CB-3000: Red-headed stepchild?
In 1998, the original CB-2000 was born. Though it looked much like a prototype, it started a male chastity phenomenon that steadily grew in popularity. Sometime later, the CB-3000 came along, featuring a longer molded cage and hinged rings. This made it easier to put on and was, in some ways, more comfortable than the CB-2000. Similarly, the “Curve” was introduced for men of longer length and girth.
In 2007, the
CB-6000 was introduced. The revolutionary ring design was viewed by many to be
a significant improvement over its predecessors. All three products were
popular in the market, though the CB-6000 was viewed by the customer base as
“the latest and greatest”.
In late
2008, the manufacturer of these products announced that the CB2000 and CB-3000
were being discontinued. Several months later though, the CB3000 was
reintroduced to use the CB6000 ring design. The CB6000-S also came along to
serve (in some sense) as a replacement to the CB-2000.So when the new CB3000 came out (CB-3000 more info), with a cage very similar to the CB6000, I wondered for quite a while why anyone would want one. The CB-6000 was “the latest and greatest”, according to the market place. The consensus was that the CB-6000 was introduced to be a replacement to the CB-3000.
Basically, the CB-3000 had no market identity of its own any more. There was no clear compelling reason why the new CB-3000 should be chosen over the CB-6000.
So after considerable thought and study, I now offer the key differentiators between the two models.
1. Reliability. After introduction, the CB6000 cages developed a reputation for cages splitting. The cage of the CB-6000 has a welded seam that runs vertically through the lock pin hole, through the urination vent, and back to the bottom. It was easily stressed and consequently would develop splits, usually starting at the lock pin hole. Though the reliability of the CB-6000 cage has improved over time, it still has the reputation of splitting haunting it.
By contrast, the CB-3000 weld seam runs across the horizontal access of the cage. Since a lot of the stress on the cage comes from side-to-side pressure, the CB-3000 cage can withstand this far better. In the nearly six years of selling the CB-3000, we have yet to have to honor a warranty replacement of a CB-3000 cage.
2. Size: initially, it didn’t seem to be a significant
enough difference in length or girth from the CB6000 to make a distinction. But
size does matter after all. The CB-3000 cage length is 1-4” shorter than the
CB-6000. More importantly, the diameter of the tube of the CB-3000 is 1.45”
versus 1.375 of the CB6000. Further, it is a bit more oval-shaped when compared
to the round CB6000 tube. While it doesn’t seem like a lot, this is enough of a
difference for men that find the CB6000 tube to be too tight. The Curve is
often viewed as the next step up from the CB6000, but sometimes the length of
the Curve cage is undesirably long.
3.
So, bottom
line, the manufacturer may have made a mistake by reintroducing this model as a
CB-3000. To this day, there are likely a great many people who think the new
CB-3000 (solid rings)I is
still the older version of the CB3000 (with hinged rings), or simply an
authorized knock-offs that are still being sold on eBay and some other less
reputable websites. In my opinion, it might have been better to call it a
CB-6500, or a Curve-small, or anything to help people understand that this is a
product that should be respected with its own identity, and is every bit as
important as the other models.
The CB-3000
uses the same rings as the CB6000, and the cages can be purchased separately. If you’ve
purchased a CB-6000 and are not completely satisfied for any of the
aforementioned reasons, there is no need to buy a completely new package (Cage Only - $75.00).
We’d welcome
your comments and questions on this analysis. You can reply to this blog entry,
or write to us at support@lockeduplove.com.