How To Pick The Best Feeling Condom

[00:00] [Ed] Do you have a love-hate relationship with condoms?

[00:04] [Phoebe] You love the safety it provides you and your partner, but you hate the feel or how it fits.

[00:10] [Ed] We’re going to tell you how to pick a better condom.

[00:14] [Phoebe] Welcome to Swinger University with Ed and Phoebe.
Let’s talk about measurements.
There are two measurements that you want to be aware of.
Surconference and length.
Your size is going to be unique to you.
So don’t assume whatever is on the shelf is going to fit you.
Marketing has a way of adding really fancy names to their condoms to sell you something
new and different, right?
So you’ll see anaconda, you’ll see mega.
So if you happen to be a girthier gentleman, don’t assume that those condoms are going
to fit you because when, in fact, those adjectives that they’re using to market to you really
are a regular size condom.

[01:02] [Ed] Right, they’re trying to appeal to your ego and not necessarily give you an accurate size.

[01:08] [Phoebe] Exactly.

[01:09] [Ed] Let’s talk about condom materials.
There are three main materials that condoms are made out of.
Latex, it’s the thickest, it is stretchy, and it’s less likely to slip because of the
texture of the latex itself and how it sticks to your skin.
There’s poly isoprene, it’s thinner,
it’s actually stretchier than latex.
It has a soft texture to it.
It’s clear, odorless, and if you have a latex allergy, these are great condoms to use.
Now one thing to be aware of is because it’s odorless, it’s actually a really good condom
for other activities besides intercourse.
They can be a little bit of a sloppy fit if you’re not girthy and they can slip off,
which is pretty important to think through and make sure that you get the right size.
These have to fit well.

[02:11] [Phoebe] And it’s really important when you’re having playtime in the lifestyle because you want
to have the condom that works for you.
You want to bring your own condom frequently, events, parties, clubs will have a bowl
of condoms available for you to use, but it’s a grab bag, literally, because you don’t
know unless you’re really familiar with the brands, how they fit you.
So that’s why we always take hours.
There’s no chance of it slipping, it’s always a good fit every single time.
And if you have a latex sensitivity, I always bring my own latex free condoms because
a lot of people don’t carry those.

[03:01] [Ed] Another thing to be aware of too is a lot of those cheaper or more inexpensive condoms
will have strange lubricants on them.
Sometimes they’ll even have spermisidolubricants on them which can really mess with your pH
and well, a woman’s pH and her balance for the China.
One thing to be really aware of with poly isoprene, do not use oil lube.
Coconut oil as a lube in general is a really bad idea.
There’s lots of reasons not to use coconut oil and not to use oil in general as a lube.
And we cover that in one of our lube episodes where we talk about some of the benefits

[03:44] [Unknown] of really good lube.

[03:48] [Ed] Last material is polyurethane.
It’s the thinnest, it has no odor or taste just like the poly isoprene.
And it doesn’t insulate, which is interesting because your body heat gets transmitted both
directions so it actually starts to feel a little bit more like you’re not playing with
a condom, which is super cool.

[04:12] [Phoebe] Exactly.
And the only condom I could find on the market that is made of this material is Okamoto.
They call their condom material shirlon and they say it feels like bear back.
And I will tell you, we have tried this condom and it was quite amazing.
In fact, the condom was so thin that you couldn’t even tell there was anything in the package.
That’s how thin it was.

[04:38] [Ed] Yeah, they’re pretty amazing.
There is a downside to them though because they’re so thin and the material itself, it’s
lower in elasticity.
So it doesn’t stretch that much.
It can slip off because it has to be a really good fit and you have to be pretty hard for

[04:59] [Unknown] it to work properly.

[05:02] [Ed] It’s also five times more likely to split or break, which means that it’s less STI effective.
And the last downside for this, they’re expensive.

[05:14] [Phoebe] Oh my gosh.
So expensive.
They’re like three to five dollars each.

[05:19] [Unknown] So you might want to save it for that really special person because they’re not cheap.
Thick or thin.

[05:30] [Phoebe] The average in the US for thick and thin condoms are about 40 micrometers thick.
And the range is really broad in the US.
It is 95 to 15 micrometers.

