Longterm Chastity Devices - The Queen's Keep, A Review

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As promised in my last blog entry, this entry will be pretty much devoted to a review of my latest chastity device - The Queen's Keep, made by Mature Metal.

http://www.maturemetal.com/chastity-devices/queens-keep

First, a few words about the ordering process and the vendor, Mature Metal. Unlike CB type devices in which multiple sizes can be created from included parts, Mature Metal devices are custom made to the size specified by the buyer. Obviously, this puts precise measurement before ordering at a premium. More about that later. About the vendor, Mature Metal, I found them to be very responsive and they met their delivery estimate with the device sized precisely as ordered with superb workmanship. They get my highest recommendation.

I should also remark on why I am putting a device review in my blog. Well, I have two reasons. First, I firmly believe that a device is necessary for a male chastity lifestyle. I know many claim to use the "honor system," but I am very skeptical that orgasm self-denial can be maintained in the long run, particularly if frequent tease and denial is done. As I discussed in my August 2010 blog entry, "Male Chastity - Pleasure and Devotion, the Science Behind It," there is a million years of evolutionary development and some powerful biochemistry behind the male's compulsion to orgasm frequently. It would require an extraordinary degree of self-discipline, maintained over a long period of time to deny himself that release. He would have to be capable of resisting the impulse to masturbate, even when alone and "nobody would know the difference," literally thousands of times over the course of several years. Is it possible? - yes; humans are capable of extraordinary feats of self-discipline. Is it likely? - no; the vast majority of men are not capable of that sort of self-denial over the long term, and obviously it would not be the strategy of choice for adopting a male chastity lifestyle.

Second, the choice of device plays a large part in whether the male chastity lifestyle can be maintained over a long period of time. There are practical considerations of comfort, hygiene, cleanliness, impact on movement and activity as well as the security and reliability of the device. Perhaps even more importantly, how does one's mate react to seeing you in the device and physically interacting with you and it when locked up.

Like so many things in life, an opinion on something is heavily dependent and influenced by past experience with the same or similar thing. A review of a restaurant or a car would necessarily be influenced by past experience eating in restaurants or driving a car of that type. It is no different with chastity devices. Someone who is new to male chastity and has never worn a device will have a considerably different take on comfort, having always been completely free before, than someone who has worn chastity devices before and therefore has a basis for comparing one device to others.

With that said, it would be helpful to relate my experience with chastity devices so the reader will have a better idea of what I am comparing this device to. I have been using a chastity device for about a year and three quarters, with my being locked up nearly all the time for two or three weeks at a stretch for more than a year. As chastity periods go it has been fairly modest - driven mainly by my wife's desire to have a "complete" sexual experience (me cumming inside of her) about that often. It took me a while to understand this but it was not my wife's concern about my not orgasming for a lengthy time that was driving this; it was her need to bring me to orgasm inside of her. It gave her so much pleasure and satisfaction to be able to do this during intercourse, that no substitute like penetration without orgasm would suffice.

I should also explain that I am not a "pull-out" artist. In other words, I don't look for ways to defeat the security of a device. It is enough to be in a relatively secure device to deter me from masturbating. Therefore, I don't need to use the highest security device - I can place more emphasis on comfort, hygiene and appearance. I have, though, experimented with security add-ons to devices and in fact had my Queen's Keep fitted with an "anti-pullout" system that may or may not be used in the future.

With all that said - my first device was a CB-3000 which I used for a few weeks, finding it uncomfortable to wear with the hinged testicle ring. While wearing the CB-3000, I experimented with "Points of Intrigue," an erection and pull-out deterring device for short periods of time. I found it possible to wear only the smallest Points of the three provided and that only for an hour or two before the pain and irritation became too much. Wearing the medium one while looking at some porn (an an experiment to see how well the anti-erection worked), was agony and I couldn't get it off fast enough. I discovered then that I was no pain slut.

I then used the regular sized CB-6000 and, after experimenting for several weeks with different ring, pin and spacer sizes, found a combination that worked for me. I used it for about two months with generally good results. The main problems were that my wife hated how it look (she compared it to Hannibal Lecture's mask and thought I was a bit loony for wanting to wear it), the size of it - i.e. having a bulge show when wearing some types of pants, cleanliness and hygiene difficulties and lack of sturdiness (one tube split after three weeks).

Although I was skeptical about whether I could comfortably fit in a CB-6000s (s for short), I ordered one and tried it out. I found that even though I am of average size when erect, when flaccid I am quite small and could fit in the 2 and 1/2 inch tube. In fact, the smaller tube felt more snug and comfortable. I erected less in it and it had a smaller profile so no odd bulge showed in any of my trousers. My wife still disliked it but learned to tolerate it after a time.

It still had issues. In addition to my wife's dislike, there was still the problem of hygiene and cleanliness. I used every combination of soap, squirt bottles, cleaning swabs and power sprays you can imagine, but still couldn't get it clean to my satisfaction and couldn't get prevent the odor that developed after a couple of days. I finally had to go to showering twice a day and removing the device once a day for a thorough cleaning of me and it.

