Back on the 15th of December, Dietmar shipped the modified Steelheart back to me. I had sent it to him sometime around the 23rd of November. Based on the amount of time it took to receive it the first time, I didn’t expect to see it again until after the New Year, but lo and behold, there is was all nestled in my mailbox yesterday evening. A Christmas miracle.
To summarize, I had wanted two things done to the device. First, the original A-ring turned out to be too big. Even though it was roughly the same size as the 45 mm ring I had grown accustomed to on the CB6K, it turns out that 45 mm of steel is not the same as 45 mm of polycarbonate. For one, the Steelheart’s ring is thinner than the CB6K’s and doesn’t grip the same. Also, the Steelheart is significantly heavier (duh). Also also, the CB6K’s ring, being made up of a top section designed to fit all the differently sized bottom ring sections, ends up not being round. It’s 45 mm from side to side, but less than that from top to bottom. So anyhoo, I wanted a smaller ring. My options under 45 mm were 42, 40, 38, and 36 mm. The 42 would have been better, but I decided to go with 40. Thirty-eight and 36 seemed ridiculously small.
The second modification I asked for was a new PA fixing design. The original fixing didn’t work for me. My PA ring kept slipping off the end. I sent Dietmar a drawing of a continuous design that would allow the cock to be withdrawn partially (even mostly) but would not allow it to come all the way out. This seemed a good compromise to me between security and comfort.
So as soon as I realized what the unexpected little box in the mail was, I rushed off to the bathroom to open it in private. Even though Belle had said on Saturday she wanted me back in a device, we had both forgotten to put me in it on Sunday. I was free to test out the fit. First off, 5 mm is a pretty big deal. I found getting the ring on involved a second or two of testicle twinge as the second ball popped through. It’s a very snug fit. Getting the cock though, even when totally flaccid, required a fair bit of pulling and squashing. I find the device sits a lot higher now, though I need to lubricate the ring to avoid discomfort. Sleeping is very different now in that the ring bites a lot harder into the base of the erection and also pulls against the balls causing a fair bit of testicle pain. This may sound like a negative, but I found the old fit to be too forgiving. It never got close to waking me up at night and never caused me a bit of discomfort, even when fully erect. Personally, I like a tolerable amount of discomfort from a chastity device. The new smaller ring makes the Steelheart just a bit more intense than the CB6K was. Just on the edge of what I can tolerate.
I’m very happy with the fixing so far. In short, when wearing my 4ga captive ball ring, the new fixing turns the Steelheart into that most mythical of chastity devices: totally escape proof. I mean it, totally. I can only open my PA ring with a heavy tool and I can’t get that tool down into the tube where the ring is. The cock will only slide out so far before it stops and starts to pull on the piercing. I could probably get hard with it partially pulled out, but then what? The head of the cock would still be inside and pulling against the rail of the fixing. In short, I now have a system of stainless steel parts going though and around the cock that interlock in such a way as to make any kind of stimulative access totally impossible. This is not a toy. I cannot break it off and I don’t have any tools that can cut though the steel. When it’s on, it’s not ever coming off without the key. In other words, totally fucking hot.
I had a dream last night that after pulling the cock out to show Belle how secure it was that it somehow pulled though the piercing and ripped the PA ring out. That freaked me the fuck out. Like, big time. I woke up kind of shaky and groping at the device to make sure it had just been a dream and that I was still whole. So yeah, hot, but also very serious. I don’t need to convince myself anymore how secure my device is. Even my subconscious gets it.
This morning, I took the device off so I could take the pictures included in this post, then I put the Steelheart back on. Belle had left me with the key just in case, but I handed it over this morning. I suspect I won’t see it again for a long time.
Dude – that’s totally freakin’ serious. You still can’t pee at a urinal, though.
Reading you over the last year has made me stop squicking about getting a PA. I’m still not getting one, but at least I’m not all weirded out by the idea.
Au contraire, mon frère. The hole at the end of the tube allows the stream to exit in an orderly manner. I can stand at a urinal and basically drain the tube just like any other dude. In fact, it’s easier to pee with the Steelheart than it ever was with the CB6K.
The downside is that the same little hole makes hygiene a bit more problematic. I find I need to clean it more often.
