Vetting your partners for compatibility is an important component of a rewarding play.

The quality of a fisting session is largely influenced by the strength of the connection between partners, which is directly linked to their compatibility. Physical and emotional attraction, comparable histories, shared backgrounds or cultures, and similar personal values are key factors that contribute to this compatibility. For example, it's often easier to connect with someone who shares a similar age, experience, and life philosophy, rather than someone with whom you have nothing in common. A sober fister, for instance, may find it challenging to connect with a chem player.

While similarities are important, in some cases, complete opposites are beneficial in create connection. These items are traits complementary in nature and can include complementary roles such as top/bottom, complementary personalities such as dominant/submissive, and complementary identities such as master/apprentice or daddy/boy.

Your evolution has endowed you with a natural ability to assess people and situations around you. This skill has been critical to human survival throughout history, as those who were not vigilant did not survive to pass on their genes. Today, this innate ability is still used in daily life to minimize risks to yourself, your family, and your community. It is also important in selecting play partners, especially with the increased risks of activities like fisting.

By observing seemingly insignificant behaviors and mannerisms of others, you can form a gut feeling about their trustworthiness. However, it is crucial to validate these assumptions through advanced communication skills. This involves probing into details to confirm or reject your initial impressions.

Key points to consider include:

• Malevolence | It can be difficult to accurately distinguish between individuals with malicious intent from awkward individuals who just want to connect. Look for signs of apathy, narcissism, grandiosity, vagueness, or uncouth and atypical interactions.
• Beneficence | It is not sufficient to eliminate partners based on malevolence. A partner needs to also demonstrate concern for your well-being. Lacking beneficence also puts you at risk. One doesn't need to be a psychopath to freak out and abandon you in time of need (see the case study below).

Prior to modern technology, screening was conducted by word-of-mouth references, on-the-spot evaluations, and by spending time together.

If you were not part of the local network or had limited connections, you could declare your propensity for fisting by flagging red^{[ 1 ]}.

For example, as we begin communicating with a potential partner, we might notice narcissistic characteristics. Since we have malevolence weighted heavily, we automatically disqualify that individual from play and move on.

Apart from malevolence and beneficence, there are several factors that can be part of a screening rubric.

• Position | This heavily weighted factor is often a primary concern in partner selection and vetting. For exclusive tops and bottoms, this is the highest weighted factor. Versatile men prioritize and weigh this factor a lower value than others; however, they still consider it important as evidenced by their preference for other versatile guys and distrust of those who identify as bottom versatile.
• Hospitality/Location | The ability to host or the necessity of travel can be deal breakers, likewise, a partner that is geographically distant receives lower priority and ranking.
• Health Behaviors | Considerations regarding sobriety, smoking, vaccinations, and promiscuity are all components of this factor. In many cases, these can be individual rubric values.
• Attraction | As both social and visual creatures, connection is diminished or absent if there isn't an attraction (physical or psychological).
• Serostatus | This category is quite possibly the most idiotic factor in selection rubrics, as it cannot be reliably ascertained. Protective measures such as TaP and PrEP should have eliminated this factor for most individuals.
• Skill/Experience | This factor is typically weighted fairly low except for with very novice fisters or those recovering from a fisting injury.
• Values/Ideologies | While values matter, extremes tend to indicate an absence of empathy, which is an important characteristic in connecting with others. Considerations here may include religious valor, political inclinations, and marital fidelity.
• Schedule/Availability | Timing is relevant because asynchronous schedules prevent play.

Since most fisters complete rubric calculations in their heads, categories often get flagged as positive or negative. When there are more negatives than positives, there is no match. When positives outnumber negatives significantly, the likelihood of a very connected session is high.

Several online apps or services such as bsafe or location sharing can help monitor your safety and provide your location to others if needed. Alternatively, a low-cost solution to these apps is to inform your guest or host that at least one friend is keeping tabs on you. This can be directly or indirectly.

For example, you can arrange to have a friend call within the first few minutes of the session. A very brief conversation with that friend will indirectly let your playmate know that people know where you are. Or you can be direct and tell your playmate that you have to check in with a friend prior to the session to let them know that you are 'getting some FFun!'

If those options make you uncomfortable or seem awkward, send at least one text from your host location to provide an electronic trail in the event something does go wrong.

• If your initial meeting happens at a public venue, you can simply state that you don't feel a connection. Part ways politely.
• If your initial meeting happens at a private location (your house or his house), evaluate the situation before implementing your exit. For example, if you are at the door and his pictures or mannerisms are not representative of what he sent you during the vetting process, terminate before entering. Be the bigger person and be kind in your departure statement but let them know that you don't feel comfortable playing with somebody who has been misleading.
• If you feel something is off at any point in the session, evaluate your options and tailor your exit accordingly. Ideally, you do not want to exit his place screaming 'bloody murder' in the middle of winter; however, it is an option.