I used the CB-6000s for about a year with brief trials of two other devices: the birdlocked and the Lori tube - model 12B. The birdlocked is a soft plastic device that is light and flexible and uses a locked band over the testicle ring that secures a ball dividing tab that extends from the front bottom of the tube head to the testicle ring. The testicle ring was wide, making it difficult to put on and it came in only two sizes. The larger size was too big - the entire unit slid off me once in my sleep; the smaller size was too tight - it caused edema or swelling in the shaft and glans.

The Lori tube, like the Mature Metal device I am using now, is a custom made, steel device. There are a number of different models. The main selling point of a Lori tube is security - it is basically inescapable but only if the male has a piercing like a Prince Albert. Most of her models require a piercing. I ordered one of the few that did not - the model 12B. I got it with a locking bar that secured behind the head of the penis and a recessed lock. Basically, the device pulls the shaft straight down between the balls making it essentially disappear as a male appendage. The balls protrude outward on either side.

It looks damn uncomfortable but actually, it wasn't. The only problem was that without a piercing it not only lacked security against pull-out, but my shaft would literally fall out of it escaping on its own. Even with the locking bar reducing the diameter of the penis ring to less than an inch, the softness of my flaccid penis allowed it to compress to a small diameter and it would slip out on its own. Making the penis ring smaller to prevent this (I used small sections of rubber tubing over the locking bar to thicken it and give it more friction) made it difficult to put on and created swelling problems from the pressure.

To be fair to Lori, she clearly states that to be secure, a piercing is necessary. The model 12B she sold me was labeled as a "tucking" device, ostensibly for short periods of play. I did not want to get a piercing and I'm sure my wife would be so adamantly against it that it would end the game as far as she would be concerned. By the way, like Mature Metal, Lori was very helpful and responsive. If you (or your mate) want an absolutely, no-kidding, escape-proof device and you don't mind getting a piercing like a Prince Albert, then one of the Lori tube models is the device of choice.

After those two device experiments, I went back to and stayed with the CB-6000s for a year, even though the tube split twice (causing extreme pain as sensitive shaft skin was trapped in the opening of the split and squeezed badly) requiring me to buy new tubes. I never did solve the cleanliness issue so I did daily cleaning which was difficult if my wife had the key and easy if I had it but certainly reduced the psychological pleasure enjoyed from being locked up if I had the key.

I was an avid reader of Dev's blog, "The Key is on My Nipple Ring," (http://devotedlvr.com/) with her husband, Ab, using a Mature Metal Jailbird and later adding a MM Watchful Mistress. She provided detailed photos and descriptions of both and was delighted by them. I was about to order the Watchful Mistress model when the Queen's Keep came out. The QK is a hybrid of the two other models - it has the grill work tube front of the Jailbird and the wider tube base of the Watchful Mistress. I loved the way it looked.

With a year's experience wearing a CB-6000s and general satisfaction with its fit, determining the size for the QK was fairly easy for me. The part combinations of the CB-6000s that worked for me had an oval testicle ring of 1 and 3/4 inches (1 and 5/8 inches diameter vertically), a pin and spacer combination that yielded a 3/8 inch gap between the testicle ring and the tube. The standard sized CB-6000s tube is an oval with a 1 and 3/8 inch diameter (1 and 1/4 inch vertical diameter) and a length of two and a half inches. The Mature Metal representative suggested that I go a 1/2 inch shorter on the tube length to give a snugger, more stable fit. Since changing tube dimensions after it is made is not possible (basically, you have to buy a new device), the tube dimensions are critical. To me, it seemed having a tube that was too short would make it unwearable; if it was slightly long, it might not be as snug a fit, but it would be wearable. I went with a quarter inch reduction, a length of 2 and 1/4 inch.

I also ordered two options - the locking screw instead of the padlock, and the anti-pullout device - basically a set of pins or studs with different head shapes, one of which is inserted into the tube from the top and presses against the top part of the shaft, just behind the head. The tube is then locked on.

The locking screw has two options - medium security and high security. The difference is the availability of a screw driver to open it if both screw drivers provided are lost (or if one wants to cheat and get a third screw driver). Both screws are Torx type screw. The difference between them is the medium security one has a fairly common type slot so a screw driver to fit it could be obtained from a hardware or electronic supply store. The high security screw has a unique slot arrangement and no commercial Torx screw driver will fit it other than the two provided. The two screw drivers provided are small and easy to carry, measuring two inches long with a half inch wide loop at the top to allow it to be carried on a key ring or necklace chain.

The QK is made of high quality stainless steel and should last a lifetime. It's cost of $400 (with the security screw and anti-pullout options) might seem expensive compared to the CB-6000 plastic chastity device (cost of about $150) but in the long run it is actually a lot cheaper. In the one year in which I wore CB-6000 devices (regular and short), three of the tubes split. Together with the original cost of the device (assuming I had only bought one instead of the regular and short which I actually did), that was $360 right there. It would have been only a matter of months before another tube split and then another - well you get the idea.

