This is Foxies partner Angela. While I do not wear a chastity belt, as Foxies keyholder I am directly responsible for Foxies health, especially where her belt is concerned. I am also responsible for hygiene and maintenance of her belt to make sure it does not harm her. I suppose I also ensure that it fulfills the goals that she (and to a lesser extent, me) set for it. Because of this I do have some experience of the secondary shield More than Foxies actually 🤣 , and maybe my thoughts might be of interest.
So let me explain how we see and use a female chastity belt. The first and obvious aim of the belt is to prevent any sort of vaginal penetration whereby the wearer could become pregnant. This is mostly satisfied by the primary shield. However the primary shield has a slit to allow for urination and the vaginal labia can be seen though it. As medical professionals we can both tell you that the shield effectively does prevent penile penetration though certainly it would be possible (if challenging) to get a probe through the slit and inject sperm where by the wearer could become pregnant should anyone go to that much an effort. My point is that in the absolute sense the primary shield doe not prevent pregnancy.
Another purpose of the slit is to allow expression of secretions following menses and thus enable better hygiene. I have no experience with this since Foxies was only belted after menopause. However, as a nurse, I would be horrified to imagine what it would be like to deal with haemorhagic menses. In my opinion it would be inhumane to to not release a woman from a belt during her period, though it is my understanding this is why there is a detachable secondary shield in the first place. Supposedly it can be removed during that time of the month to further hygiene while cleaning through the slit in the primary shield.
The purpose of the secondary shield is of course to prevent the wearer from gaining any pleasure by self stimulation through that slit in the primary shield. In the early days of Foxies belt wearing, we actually tested her ability to gain a climax in this fashion. While it isn't particularly relevant, Foxies did think while some wearers might get a certain level of satisfaction through the slit, it was hardly the same as not wearing the belt in the first place. In fact she thought it more frustrating to try on the whole and was better off with the secondary shield in place so as not to be tempted to go down that route. (Similarly with the later addition of the thigh bands).
Thus, in practice, her secondary shield is always locked in place and it is always present when she wears the belt.
In the early days I would remove her belt in the shower for washing and would also remove the secondary shield. However, I found that for the most part, that I could keep it very clean just by hosing the entire belt with a hand held nozzle in the shower. I found that unlocking it from the belt wasn't really necessary. That said, I still remove it periodically just to be sure it stays clean and also to check the locks is operational and lubricated.
I would agree with the comment above that for us at least, it would be better if the secondary shield didn't exist and that it was incorporated into the primary shield as one piece that wouldn't trap any undesirable dirt of secretions. A detachable secondary shield is no advantage to us since it makes more work and the lock doesn't do much for her clothes (wear and tear).
I hope the above clears up the purpose, use and silliness behind the idea of a secondary shield.
