of a rear end and the courage needed.

Some Florida counties allready have some rather restrictive laws on the books.   It's likely that if they make new state laws they will model them after the existing county ones.  Here, for example, is the law from Daytona Beach.

3) One-third of the male or female buttocks centered over the cleavage of the buttocks for the length of the cleavage. This area is more particularly described as that portion of the buttocks which lies between the top and bottom of the buttocks, and between two imaginary straight lines, one on each side of the anus and each line being located one-third of the distance from the anus to the outside perpendicular line defining the buttocks, and each line being perpendicular to the ground and to the horizontal lines defining the buttocks.

c) Attire which is insufficient to comply with these requirements includes but is not limited to those items commonly known as G-strings, T-backs, dental floss, and thongs.

I don't want to see a law like this at the State level !!

I have been running on my beach in Fort Lauderdale, three mornings a week, for the last few years. The life guards say "Hi" and the police are friendly. Last week I found an aluminum box on the sand. It contained police charge sheets (like traffic tickets). Since I had seen a cop on an ATV I assumed it was his.  I got it back to him. He was very grateful and said he was glad that I had spotted it, picked it up, and taken care of it and not 'some stranger'.   I have a good relationship with the cops and life guards.  We often exchange friendly waves or comments.

Yes, some of my suits are small, but no smaller than some of the girls on the beach. Even though there is a public highway along the back side of the beach, and tons of people all over the sand, no officials have ever given me a hard time.  Then again, I always wear a suit with rear strap of some sort.

Altercations with the local authorities are not helpful. What's wrong with just saying, "Ok, I will wear a suit with a back strap"?  It does not need to be very wide. That little ? wide strap is going to make them happy and get them to leave you alone.  It's not going to cause a tan line because it covers the parts where ?the sun don't shine'.  

It's not the back strap that causes tan lines it's the waist band.  If you are a thong fan, who like me, prefers not to have tan lines, you allready have a range of suits in different cuts. Some are high cut, some are low, some have narrow backs and some are V strings. By alternating different suits on different days I maintain a good overall tan without a hint of strap marks.   

As a comunity of thongers, we don't need a few people in extreme suits causing problems with the authorities: They will be seen as random pervs.   We DO need more people in regular thongs on regular beaches. To preserve and expand thong legal beaches we have to move thongs from the extreme into the mainstream.

JM_Runs   -

Great point you, I could not have said it any better!  I have been a thonger and for the last several years and a g-stringer at the Fort and I must tell you that over the years I have seen some people really push the envelope not only what they had or did not have on but who they were around.  Fort Desoto is Family park but because it is so large of an area there is enough space for all of us to use the park and still respect others.  I was out to the Fort last week one day and I had just set up my area to layout, when I noticed this guy about 50 yards away in jeans (90 degrees out) a cell phone on his hip, polo shirt, and binoculars.  I think he was a deputy scanning the beach for nude sunbathers.  He was around for about 10 mins before leaving the area all together.  I understand many people would like to have a portion of the Fort designated as a nude area, which is cool with me, but lets not ruin our ability to wear thongs or g-strings anywhere we want at the Fort, it's real simple.  Respect others, especially when kids are in the area.

G

First I am sorry that you feel you have to walk "half a mile walk away from the designated beaches" before you lay out in your thong. I don't approve of ghettos and I think you should be comfortable in a normal beach setting. By thonging with the crowds you take remove the image of pervs hiding out of public view.

Beachfolks, you stated "The anus is not a sex organ". That is some technical way may be true based on an old biology or medical text book. But it can be, and often is, used for sex. It's also a body part that most people feel squeamish about. They will gladly lick a sex organ, but an anus is a different kettle of fish.... Given that it is used for sex and that most people feel squeamish about it, I think having a thong with a back strap is a good idea. Even if it is only a small string so that people can think to them selves that you are covered. By having no rear strap you make it obvious that there can be no covering.

Like it or not, most people think exposure of the anus while not exposing the sex organs is not a balanced approach. The next logical step from a thong is full nudity, not half and half.

