Thrill of the Chaste

Catching up on a bit of mail from my inbox,

Jonathan asks:

Hi,

Thanks for the very interesting blog. I’ve gotten my wife into chastity
play and currently I’m wearing a CB-6000S, which is kind of OK, but
we’re planning of upgrading to a Mature Metal Jail Bird, since it seems
much better.

I have a question about the locking system though: I’d prefer to get
the device with the security screw, but it seems that you have had some
bad luck with that. Do you think it’s a general quality issue or have
you just had bad luck with it? I’d prefer having a reliable locking
system.

And do you think one could keep a padlock like in CB-6000S with a
jailbird instead of having it sideways?

Thanks in advance for your answers,

– J

Jonathan,

Thank you for reading and for the great questions!  First of all congrats on getting started in this lifestyle, and especially having your wife right along beside you for the journey. It’s soo much better having a loving, involved key-holder, and that seems to be where a lot of guys end up getting stuck not knowing how to even bring it up to their significant other!

Having started myself with a CB-6000S as my first “long-term” device, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that you will LOVE the Jail Bird! Just take your time to get the measurements right and don’t be afraid to contact Mature Metal after the fact and send it back a couple times if needed to make small adjustments until it fits perfectly.

I’m going to answer your second question first, as that’s probably the easiest to describe. In short–No, the padlock will not fit straight up and down on a Jail Bird the way the CB-6000 works. The reason is that the hole isn’t large enough to accommodate that curve in the lock’s shank. Without the security screw it will basically be drilled only wide enough for the side of the lock to fit into, so it will have to sit sideways. It’s still relatively unobtrusive, but I agree that it’s not ideal. That was one of my biggest hang-ups when I made my first purchase from Mature Metal, and ended up opting for the security screw instead. And that leads right into your primary question about the screws.

Overall I LOVE having the security screw as opposed to a padlock, sideways or not. Some folks may disagree, and say that the definitive click of a lock is really one of the biggest turn-ons and driving factors of chastity. It instantly puts them deeper into the submissive mindset with the realization that as of that moment they are completely at the mercy of their key-holder. I do get that and completely appreciate the sentiment. But personally for long term use, I just much prefer the sleeker look of having my cage secured by a screw as opposed to the bulky padlock.

THAT being said though, you are completely right that I’ve had a couple issues with it along the way. I don’t believe that the key itself is made of the same “hardened steel” as the screw head, so if it gets torqued down to tightly it can be tricky to get it loose again without rounding off a little bit from the end of the key. It’s kind of a catch-22, because it always seemed that if I DIDN’T torque it enough, then the screw would eventually start working its way loose, which kind of defeats the purpose of chastity altogether!

The last time I had to send my cage back to get a new key for the one that had gotten stripped, I also had MM go ahead and “countersink” the screw head as well. It’s kind of hard to describe what that looks like without a picture (I’ll try to get one of this some day). But basically they enlarge the hole just on the one side of the cage so that the screw head will fit completely inside of it and screw directly up against the locking post. The edges of the screw head are also kind of ground down so that we’re only dealing with the thicker “center” part of the head. Basically, if the hole in the side of the cage is the right size, it would fit perfectly “around” the screw head, preventing the cage from being able to twist around or (more importantly) pull off.

I kind of think that either the hole in my cage might be just slightly too large or the screw head slightly too small, as the cage does have a tiny bit of wiggle room. It really is only a small amount though and I’m splitting hairs to even mention it. I think it would probably be a pretty tall order for MM to be able to make that hole be EXACTLY the same size as the ground-down screw head so I really can’t fault them for it at all. There’s definitely no way that the cage will be coming OFF while secured this way, and since I only have to tighten the screw down until it’s flush with the locking post there’s no need to put very much torque on it at all. So that in turn makes it much easier to unscrew it later without having to worry about damaging the key!

Personally I would recommend that anybody go with that configuration (counter-sunk security screw). However, I’m pretty sure MM may have told me that once countersunk there’s no way to ever use a regular padlock anymore. I don’t really know why that is, as it looks like it may just be extra loose to slide a padlock in there but should still work. If that’s a deal-breaker for you, then I would suggest starting with the padlock-only option. You can always send it back in later to drill for a security screw if you change your mind!

I know that’s a lot of info. I hope some of it helps at least somewhat, and good luck to you!