Condom sizing

As the world’s top condom experts convene this week to update international standards, one American entrepreneur has a simple message: size matters.

It’s shaking up an industry that has generally taken a one-size-fits-all approach.

Frank Sadlo, founder of TheyFit, which makes what he claims are the world’s first custom-fit condoms, is pushing for updated standards to allow greater variation in condom size.

Sadlo said his inspiration for custom condoms arose from his days playing baseball at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, where locker room tales of exploits with the opposite sex often failed to include use of condoms due to complaints they did not fit.

It’s not just about well-endowed men in cramped prophylactic quarters, Sadlo told a meeting Thursday of delegates from 21 countries under the Geneva-based International Organisation for Standardisation.

When given a choice, he said many men prefer condoms smaller than the standard minimum 160 millimetres (6.3 inches) long, with more than half ordering those less than 130 millimetres (5.12 inches).

Standards are especially crucial – failure could mean the spread of potentially deadly diseases or unwanted pregnancy.

“Our job is to do away with inferior condoms,” said Eng Long Ong, meeting chairman and deputy head of the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council, which estimates 13-14 billion condoms are made each year.

Getting quality condoms can be especially difficult in places like Africa, where they are a major part of AIDS prevention campaigns.

The length issue is just one of many being debated at the five-day meeting, the 24th such session since 1975, where delegates were creating new standards for synthetic and female condoms.

Synthetic polyurethane condoms are an alternative for people allergic to rubber latex, and can be thinner without losing strength. They also conduct heat better for “much more sensitivity with lovemaking,” said Grant Burt, international division director for Japan’s Sagami Rubber Industries Co.

Innovation for male condoms has focused on adding textures to enhance sexual pleasure, or offering different colours or lubricants. At the meeting, South Korean manufacturer Unidus displayed its “Long-Love” condom – featuring desensitising cream inside to prevent premature ejaculation so men “make a lasting impression.”

Widths vary but condom length is usually standard, as it is believed latex can stretch to fit all men. The average adult penis is 12.7 to 15.24 centimetres (5-6 inches) long, experts said.

A more comfortable condom contributes to men actually using them, said Michael Reece, director of the Centre for Sexual Health Promotion at Indiana University.

“Typically, when a man complains about condom fit, we have assumed that he means that condoms are too small, and we have often just ignored this complaint because we think that men are bragging about the size of their penis,” Reece said via email.

He said men also have problems with condoms being too large.

“It is time for those who establish condom manufacturing standards to consider whether an expanded range of condom sizes is necessary,” Reece said.

Sadlo offers a “fit kit,” a sheet of paper printed from a computer for sizing – and advising the user to watch out for paper cuts.