Condoms are not only a safe contraceptive, they are also easy to use: tear open, unwrap the condom and put it on. Sounds really easy. But mishaps and application errors are by no means rare.
13 February is International Condom Day of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Reason enough to take a closer look at the rubber. The fact is: Germany is turning to rubber. Sales figures are growing year on year, with an impressive 241 million units sold in 2013, including coloured, studded and flavoured ones. But the majority don't want banana or vanilla flavours, instead opting for the standard product: transparent and in the EU standard size for a penis of around 10.5 centimetres in circumference, which corresponds to a width of 52 millimetres. Now quickly pull the rubber over the penis and you're ready to go - but only if you've really taken everything into account. This is the only way to avoid "condom accidents", such as the rubbers tearing or slipping off during sex. Can you use rubber? The info card on condom use errors. (Photo: DAH)If this happens to you, it may be due to the wrong condom size. Marc Grenz from the gay information centre has these experiences Hein & Fiete in Hamburg not only during counselling sessions, but also with the condom driving licence, which the project repeatedly offers as an entertaining safer sex practice test at street festivals. If you want to qualify for the document, you have to choose the right condom, put it on a dildo correctly and get it ready for use. What surprises Marc time and again: "Many people don't realise that lube has to be grease-free. Greasy products such as massage oil, body lotion, hand cream, Crisco or Vaseline attack the latex material." And some people also misjudge the right condom size - not only during the dildo test, but also when it actually gets down to business. It's not even the case that show-offs in particular confuse desire and reality and therefore reach for the XXL version. Marc has repeatedly made the exact opposite experience in his counselling work: well-equipped guys go for whatever is available at the time, and that is usually the standard model for the aforementioned 10.5-centimetre average penis.
But how do you find the "right" condom? The decisive factor is the width: In addition to the standard width of 52 millimetres, there are also smaller condoms with a width of around 49 millimetres, larger ones with a width of 60 millimetres for a penis circumference of slightly more than 12.0 cm or rubbers with a width of 69 millimetres for a penis circumference of slightly more than 14.0 cm. A practical tool here is the "online condometer": simply measure the penis circumference and length, click on http://www.machsmit.de/kondom/das_passende.php and you can find out your own condom size. Can you use rubber? Info-Card lists 5 typical condom usage errors. (Photo: DAH)
If the condom fits correctly and is well lubricated with the right water-soluble or silicone-based lubricant, almost nothing can go wrong. If the rubber does tear, it is not usually due to the material, says Hans-Roland Richter. He is the chairman of the German Latex Research Association Condoms e.V. The manufacture of condoms in Germany falls under the "Medical Devices Act", as Richter explains in the interview. This means that the safety standards are extremely high, controlled and even standardised throughout the EU. The CE mark printed on the packaging and the DIN EN ISO 4074:2002 standard are proof of this, and condoms produced in Germany with the DLF quality mark from the German Latex Research Association have even passed a few extra tests. So you're always on the safe side (and it's best to pack a sufficient supply in your suitcase when travelling to non-European countries). "If a rubber actually bursts, it's actually always due to an application error," assures Richter.
ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU briefly and concisely lists the most common mistakes on its new "Can you do rubber?" info card, which will be distributed in the scene from March 2014. These are
- Use grease-free lubricant
Otherwise condoms can tear easily. Spit is not a lubricant.
- No lubricant in the condom
Otherwise the rubber can easily slip off.
- Use the right size
Condoms that are too small can tear, condoms that are too large can slip off.
- Change more often
A new rubber for each partner, change after approx. 30 minutes for a longer fuck.
- Store rubbers correctly
Do not expose condoms to direct sunlight and do not carry them in your trouser pocket for too long.
If you don't just want to read, you can watch this information in a cool animated advert on the new ICH WEISS WAS ICH TU website. Curious? Then just click on the following from 26 February www.iwwit.de