Quick point of fact:

Ft. Desoto is a Pinellas County Park. It is not a Florida State Park.

Reply to sarasotajt, Thanks for that update. I was under the misapprehension that it was a State Park. Shows what I know.   That makes me feel a litle better.  At least they are not pushing the state to make new rules, just the county.

I am not sure you can declare this a perfect system of goverment,  just because some one else uses a  suicide bomber.  If this was a good goverment we would not be dropping MK77 incendiary bombs in Iraq.  (Advanced napalm style chemical bombs).   Banned by treeties that most civilized nations have signed.

But we digress, it's here, on Floridas west coast that we have this situaton.   You have to relize that the surounding counties are trending in a radily conservitve direction.  I noticed this in the news today:

Sounds like patriotism or punishment to me.  It looks like this part of Florida is getting a bit red-neck.  Next they will be telling you what dork shorts to wear.

One by one the public places where nudists could go are being closed or 'reformed'.   If you were to drive randomly around your state for a year it's unlikely that you would see one.  We don't want that to happen to thongers.  We don't want thongers being made criminals and put on sexual offender lists for life. 

At this time,  this point in the history and goverment of Florida, we don't want to make an issue of the fact that anus is not listed as a sex organ.  If we push the issue, they will respond in the only way elected goverment can, by changing the law.  If they revise the law it will be more restrictive than what we have now.  For certan they will include anus, and what is considered as approprate covering for it.   BUT they probably won't stop there....  You may end up with a state law that bans thongs.

For years local goverments have been quietly getting rid of their social laws and letting the state law be the default.  That has helped thongers because we have a relitivly librial state law.  If that is re-examined and made more comprehensive to include other parts the current state goverment thinks should be covered we, the thongers, are in trouble.

There are times to push the limits, and push the issue, and times that avoiding the issue may be wise. 

I have been going to the west beach for 10+ years, long before it was discovered as a thong beach and I even went to the north beach area,  I did not always sit right in the middle of the most crowded area but that's just me.  When I go to the beach and I can go to an area were there is less noise and people, I will make the efffort to go a little further away from the crowd.  I use to go to Pass-A-Grille Beach but found it to be populated, besides the Fort offers a sense of being away on a tropical island even though your minutes from our crazy society.  Last 4th of July I spent 4 sun filled days at the west beach right in the middle of all the other sun lovers enjoying the beach as I only had on my m1r yellow g-string from skinz. There were several other thongs in the area but mostly your typical old fashion shorts and suits.  I enjoy laying on the waters edge sunning my bunns as my legs are half in the water.  I had many looks and even more compliments on my tan.  When going to the beach, just go were you want and enjoy it, lifes to short! 

G

I just got home from beautiful day at the Fort.  When I first arrived it was mostly over cast with spots of sun coming thru but I could tell the rays were strong.  Then the sky turned blue after about an hour and nothing but sun and a small string.  Only one other guy in a g-string  and really no one around.  Red tide is still a small issue, the park serivce has done a great job of keeping the beach clean but when the afternoon seabreeze kicks in still some dead fish come ashore.  I took many walks up and down the beach a few women shelling and and later on two girls were boogie boarding and I strolled along past, they were friendly.  I had my new skinz g-string on today M1R1 and it fit extremely well.  I will be out most of this week and all weekend long sunin my buns.

G

Can someone please tell me the specifics about the area where people generally go nude.  I believe it was the North Beach area.  Is there a wide area to sun yourself or is it cramped?  Generally, what has been the ratio of males vs. females?  How high is the water you need to wade across to get to this area?  Have you ever had problems with inappropriate activity (ex. unwanted sexual advances)?

Thanks everyone!   Keep sunning your buns!

Beachfolks,

Encountered no mosquitos at all walking through the dunes nor on the beach.  Just be careful of the prickly plants and the ants as they do bite.  For the first time however, I noticed several dead fish and crabs washing up on the beach.  Not sure if this was due to red tide or Katrina's aftermath.  Regardless, the beach maintenance crew was very good about coming through and removing them.

Keep thonging at the Fort.