Glossary
Disclaimer
Site map
Condoms are a critical (and often under-
appreciated) part of safe
sexual activity, so you should make sure you use condoms that are
appropriate to you. Condoms are
absolutely essential for all penetrative sex with a casual partner. A
- Ultra-thin condoms are designed for vaginal sex and may not stand up to the rigours of anal sex.
- Don't store condoms in the car, your wallet, in the sun, or near sharp objects.
- Check the use-by date. Check the outside of the packet for obvious tears or damage.
- Unwrap the packet carefully, and not with your teeth.
- Use water-based lubricants like KY jelly, Glyde, etc. Don't use saliva or semen as a lubricant. Never, ever use oil-based lubricants (Vaseline, baby oil, etc), as they can cause the condom to break.
- Make sure you put the condom on right-way-round and not inside-out. Don't forget to squeeze the air out of the tip as you put it on, to make room for the semen.
- Put condoms on sex toys if you intend to share them.
- when going out on the prowl I carry a variety of condoms (flavoured, extra-thin, extra-strong, etc) with me. This gives you a variety of options for each situation. I also carry enough that if I'm not sure about the integrity of one I can change it without running out of condoms.
Bear in mind that condoms need to fit snugly to be effective, and that they do come in different sizes (generally 48-54mm); find the size and shape that's right for you. For example, the Ansell Lifestyles (regular) flares out towards the end, but my penis tapers inwards; not the best fit! For some reason, Priceline in Collins St, Melbourne, seems to have a very wide range of condoms; it must be all of those unsatisfied secretaries that keep chasing me... not.
- Ultra-thin condoms are designed for vaginal sex and may not stand up to the rigours of anal sex.
- Don't store condoms in the car, your wallet, in the sun, or near sharp objects.
- Check the use-by date. Check the outside of the packet for obvious tears or damage.
- Unwrap the packet carefully, and not with your teeth.
- Use water-based lubricants like KY jelly, Glyde, etc. Don't use saliva or semen as a lubricant. Never, ever use oil-based lubricants (Vaseline, baby oil, etc), as they can cause the condom to break.
- Make sure you put the condom on right-way-round and not inside-out. Don't forget to squeeze the air out of the tip as you put it on, to make room for the semen.
- Put condoms on sex toys if you intend to share them.
- when going out on the prowl I carry a variety of condoms (flavoured, extra-thin, extra-strong, etc) with me. This gives you a variety of options for each situation. I also carry enough that if I'm not sure about the integrity of one I can change it without running out of condoms.
Bear in mind that condoms need to fit snugly to be effective, and that they do come in different sizes (generally 48-54mm); find the size and shape that's right for you. For example, the Ansell Lifestyles (regular) flares out towards the end, but my penis tapers inwards; not the best fit! For some reason, Priceline in Collins St, Melbourne, seems to have a very wide range of condoms; it must be all of those unsatisfied secretaries that keep chasing me... not.
| Ultra-thin
condoms |
||
| I
can't say this without sounding crass, so here goes: this one is very
good for situations where,
for whatever reason,
there is less friction between the penis and the vaginal wall than you
might perhaps like. This
could be caused by excessive lubrication or by a mismatch in penis size
and vaginal tightness. This
condom is not recommended for anal sex; anal sex is rougher and the
condom is more likely to break. |
||
| Four
Seasons Naked |
 |
Advertised
as being ultra-sensitive, this condom rolls very tight and snug.