Okay, I’m not squicked by the piercing, but I am a leetle nervous for you after this description. This is probably a naive question but . . . do you worry about being “locked in” in an emergency situation? When my boyfriend gave me my steel collar, he got me one that didn’t have a lock–it has a magnetic clasp. He was concerned for me about airport security and about emergency medical procedures. Funnily (or really, not very funnily) enough, about a year before he gave me the collar, I was in a car wreck, went to the hospital, and had to get a neck x-ray afterwards, and they almost cut off my non-locking-at-all jet bead necklace because the clasp was fiddly. Point being, I was pretty aware of wanting to be able to get stuff OFF if anyone needs to get at my body. Presumably there are more reasons to urgently need to get at a person’s vertebrae than at a man’s penis (I think?), but basically, do you ever worry about being locked in in a health emergency?
I am slightly to moderately a little worried about that, but that’s about it. Anything’s possible, I suppose. Back in the old days, I carried a little key safe around with an extra key in it. I suppose, now that I’m in this little steel safe, we should dig that up. Just in case.
Yes…. I do agree with Sera. What about emergency access?
One thing I have never understood is the idea of hiding the key. A key needs to be where it can be easily found, but not used without giving away that fact. And it is understood that by giving away the fact that the emergency key was used the sub is agreeing to any consequences which that might entail.
It seems to me that a simple sealed envelope would do the trick provided the seal couldn’t be opened without damaging the envelope, and the envelope is also unique enough that it isn’t easly swapped out. Scotch tape and greeting cards come to mind as dirt simple, but it could be made as elegant as one wished. Does Belle have a signet ring? How about you? The sort that they used to use with sealing wax? Something like that could class it up.
Furthermore the envelope arrangement opens the possibility of someone not “in the know” about your kink still acting as a delivery boy. They only need to know that you need the envelope, not what is in it or why. As far as they would be concerned it could be emergency cash or something of that sort.
Once you get to the stage that the usual assortment of household tools won’t get the thing off I think you need to make a contingency plan… But how freaking hot is that? Seriously! No fooling around anymore with bits of easily broken plastic. This is the real thing! But that means real responsibility for safety and good health too.
BT
Wait – I thought Tom said that chastity devices were sex toys and never foolproof? Is this a clash of titans?
Out of the box, any trapped-ball chastity device is inherently insecure. When properly fitted, they go from ridiculously easy to defeat to only somewhat ridiculously easy to defeat. The wearer needs to bring into his chaste experience a commitment to his condition. If he doesn’t, it will fail and likely not be fun for anyone. Bottom line, as I’ve said before and I think Tom’s said before and I know Maymay’s said before, these devices should be viewed only as deterrents, not safeguards.
That being said, if one’s willing to go to the trouble of actually modifying their body (i.e., genital piercing), then the devices can be made much more secure. Can I tell you it’s 100% impossible to come wearing the Steelheart with the new PA fixing? No, but the likelihood of doing it easily has now moved into the low single digits. I can’t imagine a way to do it and, when combined with my inclination not to try, it has become effectively totally secure.
Ironically, though, not more secure than before since I was disinclined to try to defeat it. Knowing I could (and rather easily) tended to remove some of the mystique for me. I needed to bring a fair amount of self-control to the arrangement and, since I kink on lack of control, the less the device allows me, the hotter it gets.
To a certain extent, it’s as though I need to have greater respect for the device. As it stands now, the modified Steelheart is very respectable.
I’m having a hard time picturing something – the PA already makes your urine stream unpredictable, so how does the SH help? Are you filling up the tube and allowing (ahem) hydraulic pressure to direct the stream?
As to BT’s query – let me qualify that by saying that CDs are always balancing between comfort, convenience, and security. It’s like the little motto that you see in many offices:
I happen to like my CB3k. Admittedly, it’s heavily modified, probably more so than the average user might be able to do. But for us, it’s a 9 on the Comfort and Convenience, and a 6 or 7 on the Security. Obviously, anyone so motivated can get out of any device – but the more difficult it is (without sacrificing much in C or C), the hotter it is.
The opening in the SH is round hole about a 1/3 of an inch across (or so). It fills faster than it drains and, indeed, the hydraulic pressure creates a lovely, coherent stream (though you need to be careful when the last of it dribbles out). It can’t really be directed. It just follows gravity.
Is this Dietmar a friend of yours or a website you went through? Is there any way that I can acquire a similar PA fixing like the one you have there? Also, in your xtube video, you showed two special tools; one, a clamp for closing rings, and the other, needle nosed pliers with notches along the top and bottom for opening the ring. Where did you get those? I’d like to get a setup just like yours.
