It never hurts to have a spare

As far as items on Eden go, this may be one of the most basic. It's not a toy in its own right, but rather a replacement part from a system. The Doc Johnson Vac-u-lock harness system is one of the most popular harness systems around due to its low cost, ease of use, and sturdy mount system. That mount system hinges on the idea that every toy in the Vac-u-lock line uses the same attachment plug, minimizing the number of spare parts you have to own in order to use different sized toys in your harness.

This is that plug. When your entire system is based around a small rubber plug, there is always a chance of single point failure. If this plug breaks or is lost, you can't use the system until you replace it and that is what this item is for. It is an exact replacement for the plug already packaged with the Vac-u-lock harnesses and kits.

The Vac-u-lock plug is made of three simple materials. The primary material is hard ABS plastic. From top to bottom this plug is almost entirely stiff plastic designed to hold your toys in place and mount securely to your harness. The second material is steel, found only in the four snaps around the edges of the plug. The snaps allow you to bolt the plug to the inside of your harness system much more reliably than most ring harnesses, one of the reasons the Vac-u-lock system is very popular. The third and final material found in the Vac-u-lock plug is foam rubber. On the underside of the plug is a layer of foam that insulates the bottom from the hard material and sharp edges of the plastic. You can make out the lower ends of the steel snaps connected at each corner of the bottom, assisting in holding the foam against the plug.

The design of this plug is pretty clever all things considered. It's designed to be universally compatible with all the Doc Johnson Vac-u-lock toys and harnesses, but if used incorrectly it can still manage to not fit. For one thing, most Vac-u-lock dildos have a top and a bottom. Since you don't want to be mixing those up, the Vac-u-lock plug is asymmetrical where it attaches to the harness. Rather than being a perfect square, the plug base is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. Since the plug can only be snapped into the harness in one way, this assures you don't accidentally plug your dildo in pointing the wrong direction. The shaft of the plug has two flared ridges designed to grip the inside of whatever toy you install it in. The ridges are pretty big and you need the Doc Johnson powdered lubricant to install it easily. The ridges are so shaped as to bite into the toy material from the inside rather than back out. This design gives you a very secure fit into your toys but can be a little tricky to remove.

The Vac-u-lock plug is about three inches tall and almost all of it will be inserted into your toy. The base of the plug where it attaches to the harness is approximately three inches square except for a slight narrowing at the bottom end of the base for correct orientation. Since this plug is a replacement item for the Vac-u-lock system you can be sure it will fit into any toy or harness in the Vac-u-lock series without any problems. There are no adjustments to be made, it either works or it doesn't.

This plug has one job to perform and it does it well. When snapped into a harness it holds surprisingly well. By just pulling and pushing on the plug I was not able to force it off the harness I tested it with. I had to go around and unsnap each corner individually to get the plug off, it was a very secure hold. I first installed a small toy into the plug and harness, a small UR3 dildo. It slid on without much trouble and held fast. UR3 is a very soft material and I have found that the softer the toy, the easier it slides into place. I removed that one and tried with a large toy, the Hung dildo. Not only was that material stiffer than the UR3 but it was also much more resistant to sliding on and had a great deal of friction. I had to use quite a bit of the powdered lubricant to make it slide completely onto the plug. On that note, I was surprised to find that in small and medium sized toys there was little need to slide the toy entirely onto the plug. Sliding it halfway or so was usually enough to hold the toy firmly and securely into the harness though the toys did tend to flop about when they were only partially installed. On the plug I found the layer of foam rubber to be a nice addition. When this plug is installed in your harness and a dildo is hanging from the end, the base is pressed right up against your pubis mons and without that soft foam layer this would be very uncomfortable indeed.

The Vac-u-lock plug is hard rubber and no big deal to clean. You will have the best results if you remove the plug from the toy and harness before cleaning so you have access to the entire surface area of the plug. You can wipe most of the plug clean with a rag or antibacterial wipe, but the metal snaps could be tricky. Since they were snapped into your harness they should have been fairly protected but if you were using this plug separate from a Vac-u-lock harness, you may have gotten the snaps dirty. I found the best way to clean them was to run the snaps under hot water for a bit to wash away any mess and dissolve any lube. You should dry the plug right away if you do this, the snaps are steel and if left wet they can rust.

I recommend storing this plug separate from any Vac-u-lock toys you may have. While it's tempting to leave it installed in the base of your favorite toy, you may find that this stretches your toy over time and it may be more likely to come loose from the harness in the future. I've found the best way to store this plug is right in the harness it was designed for.

Packaging doesn't get much simpler than this, this plus is just a spare part so there's no need to sell the buyer on its merits. This plug comes in a simple sealed plastic bag along with the standard folded advertisement for the Vac-u-lock system showing the process for installing the plug into a harness and a toy into the plug. The images explain that you should use the Doc Johnson powdered lubricant when installing the plug but sadly none comes with this item.