Do condoms break? Has that ever happened to you? How often do they break? 1 in 100?

[marylander1940]

I don't think people take PrEP for bareback entitlement........do you know how many condoms break, how many babies have been conceived from broken condoms, how many stds have been passed from broken condoms?...

 

I never had a condom malfunction in my life.

 

What about yinz?

[keithhardy]

I never had a condom malfunction in my life.

 

What about yinz?

To get the full scope of this conversation and not just one line please refer to the Pep/Prep topic in the forum. Some say they are out of a conversation, just to start a new one on the same topic.

[jgoo]

If you do a google search for "condom failure rate", you get lots of info and here is what was at the top:

 

Birth control method Male latex condom

Brand/common name Condom

Typical-use failure rate (%) 18; (1 of 5.5)

Perfect-use failure rate (%) 2

Type Barrier

 

It looks like that is for vaginal sex so who knows about anal if higher or lower (but I suspect higher).

 

I've never had a failure (as far as I know)

[+ WmClarke]

I have never had one break.

 

But three times I have had a condom fall off a partner while he was using it. This was during a six month period. That's three times out of about 12 uses. 25% failure rate for me in that time period. Thankfully, it hasn't happened since.

 

They do break.

They do fall off.

People do use them incorrectly.

[+ ArVaGuy]

Yes condoms break. It has happened to me three times over the years.

 

Condoms have expiration dates for a reason. They can also deteriorate rapidly when exposed to temperature extremes.

[+ José Soplanucas]

Never happened to me.

[Juan Vancouver]

Jgoo, those numbers are for birth control, if I understand correctly. Getting pregnant is incredibly easier than acquiring HIV through sex. Sometimes if the semen touches the labia that makes pregnancy possible, so I imagine that the numbers for HIV transmission and condom use would be very different.

 

Marylander, yes, condoms break. Even when used correctly.

 

Also chances are you have had many condoms develop microtears, but since you don't take your condoms to a lab every time you are done, you have not realized that. A microtear is more than enough for an infection to be transmitted.

 

I don't remember the correct statistic, but something like 99.9% of people only have intercourse that lasts very few minutes, maybe 5 minutes tops. Also, the average penis in northamerica is somewhere around 5 inches. My guess is that people having 5 minute intercourse with the right sized condom for a 5 inch dick might not experience many mishaps aside from occasional slippage. The longer intercourse lasts, the more energetic it is, the larger the penis length and width are, the greater the chances the condom will tear and or break, sadly, statistically condom breakage happens often during orgasm, when the condom is already spent, the penis is at its maximum engorgement and you are adding stress on the condom by means of hard thrusting and the seminal discharge, which at times can be considerable.

 

If you are having intercourse with well endowed, energetic men who last more than five minutes and cum a quart, you are at a much higher risk when it comes to condoms. I might even think condoms have broken inside you and some escorts might have hidden than fact, changed the condom quietly and continued their work. If that happens to me, I much prefer to acknowledge it right away, take the necessary precautions, change the condom and openly discuss risks and health status. I assume many escorts wouldn't.

 

Which brings us to the other thread. If I were a super cautious bottom who loves to get frantically fucked by monstrously endowed escorts for a long time and I always used condoms... and if I wanted an extra layer of protection, I would certainly add truvada ON TOP of condoms.

[marylander1940]

Never happened to me.

 

me neither.

[Harrison Maine]

As someone with a background in biosciences, I can tell you that there are a lot of factors that can go into why someone would want to use PrEP, with or without a condom. Condoms do break, usually due to manufacture or user error. A big for instance, if you carry condoms in your wallet, they don't hold up as well. If you leave them in your car and they get warm, they also don't work as well. To repeat, if you don't use proper or enough lube, they don't work as well. Breaking aside, they are known to have an efficacy rate of only 97% when used perfectly: meaning 3% of everything they're trying to keep out (anything that can be carried in semen, vaginal fluid or other bodily fluids) can pass the barrier. Having done demos for groups of adults, I can tell you that, sadly, most sexually active adults don't actually know how to properly use a condom. The likelihood of pregnancy occurring from vaginal sex even without a condom is only 20%, but that doesn't stop the vaginally endowed from getting pregnant even when using birth control and condoms properly. The rate of transmission of STIs or HIV seroconversion is harder to pin down because there are a lot more variables than just the condom: are they being treated, do they even know they have an infection, what is their viral load or bacterial count? The one I hate to bring up, but since both my roommate and I are providers, we have seen it: some people just don't want to use a condom so badly that they will try to find ways to get it off or otherwise ejaculate on a person. My roommate has had several clients who have purposely removed condoms and tried to hide it from here or removed the condom just before they ejaculate to cum on her, despite her stating that she does not allow that.

 

Using something like PrEP is simply a precaution, one that can be seen as vital when you are having sex with multiple partners who may also be having sex with multiple partners. While I'm not near as busy as she is, my roommate saw over 50 different clients for one or more sessions last year. Now consider all the people those 50+ clients had had sex with and in what span of time. Since it takes, on time average, 90 days to determine if one has HIV in their system, that's 90 days someone may have no idea they are carrying the virus and able to pass it on. So if you see 5 clients in a weekend, like she sometimes does, and one of them has seen another provider or random hook up within that 90 day period (or they simply haven't been tested) there's still a chance that she could contract HIV or another STI from client A and pass it on to client D in that 3% window. Is it likely, not terribly; however, it's still possible. Taking every precaution shouldn't be judged, especially when you consider the cost of health care for someone with HIV and the lifetime cost of treatment to maintain T cell count and minimal viral load, not to mention the cost of treating opportunistic infections arising from immune compromised status.

