Tried searching the archive, nothing related, so here goes:
This Thursday marks my seven-month wedding anniversiary. The wife and I have chosen condoms as our contraceptive method, and, well–we’ve gone through several dozen of them in our time together. Many dozen? Many several dozen? Anyway, lots and oodles of them.
**And not a single one has broken. ** A couple of high-energy sessions made us afraid of breakage, but subsequent testing of the condom (i.e. running water into it) suggested that even those highly-stressed condoms hadn’t sprung a leak. Without going into any more gory detail than I already have, suffice it to say that I’m a fairly “average” guy and thus our condoms are probably not under stress from being over-filled. :rolleyes: But is that enough to account for their seeming indestructibility?
So here’s the question: **what kind of idiocy and/or insane acrobatics are required to break a condom? **Or is it just that ‘Brand X’ condoms break easily, while brand-name Trojans are indomitable?
I would think they could break from not properly putting it on. Also, if they have dried out a little, they could break. Those are the only two reasons I can think of right now.
In the training I had in HIV/AIDS education we were told that non-water based lubricants (vaseline, sorbolene, cold cream etc) can have a “perish” effect on the latex, which can lead to tearing.
[HIV educator] That’s why you use KY jelly or Lubofax or any of the other water-soluble lubricants with condoms. [/HIV educator]
I had a polyurethane condom (Trojan Supra) break once. We weren’t doing anything especially athletic, and I don’t think there was an issue with lubrication. Just random chance.
It probably helps that you keep them on the nightstand next to the bed and not in your wallet or glovebox, where they can easily be abraided or dried out.
In my experience, it’s a question of materials. I’ve never broken a latex condom. The new non-latex ones, though, have been a problem. Maybe I just got a bad batch, but I experienced a 75% failure rate with them. One incident required my partner to take a morning-after pill 'coz I hadn’t noticed the damn thing broke.
Maybe I should have noticed. It was the only good sex that weekend. :rolleyes:
To sum up what others have touched upon; there are a couple reason that a condom would break. Friction would be a major cause. If the vagina is not fully lubricated then there would be a lot of friction that could damge the condom. As sewalk said if they are stored properly so that they aren’t ask risk of being dried out or rubbed. Finally, if you read the instructions for using a condom (yes, I have done this, there are some neat pictures.:))they warn to make sure you don’t trap air in the end because they will rip easier. So now you have been through Comdom Breakage 101.
Had a latex one break a few years back. It was fairly fresh (no wallet storage), we weren’t using any lubrication, and it broke almost as soon as we had started, so I guess we just happened to get a bad one.
Since then, I’ve devoted myself to a lifetime of freelance condom testing (under real-world conditions), and I’ve yet to have a second one break.
I have actually broken condoms of several brands and types. The non latex ones break very easily actually. My girlfriend and always use lubed condoms. The only ones I have never broken are the Trojan Magnums. To me it is a matter of size and therefore strain. The non latex ones (if they don’t cut off circulation) have almost always broken after just a few strokes.
I have asked friends and family, and my brother has the same problem (must run in the family), but none of my friends have ever broken one. The only problem one of them has seems to be having them slip off.
A few years ago, I was in a play. I was given a gift by my two best friends, and the card was filled with wrapped condoms. The idea was that I would open the card in the restaurant where they gave me the gift, and they’d fall out and embarass me. I’m smarter than that, so it didn’t happen.
However, since they were for the purpose of a gag, my friends had bought cheap condoms, namely, Class Act. Since I had no need for them (at the time), I gave aforementioned “friends” the condoms. Several of the condoms broke under what I assume were normal conditions. Don’t worry: no one got pregnant or got an STD, but they were unhappy nonetheless.
Lesson: Don’t buy cheap condoms if you don’t absolutely have to.
I’ve had quite a few of them break on me, but this was usually due to them being too tight, or, in some cases, old/cheap. Condoms were available for free on each floor of my residence in university, but they were stupid Lifestyles colored (AND spermicidally lubed, which can cause severe irritation and infections). Only once did one break and my partner and I not notice. That was a scary week, indeed.
More often, they would either break on insertion (weird angles may have had something to do with this) and we’d catch it then. Sort of feels like a water balloon popping.
I switched to Avanti several years ago, and haven’t had one break yet. They’re also polyurethane, so you can use both water and petroleum-based lube with ease.
I’d have to say that the likely conditions for breaking a condom are 75% size (fit) and 25% lubrication. If the woman is well lubricated, naturally or otherwise, its pretty rare that a condom will breach when its in place properly, avoiding air bubbles and leaving space at the tip. Of course if the girl is not prepared (or in the case of high schoolers, completely comfortable with the idea) its likely to experience much more friction that normal and you’ll simply push through the condom.
The bigger issue in more typical sex is going to be size, not all condoms are the same size, nor are men. If a condom is stretched while being worn it will break, the stretching can be from it simply being too small, or from it being pulled down too tight across the tip. There’s alot of repetitive stress going on down there and if the latex is already under stress and unable to flex it will break. Its alot like engineering and construction, build something too rigid and its usually going to break. Pull a condom taut and it will probably break eventually.
Do yourself a favor and get yourselves on the pill for god sakes! The condom is unreliable in comparison, and its the realm of the uninitiated teenager and casual bar-hopping bachelor/bachelorette.
[li] Unwrap condom[/li][li] Apply to penis[/li][li] Immerse penis in Liquid Nitrogen[/li][li] Wait three minutes[/li][li] Remove penis from Liquid Nitrogen[/li] Hit penis with hammer
OK, I don’t get this: bughunter, how do you immerse it in any liquid when you’re all geared up ? Are you crouching over some kind of isotope thing or clamouring over a barrel for an athletic dunk ?
Without knowing more, I think I might favour adopting the spread eagle position and being lowered into it on a pulley system. What’s your method of choice ?
It should definitely be said that, although I am sure we are all intelligent to know this, some people need to be told that while being on the pill will certainly protect against unwanted pregnancy, condoms are still the ONLY protection, aside from abstinence, from STD’s. Even if my partner is on the pill, I still use condoms until we have been faithful long enough to be safe on the STD side of things as well.
In my experience, condoms are pretty durable things. In fact, I tried to stretch one to the point of breakage with my finger, and it felt like my finger would break before the condom would! My recommendations to avoid breakage:
[ul][li]Don’t use teeth or scissors to open condom[/li][li]Never store in wallet or car or warm place like bathroom…heat destroys latex[/li][li]Do not expose to sunlight…UV light might break chemical bonds[/li][li]Avoid scratching with fingernails[/li][li]Use water-based lube only[/li][li]Never use past the expiration date[/li][/ul]
did I forget anything?
My university also had cheap spermicidally-lubricated condoms. I really hate these, because spermicide actually increases the risk of contracting STDs, as shown by several recent studies. (plus, I seem to be allergic to it) I believe one study looked at AIDS infection rates in sex workers. IIRC, spermicide actually increased infection rates over using nothing at all.