[05:47] [Ed] Yes.

[05:48] [Phoebe] And in Germany, their average is about 18 micrometers.
Japan is where it gets down to the really thin micrometer of 0.001 or 1 micrometer by
0.001 millimeters.
That’s where that bear back feel comes into play with those three to five dollar condoms.
For some reason, the US doesn’t have these at the condom that thin, I’m not sure exactly
why it’s probably a safety issue.

[06:26] [Unknown] We know that Japan is very strict on their protocols and testing and they’re very proactive

[06:33] [Phoebe] with using condom and protection and birth control.
So they do rely on these condoms for protection, the 0.001’s and 0.003’s.
So it’s just their requirements for safety and protection are different from the US.
So if you want to buy one, you have to really hunt for it.
We were lucky enough to find 0.003 or 4 on Amazon, but we had to buy the 0.001 from a website
I think it was called condom world.
So and you pay a hefty price, but you should check them out, they’re kind of fun.

[07:12] [Ed] One of the reasons often that the US standards are different than international standards are
how we test things and a lot of times in order to pass a specific test, you have to change
your product to pass that test.
As an example, totally aside, helmet safety standards are different in the US than in Europe
because of the method in which they test.
So the testing method here in the US, it’s quite possible that the thinner condoms wouldn’t
pass just because of the kind of test.
We use a water test where they basically stick the condom on a tube and they pump water
into it, a large amount of water into it and that’s a lot different than sex.

[07:54] [Unknown] Right.

[07:56] [Phoebe] I’m not sure how Japan tests there is exactly, but I know our regulation is to pass that
water leak test.
Right.
I’m assuming Japan has very rigorous testing and like you said, their own method of testing,
it just doesn’t meet the same requirements over here because it’s totally different tests.

[08:16] [Unknown] Exactly.

[08:18] [Ed] So let’s talk about testing and safety.
Yeah.
Safety, which is one of the main reasons that you use condoms, especially in the lifestyle,

[08:27] [Unknown] birth control is also important, but most of the time what we’re concerned about is STIs

[08:33] [Ed] and the transmission of STIs.

[08:35] [Unknown] Right.

[08:36] [Ed] Japan has a very long history of innovation and quality, so their condoms are safe.
They’re also fairly innovative because they’re so thin.
They fit differently than any of the other condoms that are on the market.

[08:51] [Unknown] Right.

[08:52] [Ed] The US has FDA regulations on the thinness and of course, as we’ve mentioned, that water
leak test.

[09:00] [Unknown] So we know that they’re safe.

[09:04] [Ed] They’re just not as comfortable.

[09:06] [Phoebe] Right.
And the safety factor also plays into that size factor.
So if you are playing with a very thin condom and it is that polyurethane, you really have
to pay attention to it not slipping off.
But you know, honestly, I will say if you’re not buying the right condom for you and you’re
in the grab bag at, you know, at a house party or a club and you’re throwing on a condom
that’s not your fit, chances are it’s going to slip off.
I mean, it has happened to me.
So people, you know, I just encourage you to either use the right condoms or bring your
own and then interview the guy, go, you want this one, this one or this one, you know,
that sometimes works for us.
So you know, you all have to be your best advocate for safety.
So in closing, if you want a better experience, you can, you know, measure, right.
And some of the charts that we provide in the notes have got great links for you.

[10:15] [Unknown] Buy some condoms, buy a bunch of condoms and experiment and think about the cost, right.

[10:21] [Phoebe] You want to spend that $3 to $5 or, you know, leave them, leave for your special partners
or do you want to, you know, leave that, you just go with the thicker ones and, you know,

[10:32] [Unknown] your general play, right.

[10:34] [Phoebe] And obviously you all on assess your own level of safety and the percentage of breakage
and slippage.
So there’s a lot of things to consider.
And you know, how easy is it to put on, you know, you’re in the heat of the moment,
how easy is it to get on and how safe it is for your other partner in the form of lubricants
and spermicides and things like that.

[10:56] [Ed] We’ll also provide links and some photos of the condoms that we use when we play.

[11:01] [Unknown] Oh, one last thing before you go.

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[11:43] [Ed] Thank you for being part of this community.
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