They're OK, but not great. I can certainly report that they taste OK. |
| Durex
Fetherlite |
 |
I
think this was probably the best or second-best of the four ultra-thin
condoms I've tried. It really didn't feel as though it was there at
all; on reflection, that is actually vaguely disconcerting. |
| Ansell
Contempo Nuda |
 |
I
couldn't pick a preference between this one and the Durex Fetherlites;
both were nice and comfortable. My major issue with this one was that
the bulb in the end (which is left for the semen to fill) was always
inside-out when I unwrapped the condom, and it was actually quite hard
to get it to go right-way-out. |
| Ansell
Lifestyles ultra-thin |
 |
I
honestly didn't really notice that
they were that much more sensitive than other condoms. They were OK,
but not really anything particularly special. |
| Extended-pleasure condoms | ||
| Durex
Saturn extended pleasure |
 |
On
occasion (usually during particularly interesting group sex or hot sex
with a new partner) I have suffered from premature ejaculation, which
is most disconcerting. This condom, however, has lubricant inside as
well as outside, which cuts down the sensitivity but also the
likelihood of an untimely explosion. If you suffer from premature
ejaculation caused by overexcitement, these condoms are ruthlessly
effective and well worth looking out for. The downside is that if
things turn out well, and you probably wouldn't have gone off early
without the EP condom anyway,
then you're left shagging with a particularly insensitive condom. I
have had a situation where I used one of these because I thought I was
going to go off prematurely, but didn't, and then had trouble coming. I
was still hard, though, so the young lady wasn't complaining. |
| Extra-strong condoms | ||
| Four
Seasons extra-strength condoms |
 |
I
got these for high-risk situations (which I consider to be pretty much
anything anal or, I suppose, with a working girl). They're a little bit
like the
Durex
extended-pleasure condoms, above, in that I didn't go off before time.
I also had the problem of lack of sensitivity that I got
with the Durex EPs. Having said that, the strength wasn't really tested
all that much; it wasn't a rough session, and I ended up pulling out
and going off all over my partner's face anyway. Includes two 4ml
packets of
lube;
very handy for expeditions out of the house. |
| Flavoured condoms | ||
| Durex
Saturn Select flavoured condoms (banana, orange strawberry, kiwifruit) |
 |
Other
than the safety issues, I hate the taste of pre-cum, which is another
reason I use condoms for giving oral sex. Some condoms (especially
lubricated ones) taste horrible, however. These ones are flavoured;
it's much nicer to suck a nice tgirl cock if she tastes nice as well.
Banana is an appropriate flavour for a condom, although somewhat
'nudge-nudge, wink-wink'. Kiwifruit
seems out of place on a condom, and I actually thought it was
apple-flavoured until I re-read the packet. Orange was borderline OK,
and
strawberry was acceptable, but not really very strawberry-like. At the
end of the day, it doesn't really matter whether the condom tastes like
the specific fruit it's supposed to taste like, as long as it doesn't
taste like latex. My only
real criticism is that the flavour does disappear fairly quickly when
sucked. I can also live without the funky colours; it was very
disconcerting to see your playmate with a bright red penis. |
| Four
Seasons flavoured condoms (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, and banana) |
 |
Like
other condoms in the Four Seasons range, this comes with two
4ml packets of lubricant. They come in handy for expeditions out of
the house (beats, swingers' parties, etc) but presumably this is a
condom designed
for oral sex. Why does it
need to come with lubricant? Perhaps they
think you might have a dry mouth from all the excitement. Anyway, this
condom had a nice tight fit, and the vanilla flavour was quite nice.
The banana was OK, but I haven't
tried the others yet. Every manufacturer that does a
flavoured condom seems to make them in banana
flavour; I still find this double entendre quite juvenile.
Also, who would make a vanilla-flavoured condom? Vanilla? Presumably you can only
use them for sex in the missionary position: "Sorry, honey, kinky sex
is off the menu tonight; I've only got vanilla-flavoured condoms
left..." |
| Non-latex condoms | ||
| Some people have an allergy to latex. |
||
| Standard condoms | ||
| Ansell
Lifestyles regular |
 |
This
is your fairly standard-issue basic condom; they seem
to be widely available. I find that they do a good job,
although I definitely know that
they are there. My major problem with them is that they flare out
towards the end, whereas my penis tapers in. |
| Glyde |
I
came across a Glyde condom- I'm not sure what type- which fitted
veeeeeery snugly on my partner's penis and had no discernable taste;
very nice. |
|
Safer sex
Relative risk of sex acts
More information:
Condoms.org.au
Very informative site on how to use condoms, what to do if they break, how to prolong orgasms, and lots of other useful and interesting stuff.
Durex
Corporate site
Ansell
Corporate site