New to this-safety

[stevet]

Curious how worried people are about safety? Everything from being robbed, to jumped etc what precautions do people take. In this age of ever-present surveillance, do you worry about hidden cameras in rooms, hiring a masseuse who's mentally unstable etc. I'm in Chicago area and Florida, seems like there could be lots of setups in Chicago. Had a bad experience 20 years ago and was wondering if people had tips for safety etc

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

2 hours ago, stevet said:

Curious how worried people are about safety? Everything from being robbed, to jumped etc what precautions do people take.

Welcome!  And thank you for posting your question in the right forum "Questions About Hiring", which is better than many people do! 

The use of the Search 🔍 button at the top of this page is very helpful.  Searching "Safety" in "this forum" and "titles only" yields 30+ topics on safety, ranging from physical safety to STI prevention and more. 

Here's the Search 🔍 results for "Safety"

https://www.companyofmen.org/search/?&q=Safety&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles

2 hours ago, stevet said:

...hiring a masseuse who's mentally unstable... 

We wouldn't discuss a masseuse here, as masseuse is female and probably mentally unstable already 😆 

The term for men is masseur. 

Happy hiring!

[Rod Hagen]

5 hours ago, stevet said:

Curious how worried people are about safety? Everything from being robbed, to jumped etc what precautions do people take. In this age of ever-present surveillance, do you worry about hidden cameras in rooms, hiring a masseuse who's mentally unstable etc. I'm in Chicago area and Florida, seems like there could be lots of setups in Chicago. Had a bad experience 20 years ago and was wondering if people had tips for safety etc

This calling masseurs masseuses stopped being cute some time ago.  Google is your friend (said the guy who in another thread earlier this morning couldn't come up with Jean Smart's name).  That said I'd much prefer those occasional fuckups to using the ridiculous term "massage therapist" or the one that makes me puke that everyone started using without my permission, "provider".

You're fine, don't worry about it. Nothing bad's going to happen.   The only VERY RARE setups were in Vegas, and a couple in Texas long ago.  You are in Chicago, you're fine. 

What was your "bad experience"?

__________

And for others who read this thread later:

It's not hard. Rentmen has reviews.

You can use a proxiserver to read them.

You can select escorts who have multiple reviews from clients who have reviewed multiple escorts informatively. 

If you're still unsure after using that logical tactic, hiring well reviewed escorts/masseurs from consistently informative clients, you're medically paranoid and you'll never be comfortable hiring, so give up.

Thinking is important. Overthinking doesn't do shit. Now go have sex :-)

 

Edited Saturday at 07:24 PM by Rod Hagen

[+ Vegas_Millennial]

29 minutes ago, Rod Hagen said:

Thinking is important. Overthinking doesn't do shit. Now go have sex 🙂

I nominate this to be Company of Men's slogan

[SecretProvider]

 

[BuffaloKyle]

6 hours ago, stevet said:

Curious how worried people are about safety? Everything from being robbed, to jumped etc what precautions do people take. In this age of ever-present surveillance, do you worry about hidden cameras in rooms, hiring a masseuse who's mentally unstable etc. I'm in Chicago area and Florida, seems like there could be lots of setups in Chicago. Had a bad experience 20 years ago and was wondering if people had tips for safety etc

If you see a provider or masseur you're interested in do a search on the forum to see if there's a thread with info on them. Or start a thread if there's not. Stick to ones that come well reviewed and recommended by your fellow clients on here.

[Mark_fl]

2 hours ago, Rod Hagen said:

This calling masseurs masseuses stopped being cute some time ago.  Google is your friend (said the guy who in another thread earlier this morning couldn't come up with Jean Smart's name).  That said I'd much prefer those occasional fuckups to using the ridiculous term "massage therapist" or the one that makes me puke that everyone started using without my permission, "provider".

You're fine, don't worry about it. Nothing bad's going to happen.   The only VERY RARE setups were in Vegas, and a couple in Texas long ago.  You are in Chicago, you're fine. 

What was your "bad experience"?

__________

And for others who read this thread later:

It's not hard. Rentmen has reviews.

You can use a proxiserver to read them.

You can select escorts who have multiple reviews from clients who have reviewed multiple escorts informatively. 

If you're still unsure after using that logical tactic, hiring well reviewed escorts/masseurs from consistently informative clients, you're medically paranoid and you'll never be comfortable hiring, so give up.