 

I'll hop off my high horse, but condoms are important. Learn how to use them properly. Get tested regularly if you are active with multiple partners. Protect yourself and others. No shaming for being cautious.

 

*rant over*

[TruHart1]

I have never had a condom break so far. Granted, I am not exclusively a bottom but there are times that, even though the condom holds, I feel so thoroughly f**cked that I could find out I'm pregnant and not feel too surprised! Of course, that's when I have heard angelic voices and felt the earth move because the man topping me knows exactly how to push all my buttons!!!:)

 

TruHart1

[Nvr2Thick]

Twice. One escort was very well endowed (surprise) and there was not enough lube. He realized that penetration was feeling better than it was supposed to, so he pulled out and put on another condom with a lot more lube. Another time an escort made a point of saying, "damn the condom must have broke," after he had cum inside me. I suspect that he knew at the time it broke but chose to ride it out.

[Guest]

I haven't had one break so far, and I've used them 100s of times. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[Just Chuck]

I read an article that said the technique for applying a condom to a penis was a big factor in condom breakage. If the condom is pulled on too far and doesn't have some slack to move while the penis is thrusting within it, it can stretch too thin and break. Also, air bubbles between the condom and the skin of the penis create likely spots for breakage.

 

The article said condoms should always be unrolled onto the penis and neve unrolled and then slid onto the penis.

 

A different article that I read several years ago gave an interesting description of Trojan's quality-control tests. Every Trojan condom gets this test. It's applied to a phallic metal nozzle and inserted into a basin of saline solution. Then the nozzle gently inflates the condom with more saline on the inside. Then a mild electric current runs from the metal nozzle through the saline and the latex condom to a electrode in the basin. They know how much electrical resistance the condom should add to the circuit and measure it. If there's any thin spots in the condom, the resistance will be low and that condom fails, even without any holes. I thought it was a pretty smart sounding test.

[+ Italiano]

Twice in all my active sex life. One as a top, one as a bottom.

[LADoug1]

vaginally endowed

Just curious ... what does this mean?

[mike carey]

Just curious ... what does this mean?

My reading of it was people, male or female, who happen to have a vagina. But I know little of such things!

[keithhardy]

As I mentioned and we are seeing condoms do break, and even if its 1 out of 100, it only takes one time to contact HIV, so if the ability is there to have another safe guard why not use it? If people choose not to use condoms thats their business, and correct me if I am wrong but what some are saying PrEP is wrong to use because they practice BB sex? Whats the alternative, keep spreading HIV and putting even more people at risk? If you don't want to take PrEP thats your free choice, it does not mean anyone should look down upon those that do because condoms cost $1 and PrEP much more. Keep in mind the cost to treat ONE person with HIV per month equals 40 people a month being on PrEP, and that on the lower cost of treatment, with no other side effects. In time with PrEP being more made readily available will we start to see a decrease in new HIV cases in the near future. All PrEP is, is like a vaccine.......those that look so down upon it may I ask, have you had a Hep vaccine, HPV vaccine or another vaccine for something one can contact from sexual intercourse? If you have may I ask what is the difference, can't you protect against those by simply wearing a condom, so why did you get it?

[LADoug1]

My reading of it was people, male or female, who happen to have a vagina. But I know little of such things!

Duh, I should have know this. LOL at your reply!!

[Harrison Maine]

it was a different subject related to yours, I've done it before, and it was just a question.

 

It's probably not any of my business, but this thread does actually have a lot of valuable information about condom use in it that people are clearly looking for. Whatever your opinions on PrEP or each other are, take it outside. Your dick measuring contest is clogging up actual information that some people might actually being trying to get to by reading this thread.

[caliguy]

It's happened to me multible times. The condom completely tore. I wear trojen XL's so it's not just me wearing too small of a sized condom.

 

I now make sure it's still intact knowing the real possibility of it's failure.

[sincitymix]

yes, its happened to me once. The guy was impressive in his endowment, and he said my ass was waayy to tight, that it was my fault for causing to much friction on the condom. Hmmm a compliment or backhanded compliment...

[+ nycman]

Whatever your opinions on PrEP or each other are, take it outside. Your dick measuring contest is clogging up actual information that some people might actually being trying to get to by reading this thread.

 

I love when Newbies tell us how we should behave....it's so cute!

[+ nycman]

For the record, I've had condoms break maybe 4-5 times in my life.

 

I'd say 1/2 the time I put the condom on too tight and didn't leave enough reservoir at the tip.

 

The other 1/2 I think I was just fucking too damn hard for too damn long...grin

 

I now use magnums, even though I don't really think I need them.

They're definitely more comfortable and I haven't had one break yet.

 

Also, for the record, I'd say 1/2 the time I recognized that the condom had

broken immediately, and 1/2 the time I had no clue. I wouldn't assume the

top knows 100% of the time....just FYI.

[+ newguy]

There's an article on this in "LGBTQ Open Access" under "Health Care"....

 

http://harringtonparkpress.com/lgbtq-open-access/

[Guest]

I love when Newbies tell us how we should behave....it's so cute!

Everyone's entitled to his opinion, whether Newbie or a Prince...