The email address I linked is fake, but if you reply here, I’ll see it. I looked all over your blog for your email address, but I guess you’re remaining anonymous (or I’m just blind). 🙂
Dietmar is the proprietor of Steelworxx. His website is steelworxx.de. The specific device I got is here:
http://steelworxx.de/Steelheart-28p.html
The tools I used to open and close the PA ring are here:
http://www.thechaingang.com/product_info/238/ring-closing-pliers
http://www.thechaingang.com/product_info/571/ring-opening-pliers
If you have a 4 ga ring like mine, you’ll need the large size of both.
My email address is thumpermn at gmail dot com. You’re not blind, but it’s hiding at the bottom of every page.
I’m about half way done writing a page for my blog that goes into more detail with the Steelheart. That video you saw on Xtube will be part of it. It should answer a lot of your questions, but I’m happy to tell you whatever you need to know in the mean time.
Oh, the PA fixing. He made that one custom for me based on a drawing I sent him. It’d probably be easiest to just send him the picture on this page or a link to it. I wouldn’t advise spending any money on his basic PA fixing. It didn’t work at all for me and I’ve since read others say the same.
Me again, I knew which cage you had as I was familiar with that site’s products before, but I hadn’t ever seen the PA ring fixing which is the second picture in this article, the continuous loop that makes escape impossible. I’m assuming that’s custom? Is there any way to get something similar, or just like it?
(Could have just emailed you I guess but I thought the question might be useful to others to see here too)
I think our comments crossed in the ether. I had to draw him a picture of what I wanted. You could probably send him the one here to remind him what I got. He charged me 65 euros for it.
Hi – Great blog – lots of practical real life detail and I’m enjoying it because I’m going through some of the same stuff. I recently bough a Steelheart 2. I think I’m getting there with it (longest stint so far is 10 days, but I am having a few problems. Like you I overestimated the ring size and went from 48 down to 42. I’m thinking I could go a bit smaller though. The main problem is a little pain in one of my testicles. He seems to be keens on trying to escape, and I had a very unpleasant experience with the larger ring where I realised I had crossed a point of no return and the my testicle was on the way out whether I liked it or not. Fortuntely I had the key, trying things out for size, but that thirty seconds or so focussed my attention very acutely. I’ve had minor similar experiences with the 42mm ring, so now I reckon I need to go for maybe the 38mm.
I’m not pierced but I’m thinking about it, as I know this will never be secure unless I do, and I appreciate the info you have posted about the custom fixing Dietmar made for you. Don’t you worry about the possibility of infection, given the problems with cleaning and the fact that you obviously plan to be locked up for a while?
If a testicle is slipping out, it sure sounds like the ring’s too big. Everybody’s different, of course, but I don’t think I’d be able to wear the 38mm.
WRT to infection, are you talking about a UTI or the piercing getting infected? I don’t know much about how one get’s a UTI, but I do clean the tube out twice a day. The piercing is totally healed at this point, so infection there isn’t possible. The nice thing about urine is that it comes out of your body sterile. Except for the smell, it’s almost like a self cleaning oven or something…
I think I’m more worried about the piercing itself becoming infected. I’ve never had one (except my ear when I was a kid, not quite the same) so I don’t really know the score. I have read that having a pa can lead to UTI, but I don’t know how likely that is if your personal hygiene is good.
Took me a little practice with q-tips to get my cleaning technique worked out, but I think I have it down now. The extra slots on the Steelheart 2 make it a little easier maybe.
I’ve never heard that a PA can lead to a UTI. The cool thing about a PA is that, besides healing pretty quickly (it’s not going through much tissue), it self-cleans. Like I said, urine is sterile so all you have to do to clean your piercing as it heals is pee. They don’t even send you home with any extra cleaning in instructions. It’s way easier to care for than other body piercings.
All that being said, I don’t think I’d lock up a fresh PA piercing. I think we waited at least a month (the same amount of time they tell you to abstain from sex). Even then, I’d be very careful hooking the ring onto anything and pay very careful attention to how it felt. Also, IMO, it wasn’t until I stretched my piercing to 6ga that it was big enough to be good for chastity security. Higher gauges, when pulling against the piercing, could result in the dreaded “cheese slicer” phenomenon. The occasional tug and pull are a lot more comfortable at 4ga than they were at 8ga.
I bet the SH2 is easier to clean what with all those slots at the bottom. Probably drains better, too.
I actually gasped out loud when I read the term ‘cheese slicer’. I’m going to struggle to get that out of my mind now….