While others might wish for fingerprint-recognition locks, face-recognition locks, or a belt made from super high-tech materials that haven’t been invented yet, all I really want would be a belt which uses the best materials and manufacturing methods we have today; something made by a professional orthotist (an artificial-limb-and-brace maker) after taking in-person, hands-on measurements of my body.

I would want the belt to be a slightly better version of the Walter Goethals.

The belt would be made of surgical stainless steel, and surgical-grade “white” polystyrene plastic.

There would be a front pressure plate, roughly trapezoidal in shape, and a rear pressure plate, sort of a “racetrack” shape, made of plastic. The metal bars connecting the two plates would make only incidental contact with the wearer’s hips. All, or nearly all, of the pressure on the wearer’s body would come from the front and back.

All metal parts would be electrically finished, so that there would be nothing that could snag clothing, bedding, or pantyhose.

My original plan was to have two relatively large, “dumbbell”-shaped padlocks, which would lock at the rear pressure plate.

    audioguy58 Have a look at the Latowski belt. I have been measured for it by Mr. Latowski and all I can sah it that this item is phantastic. More secure will not be possible and its still relatively comfortable and ok for 24/7. www.latowski.de

        audioguy58 Love where you're going with this, but from a therapist point of view, there's a few things that just won't work the way you want them to.

        audioguy58 The belt would be made of surgical stainless steel, and surgical-grade “white” polystyrene plastic.

        Stainless steel is inert - it doesn't react with other substances, which is why it works so well for piercing and surgical instruments (and chastity belts). Not so the foam padding you're thinking of. It's comfortable, but it's a haven for bacteria, fungal growth and other nasty flora, even when it's treated. Throw in some nasty secretions like wee and poo, and it's just not going to work. Prosthetics and braces rarely deal with secretions other than sweat, and are hardly ever designed for permanent wear like chastity belts. You would need a lengthy hygiene release daily, and an intensive cleaning regime.

        audioguy58 a rear pressure plate, sort of a “racetrack” shape, made of plastic.

        Around the sacrum? The Fancy Steel-style inverted triangle would apply pressure more evenly.

        audioguy58 The metal bars connecting the two plates would make only incidental contact with the wearer’s hips. All, or nearly all, of the pressure on the wearer’s body would come from the front and back.

        I get what you mean, but unfortunately this won't work (and is actually a terrible idea). You can't hang weight off soft tissue. If you're thinking like when you're wearing a backpack, the weight needs to be suspended off the skeletal structure. The sacrum will work, but the hips still need to take most of the weight. The only other option for taking weight off the hips is suspending it from above, ie. a shoulder suspension(!). Corsets, body braces and even backpacks are all designed to sit on the hips, and upper body devices almost always use the hips for stability.

        Orthotic designs rarely deal with the pelvic structure below the hips. If you're stabilising the pelvis you're generally seeing a surgeon and using pins, in which case you've got some other very serious issues you need to be thinking about!

        I'll spare you the details but pelvic movement is incredibly complex. For this reason I'm a fan of cable belts, because they allow for more natural movement. If I could improve on them I would create a wider, more ergonomic shield, perhaps using a steel mesh that allows for rotation and pelvic tilt without pinching.

        I'm not a huge fan of the current single cable design on the hips, I think several parallel cables would help spread the weight more evenly around the torso. Pinching could be negated with a flat mesh shield around the torso, or with a super comfy plastic body brace like @audioguy58 mentioned.

        Got lots more ideas but from an OT point of view movement is key, for comfort the belt needs to conform to natural movement or else it's always going to be uncomfortable at some point of the day.

                  Also, is it not conventional wisdom to spread any load over as large an area as possible? Taking the load off the hips would mean the pressure would be much greater on the areas that do make contact, and that makes me rather concerned about the skin between the belt and the bone. I will openly admit that I have no expertise with anything medical, but reducing the areas where the belt pushes on the body seems like the wrong approach.

                    youdontknowme Also, is it not conventional wisdom to spread any load over as large an area as possible?

                    Exactly.

                      Sin Stainless steel is inert - it doesn't react with other substances, which is why it works so well for piercing and surgical instruments (and chastity belts).

                      There are actually many grades of steel that are classified as "stainless". Unfortunately just stating "stainless" does not qualify the exact variant of the steel but only that it should not rust (which can be achieved in different ways).
                      Also depending on what kind of steel you have, there are variable amounts of other metal included, some of which might cause issues of worn next to the skin (e. g. nickel).

                        youdontknowme
                        You are right. This is less medical knowledge but more basic understanding of physics and paired with common sense.
                        Pressure = force / area

                        As a belt by necessity is tight against the skin so that it can prevent access to the locked parts, a certain force pressing against the skin is inevitable. But distributing that exact same force over a larger area reduces the effect it has on the skin.

                        In real life comparision:
                        Try to cut your steak with a blunt knife (meaning the surface area of the edge is actually large and broad) or do it with a freshly sharpened blade (which means a very narrow edge and therefore very small area), then you see the difference.