Thinking is important. Overthinking doesn't do shit. Now go have sex 🙂

 

The objection to calling service providers, providers amuses me, as the actual description of this board mentions them.

[Mr.Peach]

8 hours ago, stevet said:

Curious how worried people are about safety? Everything from being robbed, to jumped etc what precautions do people take. In this age of ever-present surveillance, do you worry about hidden cameras in rooms, hiring a masseuse who's mentally unstable etc. I'm in Chicago area and Florida, seems like there could be lots of setups in Chicago. Had a bad experience 20 years ago and was wondering if people had tips for safety etc

Yeah I do worry about safety and cams and scams with escort hires. Not so much with masseurs because the set up is different and they often times have invested in their practice a lot more like in training, tables, lotions and more so the customer is not just a quick buck for them. 

[viewing ownly]

I love your Avatar, Mr. Peach. Nowadays, that presumed ass is what is considered a standard liked men's chest by other gay men. 

To the subject of safety, time of day and area of town is typically more important than a risk of running across a bad apple masseur.

I won't see a masseur at night in an area I'm unfamiliar with, and those who know they live in bad areas will get a room somewhere that isn't a problem when they're looking for clients. 

20 years is a long time to hinder what you do. I said "never again" to seeing anyone under 30 when I had a disastrous hire who was 22. I broke down and saw a 28-year-old about 5 years later and am so glad in that case that "never again" meant a half decade. 

[Mr.Peach]

5 hours ago, viewing ownly said:

I love your Avatar, Mr. Peach. Nowadays, that presumed ass is what is considered a standard liked men's chest by other gay men. 

To the subject of safety, time of day and area of town is typically more important than a risk of running across a bad apple masseur.

I won't see a masseur at night in an area I'm unfamiliar with, and those who know they live in bad areas will get a room somewhere that isn't a problem when they're looking for clients. 

20 years is a long time to hinder what you do. I said "never again" to seeing anyone under 30 when I had a disastrous hire who was 22. I broke down and saw a 28-year-old about 5 years later and am so glad in that case that "never again" meant a half decade. 

Now that you mention that, I don't think I've ever gone to see a masseur at night. For some reason that's something I've always done in the afternoons. I will see escorts at night though but not exclusive, afternoons work for me too. 

Thanks for the compliment on my avatar. 😄

[nomad]

@stevet as personal rule, I generally avoid hiring a guy I can't physically put up a defense against if the need called for it.  Only ever was an issue once when I had a disagreement with a provider when they tried to change the previously agreed terms before proceeding.  They didn't want to leave.  Threatened to get physical.  I grabbed the lamp and told them to get the F out before I called the hotel security on their ass.  I like being in proximity of something I can grab as a make shift weapon if needed.  You pick up lifetime survival habits if you have lived and worked in developing countries. 

[+ JamesB]

2 hours ago, nomad said:

You pick up lifetime survival habits if you have lived and worked in developing countries. 

So much truth in a single sentence.

[Rod Hagen]

17 hours ago, Mark_fl said:

The objection to calling service providers, providers amuses me, as the actual description of this board mentions them.

Yes.  That description is also stupid.

Edited Sunday at 03:04 PM by Rod Hagen

[+ glutes]

On 8/22/2026 at 7:02 AM, stevet said:

Curious how worried people are about safety? Everything from being robbed, to jumped etc what precautions do people take. In this age of ever-present surveillance, do you worry about hidden cameras in rooms, hiring a masseuse who's mentally unstable etc. I'm in Chicago area and Florida, seems like there could be lots of setups in Chicago. Had a bad experience 20 years ago and was wondering if people had tips for safety etc

The higher power gave you intuition, use it.

[+ Jamie21]

Never liked the term ‘provider’. Something feels weird about it. It’s so vague; providing what? Lunch? 
I think masseur and escort or the universal ‘sex worker’ are much more appropriate. Maybe the ‘provider’ term is vague because those hiring like it suitably indirect, given hiring for sexual services is of dubious legality in some jurisdictions. 

[Mark_fl]

I like it because it is appropriately vague, as every interaction is different, and sex isn't even always an option. Is a sensual massage sex work? To some, probably. Others, maybe not. What if someone is just hired for companionship or a dinner date. That surely isn't sex work. 'Provider' just covers all the bases. In all instances, they are providing a service.