Okay, with those lengthy preliminaries done - how do I like the device. I can say it in two words - Love It. The fit is perfect. Without guide and locking pins like the CB, it is less bulky by a wide margin and has a much smaller profile under clothes. Although it is heavier (about 5 ozs, compared to the CB's 2.8 ozs), the weight is not felt because with its smaller profile it just doesn't get in the way. Unlike the CB with the bulging padlock resting on the top of the tube, the QK has a tiny locking screw that attaches the tube to testicle ring. You would think that a single point of attachment with no guide pins would make it unstable, but when properly fitted like mine, it is very stable and doesn't rotate when worn. The key to stability is getting the tube/ring gap right.

Although the lower profile is appreciated, the big bonus in wearability is the ease with which it and the wearer can be kept clean and fresh. Unlike the fully enclosing CB which causes heat and moisture to build up and provides a perfect medium for bacteria growth, the QK has an open grill work all around the head and shaft, all the way down to the wider bar of the base. Soap and water can easily be applied directly to the entire genital surface. A shower a day with a good anti-bacterial body wash soap and a power spray keeps it completely clean and fresh indefinitely. There is never a need to remove it for cleaning. When it is removed during play time, before it is put back on, it can be completely disinfected with boiling water - something you just can't do with a CB.

Just as important as the convenience and cleanliness, my wife is not put off by it the way she was with the CB. The ability to see and touch me through the grill work seems to be a lot less ugly and menacing to her. During tease time she not only touches my penis, but enjoys softly blowing on it and just using the tip of her tongue to arouse me. Knowing that I am completely clean and odor free also makes me a lot more confident about presenting myself to her.

Using a stainless steel device instead of plastic also sends a sort of subliminal message to my wife that this is intended as a permanent change to our lifestyle. The device will last longer than I will.

I did try out the anti-pullout studs when I first received it, while I still had access to the key while I was checking the fit and functionality of it. The studs are 3/8 inches long which effectively reduces the vertical diameter to less than an inch. I ordered one pin of each type - blunt, x'd and pointed. The blunt one was reasonably comfortable and barely noticeable while flaccid but became very noticeable when erecting. There was some modest pain at erection ( I tested it watching some porn) - enough to remind me not to do whatever I was doing or thinking that aroused me. I did not test the anti-pullout feature. It would have been painful and probably would have damaged the skin of my shaft.

The x'd stud basically has a deep "x" shape groove cut into the end of it. I did not test it watching porn to erect. The blunt ended one gave me enough of a lesson to convince me that the pain and damage done to the shaft skin would give even a dedicated pain slut pause before trying to pull out. This is probably the most effective stud if it is used for anti-pullout since it probably can be worn long term but there almost certainly be a price to pay in pain and skin abrasion just from involuntary erections.

I briefly tested the sharp end stud. It was painful while flaccid. It didn't take much of an imagination to understand that I definitely didn't want to erect in it. Removing it after only ten minutes resulted in a distinct red mark on the skin where the point pressed in. Although it will certainly prevent pullout, the wearer would have to have a high pain tolerance to wear it long term - particularly at night when involuntary erections are common. For those in a true, deeply D's relationship, I can see a use for it as an "aversion" device to discourage erection - ala "Clockwork Orange." It can also be used during play time for those who like some pain with their teasing (giving or receiving).

I also found the use of silicon lube around the inside of the ring most helpful in keeping it from sticking to the scrotal skin and causing pinching in the gap. I use a couple of drops of Pjur Eros but probably any good silicon lube would do. Just those couple of drops, applied after my morning shower, last a full twenty-four hours with needing to reapply it. I used a water based lube at first but found I needed to reapply it every four to six hours since it dried up and got tacky.

A few words about the "key." Two small jeweler sized screw drivers are provided along with two screws. I found the key to be easy to use with no slippage once it is inserted into the slot in the screw head. The way I work the keyholding with my wife is she keeps one on her house keys ring - it could be worn around her neck on a chain but she just feel comfortable doing that in public. For safety, the other key is kept by me in a small, sealed, coin envelope.

I bought a custom, round stamp that has a message around the perimeter of the stamp that says "Property of Milady B." In the center is a large, capitalized, "B" in fancy script. Throughout the rest of the stamp there is a complex, fancy design that can't be readily found on any stamp in any store. When my device goes back on after a play session, my key is put in that envelope; the envelope flap sealed, the stamp (which my wife keeps in a secret place) placed on and covering the seal edge, the envelope is dated, then clear tape is put over the stamp impression and date, and the edge of the bottom of the envelope. This gives me access to the key in an emergency but requires that I tell her about it afterward since I must show her the envelope every third day before our drawing. In the two months in which we have used this system, I have not needed to go into the emergency envelope even once.

So, to summarize, I love my new Queen's Keep chastity device and wear it continuously now, 24/7, removing it only when my wife wants me to come out and play. It is very comfortable to wear, easy to keep clean, more pleasing to the eye, unobtrusive under clothes, less bulky and does not interfere with any of my activities, which include aerobics on exercise machines, swimming and golf. It is a distinct upgrade to the CB and will probably be my final device since I don't see myself ever getting a Prince Albert or other chastity securing piercing. My cock has found a home and it is lovely, stainless steel structure.

In my next blog entry, I will describe what it was like to make love to my wife while wearing it. It was a very special experience.