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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not understand why they split?

59 replies

Sallyingforth · 22/12/2012 12:14

I keep seeing threads about unexpected PG, or worries about the possibility of one, due to a split condom. In my considerable experience I've never known one to split, but I've usually taken the lead in making sure that they are fitted carefully. They are made and tested to be secure, and feel like they are very strong, so how are they used/misused to make them split?

OP posts:
Theicingontop · 22/12/2012 12:15

I read somewhere that a condom can hold an entire bath tub of water before breaking. Any time a thread like that comes up I wonder how well endowed the husband must be :D

IneedAsockamnesty · 22/12/2012 12:17

Amyl nitrate when imbibed makes them split

fedupofnamechanging · 22/12/2012 12:17

I think if they've not had the air squeezed out of the tip, they can split. Sometimes though, they just slide off. Not 100% sure though. Will be interested to see if anyone else knows. Nothing is totally foolproof though.

sleepyhead · 22/12/2012 12:17

Sharp fingernails or catching on rings presumably.

I've never had one split either, but it only takes once and they do have something like a 3% failure rate.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 22/12/2012 12:19

Sharp nails, rings, trapped air, not putting it on properly, not being careful afterwards taking it out...

If all of the above do not happen I think they're pretty reliable BUT I don't think I'd rely on one to absolutely prevent a pregnancy.

TraineeBabyCatcher · 22/12/2012 12:27

I literally have no idea. Yet we have had it happen. Im sure that we fit it properly, I couldn't feel that it had split and we didn't know until we had finished. I took the morning after pill as a result of it splitting.

9 months later arrived our son.

But even now I don't know how it split.

TiredofZombies · 22/12/2012 12:30

Anything oil-based will perish the latex resulting in a tear / hole, so if massage oil gets anywhere near it, you risk a split. It happens remarkably quickly too, I once aw one blown up and then a tiny bit of vaseline dabbed on it, it made a hole in a couple of seconds.

Wearsuncream · 22/12/2012 12:32

Ditto to what TraineeBaby Catcher said - lovely son to prove contraceptives aren't a guarantee

PorkyScratching · 22/12/2012 12:35

Have never know one to split, and as teens playing with them, it took some dedicaion to get one to break! (think putting them on our heads etc).

meditrina · 22/12/2012 12:39

I have been using condoms on and off for over 30 years, and have once experienced one which split: no idea why.

User failure is the biggest reason for unreliability - eg not putting it on before any initial penetration, handling it afterwards and not washing hands, or continuing proximity to penis after removal (not all sperm with have cleared tube, even if washed may still be exuding).

Original poster
Sallyingforth · 22/12/2012 12:46

I would have thought avoiding contact with fingernails and rings was obvious - but I suppose in the heat of the moment...
As for not putting it on correctly, I was shown how to do it in school - isn't everyone?

OP posts:
soontobeburns · 22/12/2012 12:49

When me and my OH started dating through condom spilt cos he was too big for it Blush

I hate that we have been TTC for 30 months with no success but it's nice to not worry about contraception.

We had to use them before my HSG cos we couldn't abstain for 2 weeks opps and ended up having to pay like £20 for ones to fit. I'm glad I don't have that every 2 weeks.

jamdonut · 22/12/2012 12:59

Sallyingforth -I was never show how to fit a condom in school, but I 'm talking back in the late 70's ,early 80's. I don't think we had those sort of sex education lessons,( unless it was on a day when I was off sick or something, but that didn't occur very often).

barbiecollector · 22/12/2012 13:01

I have had one split, but only once, and I have been using them for 30 years. I am sorry to say that I think most people who blame a pregnancy on a condom splitting are probably not telling the truth.

TraineeBabyCatcher · 22/12/2012 13:01

I must have been really unlucky to be fair (or lucky depending on how you look at it).
We had 1 of 7 split. I've not touched a condom since I got pregnant with ds.

BelleoftheFall · 22/12/2012 13:03

Using the wrong lube can cause condoms to break: only use water-based lubrications, oil-based ones damage the latex.

ShotgunNotDoingThePans · 22/12/2012 13:07

According to my DM, my were 'always unlucky.' There are four of us.

SantaFlashesHisBoobsALot · 22/12/2012 13:08

I've had three split. All put on correctly etc. No idea why.

ShotgunNotDoingThePans · 22/12/2012 13:08

My parents, that should be.

SherbetVodka · 22/12/2012 13:15

I've had a few break on me over the years, not sure why. Maybe they were too thin. I'm sure thicker condoms must be less prone to breakage.

TinselTwister · 22/12/2012 13:16

Soontobeburns - Jesus, he must be massive, considering that the average Durex will

a) fit over my head.
b) hold nearly a litre of water!

Doesn't it hurt your fanjo? Grin

StepAwayFromTheEcclesCakes · 22/12/2012 13:22

some folk open them with their teeth... not sensible it can cause damage

CatPussRoastingOnAnOpenFire · 22/12/2012 14:20

We gave up on condoms. They always split! Dd is quite erm... Large. Dd is here thanks to durex! Grin

valiumredhead · 22/12/2012 14:33

I always wonder this too, we used condoms for 10 years or so and never had a split. You really do have to clamp the end of the condom though while putting it on and I often wonder if this isn't done when they split. I also think the reason that we didn't have a mishap was because I put them on dh Wink

PickleSarnie · 22/12/2012 14:38

I had never had one split and for 16 years I had never had sex without one. I too thought that the "condom split" excuse, really meant "too careless to bother using one".

Then I met my DH. First time we had sex, the condom split. The second time we had sex, the condom split again (and I ended up pregnant after taking the morning after pill too). DH doesn't mind when I tell people because everyone must assume he has a mahoosive condom busting willy. But really, I'm not sure why it happened but it does.