                            Sin Not so the foam padding you're thinking of

                            No, I was referring to hard, impermeable plastic.

                              curious Pressure = force / area

                              Absolutely true, but a belt would be far more comfortable with front and rear pressure plates made of hard, impermeable plastic (or metal coated with said plastic).

                              I like my idea and I’m sticking with it.

                                I had also wanted to assemble a “dream team” of medical doctors:

                                An orthopedist, because he would know how to write a prescription in a format that the orthotist would understand.

                                A urologist, to certify that we’re not doing anything really bad in regard to the male organs.

                                A psychiatrist, who would certify that the belt is “medically necessary” for me in a purely psychological sense.

                                A specialist in Eastern medicine, someone who speaks the language of chakras, meridians, and pressure points.

                                  The belt should always encourage good posture; it must never encourage bad posture.

                                  Some years ago, I was also working on an idea I referred to as “the unequal-length A-arm suspension”, although there were never any actual “A-arms”.

                                  The idea here was to allow for a small amount of relative motion between the front and rear pressure plates. There would be a total of eight ball-in-socket joints, four in the front, and four in the rear. There would be two metal bars or tubes on each side of the wearer’s body.

                                  However, I have largely put this idea on the shelf. I now believe that relative motion between the two plates is probably not necessary and would probably not add value.

                                  I do, of course, retain the right to change my mind yet again on this subject.

                                  • Sin replied to this.

                                    audioguy58 I had also wanted to assemble a “dream team” of medical doctors

                                    I'm not a doctor and definitely not claiming to be one - there are others on here who are far more knowledgable than me in that regard - but I can help with two of those! I'm a yoga teacher and I work in occupational therapy, mostly involving pelvic dysfunction and rehabilitiation (postpartum for women or post-op prostate patients in men).

                                    Disclaimer: Not dispensing medical advice!

                                    audioguy58 I now believe that relative motion between the two plates is probably not necessary and would probably not add value.

                                    It would help with movement but not with weight! Also it probably wouldn't be discreet. That's why I'm a fan of the cable solution, because it is lightweight and sits flat. I've not worn one of these but I must say it looks pretty good from my point of view...
                                    https://fancysteel.com/collections/women/products/waist-belt-and-cable-locking-system

                                        Fs is soo expensive though

                                        youdontknowme

                                        i agree, the more surface, the less pressure on individual points and the more wearing comfort.

                                          I should like to add that I’ve been incubating and developing the ideas expressed here on this thread for some 30 or 31 years now. During this time, the essential elements of my design have not changed. If I’m capable of being wrong about any of this, then I guess my entire adult life has been wrong.

                                          It would appear that every time I post any kind of original idea to this forum, I end up with four or five know-it-all ignoramuses telling me why it won’t work/it isn’t any good/it should be discarded in favor of some other, more prosaic approach.

                                          I find it extremely wearying and soul-destroying to feel that I have to respond to each and every one of your uninformed comments, questions, and nitpicking objections.

                                          Or, as Harry Truman astutely put it, “If I were to attempt to read, much less respond to, all of the criticism that has been leveled against me, this office might as well be closed for any other business.”

                                          One might also recall Spiro Agnew’s reference to “the nattering nabobs of negativity”.

                                            audioguy58 If I’m capable of being wrong about any of this, then I guess my entire adult life has been wrong.

                                            It would appear that every time I post any kind of original idea to this forum, I end up with four or five know-it-all ignoramuses telling me why it won’t work/it isn’t any good/it should be discarded in favor of some other, more prosaic approach.

                                            Huh? No one is attacking you. I think it's a great idea. You said you wanted a team of professionals and there are several people here with medical backgrounds... @Foxies is a retired doc, and @Ines is a soon-to-be doc. I work with the type of medical devices you're talking about somewhat regularly.

                                            Isn't the point of sharing ideas to find out what won't work or what can be improved? Or are you going to assemble a team of specialists and just tell them they're wrong anyway, because you've been thinking about it for a while?

                                            The only issue I have with your design is that you said you wanted to put pressure on the front of the body. We can't do that easily. It will get uncomfortable really quickly, and it can interfere with digestion and blood flow to your vital organs. Bowel obstructions and ruptures are not fun. No one is going to make a brace that compresses your abdomen unsupported.

                                            But hey, I think it's cool that you're thinking about these things. Good luck in your endeavours, I hope it works out for you.
                                            🙂

                                              @audioguy58 , I like your threads, are very original.
                                              Fresh air, and your ideas and your imagination is your merit.
                                              But I think, as @Sin that nobody tries to attack you.

                                              audioguy58 I find it extremely wearying and soul-destroying to feel that I have to respond to each and every one of your uninformed comments, questions, and nitpicking objections.

                                              If you do not want people to actively engage with your ideas (and Engagement for the most part means critical but constructive comments rather than just applause), why do you share them in a public forum in the first place?
                                              If you want one-way communication only, just create a website where you control all of the content.