For me, it all started with a generic CB6000. Then went with a few silicone devices, but neither of these really gave any insight over true fit. The CB6000 and Silicone could cause fungal infections for an uncut person, so thorough cleaning was a must, so there never was a true LONG TERM wearing, which meant no chance to experiment with step down... for me that was.
Then came MM's Jailbird. I went from a normal 6000 to more of a 6000s in size. Now, one thing I did not mess with was gap. I figured that out using the CB 6000 that gap for me, tended to really swell my cords... to the point it was literally a medical issue. Same thing happened with ring size, so neither of these were ever changed once I settled on a good spot. 1/2inch gap and a 1 7/8 inch oval ring were what I settled on. The whole thing is to be snug, but not tight. Trust me, you don't want a hospital trip due to your cords swelling so bad you have a hard time moving.
Some couples try to push the boundaries, some don't. Some solo people try to just go off their fantasy and really push into dangerous realms.
Now, what I personally did with stepping down was cage length. Never diameter for me, as every time I tried... it was an Edema nightmare. BUT everyone is different. Some people can't shorten their device but close the diameter down. Some close ring size but can't change anything else. Some change gap. Some change all. This is where I'm getting at from my personal experience and I'll explain more.
Like I mentioned, I played with length. A lOT. Trying longer, and super short and all between. I found that too short, when trying to get erect, it would cause pain in the region around the device, but not in the device. It was almost a stomach type pain but lower. This was also the result of too small of a ring for me. The difference with the ring, is it was just a nightime ordeal with too small of a ring. I'd wake up feeling like I just took a foot to the stomach, so the ring size was a unique ordeal in a few ways, thus I won't really delve into ring issues I had as much.
This was where we started to slow down on stepping down, and settled on a size. Mine was 2 3/4 inch length and we stopped there. It got to the point that it was chasing the magic dragon. It was never ending. There literally needed to be a point where we'd stop tinkering and just have a device that fit, and all the pros and cons were weighed out with the consideration of safety/health, security, etc. Surprisingly, security was the least of my, well, our worry. I wasn't in this to play bad boy and cheat. I thoroughly loved wearing the device. The biggest worry was health. Edema, Chords, blood flow, etc.
The point in this, was really just to mention my issues, but the goal, is to let people know when is enough. Never push certain limits. Uncomfortable is one thing, but if you notice glands, chords, or anything else starting to act differently, back off, maybe larger than the previous size before you dropped down a size. Basically treat this similar to stretching your ear lobes and having a blow out. You'd not just go back to the size before the blowout, you'd drop one more.
So for conversation sake, and just to get an idea of how people step down, what works for you, and what issues have you come to, and if you came to any, how did it effect your current sizing. I think this would be a good help for some newcommers as I know some people jump right in and it can be very damaging, physically, and mentally.
Also, please only refer to "solid" devices. Plastic, metal, etc. Silicone devices should not be included in this, just due to the nature of them being flexible unlike solid devices, which can really change all of the above. I'm vary curious to see how many people had similar issues or experiences than me, or had completely different. I think why I came back to this forum and not TOS, is this isn't a fantasy ordeal. Living with a crazy tight, small, and IMO unrealistic device, including spikes etc for long periods can be detrimental to ones body. Some things are for play, some don't belong in long term. (Which is why I never used a spike/post in my jailbird... bruise city for me).
So comment ahead!!!
