From time to time, I receive questions from readers, especially about chastity device fitting issues. I thought I’d start answering questions in a post that might benefit others having similar issues. Here is the February 2021 Chastity Question of the Month.
The Question
“Hello! I’m on my 2nd cage. I’m between sizes (45 slips out, 40mm too tight and chafes), so I’ve got a 42mm 3d printed cage. Ring passes finger test, and cage is 3/4-in shorter than my measurements. However, the base ring still rubs a lot, and causes me to take it off after 3-5 days. I’ve tried Vaseline and aquaphor 4ish times a day, still seems to happen. Any advice on what could be causing it? I’ve got a 3D printed cage and I sanded down the base ring so it’s very smooth.”
Since I don’t know the specific cage the reader is wearing, I have to give an answer here that is pretty generic.
The Surface of 3D-Printed Cage Can be Abrasive
First, let’s talk about 3D-printed cages. Since I have one, I am familiar with a common issue. 3D-printed cages tend to have rough surfaces. It’s not quite like sandpaper, but the base rings can feel that way on your tender bits and will cause chafing and discomfort. In this case, the reader told me he was aware of that potential issue and sanded down the base ring until it was smooth. So, we can eliminate that as the cause of the chafing and discomfort that forces him to take the device off after 3-5 days of wear. Still, the need to sand down a 3D-printed base ring is something some guys may not know about it, so that’s why I covered it here.
Base Ring Considerations
Getting the base ring size right shouldn’t be that difficult. You take an accurate measurement of the distance around the base of your penis and behind your balls, and that’s the size you should get. But many guys, including me in my early days, have had problems choosing the right size base ring. Like many others, I did not trust the measurements when I first got into wearing chastity devices.
In my case, I had ball slippage issues with the first couple of cages I tried. Intuitively, it seemed going to a smaller base ring was the answer to the problem. But it wasn’t. Going smaller sometimes solved the ball slippage problem, but wearing a too-small ring invariably causes chafing and discomfort. It took a lot of trial and error for me to get that through my head.
Here, the reader says he feels he is “between sizes” and feels the 45mm ring is too large because he has the slippage issue. He tried a 40mm ring, which he found was too tight. Then he went to a 42mm with a 3D-printed cage. I have to wonder if 45mm was the size his measurements called for, but he abandoned it because of the slippage problem. My guess is the problem here is not a base ring sizing issue.
Again, through much trial and error, I discovered that it usually results from an incorrect gap when you have ball slippage problems. The gap is the distance between the base ring and the cage once you mate the two pieces together. I also learned that you could wear a base ring that’s too large without much of a problem as long as the gap is right.
The Pesky Gap
First, there is no way to measure your junk and to get an accurate gap measurement. Custom manufacturers will tell you that. If you choose an off-the-shelf device, it doesn’t matter anyway because the manufacturer sets the gap measurement, and it is what it is. That’s why you can sometimes wear one off the shelf, mass-manufactured cage, but another one won’t work.
I have tried a few inexpensive off the shelf steel devices where I could make a slight adjustment to the gap. But I’ve broken more than one device trying to do that.
Most custom cage manufacturers, including some of the 3D-printed cage manufacturers, can customize the gap for you. But since there is no way to measure the gap, it’s still largely a trial and error proposition. Still, with a custom device, at least with steel cages, you can send the cage back and have the gap adjusted later if needed.
Mature Metal recommends ordering a 3/8-inch gap because they say that works for ninety-percent of their customers. I agree and took their advice when I ordered my first Mature Metal cage and found 3/8-inch works for me. The gap measurement is determined by what type of scrotum you have. Guys with a high and tight scrotum might need to move up to a 1/2-inch gap. Those with loose scrotums where the testicles dangle might need to choose a 1/4-inch gap. But 3/8-inch is the average. With a 1/2-inch gap, I always have ball slippage issues. I tried a 1/4-inch gap once, and it felt like the base ring was ripping my balls off. Now let’s talk about how the gap comes into play.
Scrotums are Weird
You’ve probably noticed your scrotum and balls are in a constant state of flux. There is a reason for that. Sperm does best in an environment where the temperature is slightly less than our normal body temperature. That’s why our testicles hang outside the body in the fleshy sack called the scrotum.
Muscles in the scrotum move the testicles closer or farther away from the body to keep the temperature optimum for sperm production and survival. That’s why when you finish a hard run and you’re hot and sweaty, you notice your scrotum is soft, and your balls hang a little more than usual. When you spend time outside in the cold, the opposite thing happens. Your scrotum skin is firm and tight, and your balls are up close to the base of your penis.
The effects mentioned above happen whether you’re wearing a ball-trapping chastity device or not. When your scrotum pulls your balls up close to the base of your cock against a chastity device base ring, it can feel uncomfortable, at times even when you’ve nailed proper sizing.
The Cremaster Muscle
The cremaster muscle, a pelvic muscle found only in males, covers the testicles. It’s the primary muscle that moves and lowers the testicles to control the temperature that promotes healthy and motile sperm. The cremaster muscle is incredibly strong. When the muscle starts pulling your balls upwards, and you’re wearing a ball-trapping chastity device with a base ring, you know it.
Even with a cage that generally feels comfortable, you may experience short periods of discomfort when the cremaster is doing its thing. When this happens, if you check out your balls, you will find your scrotum feels tight and hard compared to how it feels at other times during the day.
The cremaster muscle also causes the ball slippage problems when you wear a chastity device with a gap size that is too wide. Similarly, if the gap size is too narrow, the cremaster muscle is the cause of the rather intense pain you may feel when the muscle is drawing your balls tightly against a base ring.
If the gap is too wide, when the muscle pulls your balls tightly into the gap, a testicle can flatten out just enough to escape from the base ring into the gap. Sometimes you know when it happens because there is a flash of pain. Other times you may only realize it happened when you become aware that things feel a bit off with the cage. You drop your pants and check and discover one of your testicles has escaped the base ring. Usually, it’s the one that tends to hang a little higher than the other.
My Advice to the Reader
Here is my advice to the reader who submitted the original question. If you’re sure you’ve sanded down the 3D-printed base ring where it is completely smooth, then you’re having the chafing and discomfort because the 42mm ring is too small. I would remeasure for the base ring and make sure you get an accurate measurement. Then take a look at the gap.
While we can’t accurately measure our package to determine gap width, you can assemble the device and measure the gap that has been set. Also, many manufacturers include the gap setting in their specs. My guess is, in your case, the gap is too wide, and that’s why you had a slippage problem while wearing the 45mm ring, not because the ring was too large.
If the 45mm ring was comfortable to wear, didn’t cause chafing and discomfort, and conforms to your actual base ring measurement, I’d go back to that and address the gap issue. I don’t know what specific device you’re wearing, but some 3D-print device makers can adjust the gap setting by providing a different base ring. If the company that made your device can’t do that, then, unfortunately, you may have to go to a different device.
The key takeaway is that a base ring should never feel overly uncomfortable and shouldn’t cause chafing or pain from friction after more than three to five days. Your skin usually toughens enough to acclimate to wearing a base ring in that amount of time when you’ve used lubricant. Being unable to continue wearing a device for more than a few days because of discomfort indicates something is off with the sizing. In this case, I feel certain your problems stem from incorrect gap sizing and not from the base ring.
Hope that answered your question.