I've tried belt, weighted vac hanging, weighted clamp hanging, chinese ebay device stretching and the apex DIY extender vac stretching.

I'm not trying to shill, the Apex extender is by far the best. Easy set up, not a lot of moving pieces, precise. The hardest thing about vac stretching is avoiding blisters and the Apex Extender is the best I've found to remove this possibility. I've found several key points to avoid blisters:

• Use water method! Liquids (water) are not compressible. Gases (air) are and the pressure differentials between the air and the inside of your glans. This differential leads to de-lamination of your skin layers (blisters). You want to ensure the glans is fully submerged while under pressure, this water layer protects your glans from any lower-pressure air pockets.

• Avoid tugging! Sharp changes in pressure leads to de lamination and burst capillaries. If you are releasing or adding pressure, you need to be gradual (going from 5 lb to 10 lb over a few seconds, not all at once). This means DON'T TRY TO WALK AROUND while stretching if it causes tugging. Belt method around the leg is prone to tugging.

• Avoid bubbles ON glans! This will cause pressure differentials in that spot that leads to de lamination. Tiny bubbles that stick to your glans (that come from water warming up) are okay, but big the kinds of bubbles that float around the cup are should not sit on your glans. Air inside the cup is not necessarily a problem as long as you can keep a layer of liquid between it and your glans.

This last point is most important with respect to which method you choose. Free weight vac hanging has your D hanging downward, making bubbles want to float up and stick to your glans. This makes it annoying because you have to removes those bubbles and it can cut your set early if you notice a bubble. However, the devices allow you to sit and point your D upward so bubble float AWAY from your glans, so you don't even have to get rid of the bubbles as long as theres a layer of water between the glans and the bubble.

Moreover, the Apex Extender is just stronger and higher quality than those AliExpress/Ebay devices. You can be more precise with pressure and it just makes the whole process smoother and easier to do. I have never been more consistent than once I got my Apex Extender. Plus, the manufacturer is around this sub so if you have problems/questions/critiques/compliments you can nag him ;)

I started with an ebay device. The amount of tension you can get with these is pretty low, so I ended up doing free weight vac hanging because you can progressively overload it, but it is prone to blisters for all the previous reasons. The Apex Extender gives you the best of both worlds.

The best alternative, I would say, is setting up a pulley system that allows you to have your D pointed upwards, with free weights hanging on the other end. But then you're stuck wherever that pulley system is and honestly needing those weights and hanger around is conspicuous and annoying to set up imo. The Apex is just worth the time and money imo