Nice topic, Hal!
I can withhold my urges pretty much indefinitely, but it sure saps willpower. Having bare feet in my close proximity sets me on edge. For some masochistic reason, I inform every friend of mine who falls into the "likely tickle victim" cathegory early on of what I'm into. Thus, when I feel incited, I can inform them of the problem at hand and wait for the reaction. She can either remove the ticklish body parts from my field of vision, or I can leave to take a cold shower, or, sometimes, I get a raised eyebrow and a sporting "so what are you goiing to do about it?" It's pretty clear what I'm going to do about it, obviously. The latter, while very scarce, makes more than up for all the missed opportunities, I think.
Aside from the fact that my strategy, though it costs me a lot of potential tickle chances, lets me rest with ease in the firm knowledge of never exploiting anyone who doesn't want it, has a few side effects. The first and most important is that the feedback has thus far never been negative. That has helped me a lot to live with my kink and to accept it as a part of me, and it also alleviates the guilt of being, well, different. The second side effect is that I, for some reason, get tickled A LOT by the friends I confided in. I have no idea what they find so amusing (hehe) about turning the tables on me, but honestly, I don't complain. And well, soon they'll all have their come-uppance... Or so I keep telling me. Makes for some beautiful fantasies!
To get back to the topic: With friends, I withhold my tickle attacks until they clearly ask me for it without possibility of misunderstanding. I never tickle strangers - I'd feel that I'm molesting them, and that's a turn off to me.
