# How do you break a condom? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 18, 2001, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899 "2001-07-18T07:00:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hippy144](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/90db22/32.png) [@Hippy144](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy144)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/21 "2001-07-19T03:02:37Z")
I just have to say it because I heard it so many times in school that if I don’t I’ll go nuts (no pun intended). condoms are the only protection from STD’s, BUT they don’t do their job effectively all the time (i.e. herpies can still be transmitted.) Does anyone have a recomendation for a brand? ---
**Author:** ![galt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@galt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galt)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/22 "2001-07-19T03:15:57Z")
So far, I’ve only had one break that I know of…and it happened to be the one time my girlfriend and I used the “novelty” condom (that was flavored) that someone gave her as a gag. Har, har, har. No more of those. Also, friendly advice regarding spermicide: if you are wearing a condom with spermicide on it, do not lick things it has been rubbed on. It’s got an awful taste, and being worried about why your tongue is numb can distract from the activity at hand. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/23 "2001-07-19T11:43:56Z")
Also remember that wearing two at once is NOT safer than wearing one. One possible cause of condom failure is mischievous teenagers deliberately puncturing them at the store by sticking hatpins through the box. Ah, the simple joys of youth… ---
**Author:** ![PublicBlast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@PublicBlast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PublicBlast)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/24 "2001-07-19T14:06:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Omniscient \* > \*\*And one last thing… > > 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. \*\* You know how that little informational insert that comes with the pill? The one that says that it works great for most people, but 1 out of 10000 women or so has something horrible happen to them? My wife was that 1 out of 10000. :eek: Suffice it to say that the Pill, Depo-Provera, and all other hormone-based contraception is out. Latex may be less reliable, but it doesn’t pose any threat besides early child-rearing, either. ---
**Author:** ![Big\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e4f/32.png) [@Big\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_G)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/25 "2001-07-19T19:07:26Z")
My wife is in the same boat as AkashJ’s. There are terrible, life-threatening consequences if she takes any pill type contraceptives. We haven’t had any sucess finding any acceptable alternative besides the good old condom. Oh, and just to make this post relevant to the OP, I have had a condom break. It was the second time I had sex, the day after I got married. It didn’t do a whole lot to instill confidence in condoms, ya know:) ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/26 "2001-07-19T21:35:55Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t get this: **bughunter** , how do you immerse it in any liquid when you’re all geared up ? Actually, liquid nitrogen will sit for a surprising amount of time in a mug-sized dewar. Now, I can’t say as I’ve tried, but I’m sure getting certain delicate bits into a mug can’t be all that hard. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/27 "2001-07-19T22:09:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phoebestar \* > \*\*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. \*\* Heh. Lesson #412 in How To Be Normal. If someone had pulled this ‘gag’ on me, it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me that I was supposed to be embarrassed… I’d have probably piled them on the edge of the table and continued reading the card, figuring they were just saying “hope you get some!” or whatever. I’ve never had a condom break, but I did want to ask a question. I once had a boyfriend accidentally get those sheep kind… and they had spermicide in them… anyway we couldn’t finish. We ended up just laughing about the “reeking sheep butts” and throwing the damn things away. Do all spermicide condoms smell that bad, or was it the rotting sheep flesh thing that made them stink? ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/28 "2001-07-19T22:16:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Myrr21 \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > I don’t get this: **bughunter** , how do you immerse it in any liquid when you’re all geared up ? > > Actually, liquid nitrogen will sit for a surprising amount of time in a mug-sized dewar. Now, I can’t say as I’ve tried, but I’m sure getting certain delicate bits into a mug can’t be all that hard. \*\* When my doctor froze my mole off, he had liquid nitrogen in a plain styrofoam coffee cup. The white disposable kind. I didn’t see any difference in the amount in the cup after 15 minutes or so. ---
**Author:** ![Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazing_Tiki_God)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/29 "2001-07-19T22:53:08Z")
I’ve had experiences with condom breakage. I’ve had ohh 3 or 4 break on me in the last 3 years or so. One was a cheap lifestyles kind and the other were trojans. Although condoms don’t really work to well with me they are really uncomfortable (yes I’m putting them on right and yes the girl is into it!). They just seem to be way too tight around my privates. So I guess I’m just lucky and have them break on me. Well okay I’m back on subject now all I can say is I guess don’t get cheap condoms and use the right lube. ---
**Author:** ![MrDeath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/22d042/32.png) [@MrDeath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDeath)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/30 "2001-07-19T23:34:03Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Myrr21 \* \*\* > [@](#): > > Now, I can’t say as I’ve tried, but I’m sure getting certain delicate bits into a mug can’t be all that hard. \*\* Well if the delicate bits aren’t all that hard, why are you bothering with the condom? ---
**Author:** ![Phoebestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Phoebestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoebestar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899/31 "2001-07-20T00:09:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Phoebestar \* > > \*\*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. \*\* > > Heh. Lesson #412 in How To Be Normal. > If someone had pulled this ‘gag’ on me, it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me that I was supposed to be embarrassed… I’d have probably piled them on the edge of the table and continued reading the card, figuring they were just saying “hope you get some!” or whatever. \*\* Well, at the time I was… um… younger, and notably inexperienced (with no inclinations to change that… ok, I was sort of a prude.) I was being made fun of. Although, I’ll be honest. Even now that I’m older and um… more experienced, I’d still be embarassed to have a stack of prophylactics fall out of a card for me at our local Perkins. (Did I mention they also got me two pair of thong underwear? Lovely friends.) Just to get this post back on topic… I’ve never had a prophylactic fail, either. The people that have posted that they _have_ had a prophylactic fail mostly seemed to have fit problems. Maybe that’s the biggest factor (HA! no pun intended) in whether or not condoms do their job? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-break-a-condom/72899.md?page=1)