Monday, February 7, 2005
Consumer Reports on rubbers -- UPDATED
Consumer Reports magazine has put together an excellent comparison of the quality and ruggedness of condoms. Unlike many of their articles, this one isn't behind the paywall: open to the public.
Strength differs. We test condoms by inflating them until they burst, an established predictor of real-world performance. The best had no premature breakage among the 120 samples we tested for each model. When inflated, they also averaged at least 38 liters of air. The worst, however, broke 18 of 120 times at volumes below our strength threshold of 25 liters.LinkSize matters. Most models met minimum standards for length and thickness. But some samples of the Durex Extra Sensitive, Durex Performax, larger-size versions of TheyFit, and Trojan Magnum slightly exceeded the maximum recommended width and should be used only by men who require a larger width.
Update: A reader writes, "You may be interested to know that Consumer Reports has had a number of subscription cancellations due to the subject matter of condoms. Apparently some of their more socially conservative subscribers have a problem with treating such a product with as much scrutiny as a car or a refrigerator. If you or your readers care to send the folks at CR a note of appreciation for covering this product here's a link."
posted by Cory Doctorow at 11:44:06 PM permalink | Other blogs' comments
