Beyond seven - male condom discontinued by Okamoto - review by Jul!a

Beyond Seven is a lesser known brand to the general population. Many will recognize names like Durex, Trojan, and Lifestyles, but not many people appear to have heard of Beyond Seven, which really is a shame. In addition to having a more competitive price point, their biggest strategy is the material they use in their condoms, and invite you to test the Sheerlon Difference.

It's been hard to nail down exact measurements for anything from Beyond Seven. One source tells me that these condoms are 7.08" long, while yet another says that it's 7.28". Width also varies from 1.98" to 2.08". The thickness is pretty well agreed upon coming up with .0019" and .002" in thickness. Busting out my mad tape measurer skills, I tore into another one of my own condoms to get some measurements. I get a condom with a total of 7" in length and a width of just under 2" at the base and along the shaft. My lack of skills with a micrometer mean I can't give you a thickness here, but since the thickness seems to be the only thing generally agreed upon between all my different sources, I'd say it's safe to say these are thinner condoms. There have been a lot of complaints that these condoms are way tight on guys, and since they were apparently marketed as a "snugger fit" condom, I'd hazard a guess that that's the reason why. If you're on the medium to smaller range of average, you shouldn't have any problems with these at all.

The only special thing about these condoms is the thickness really. No special textures or design gimmicks, just the thinner material. They make a pretty big deal about this being because their condoms are "made of Super Thin Sheerlon®, an advanced material so strong and durable, it can be made much thinner than an ordinary latex rubber condom. Sheerlon® has a silkier, more natural feel, much like skin itself." When touched with a hand, the difference wasn't mindblowing, but to my fingers (and his) these condoms feel more like lubed up skin than a condom. They don't feel exactly like skin by any means, but it was smoother and more silky feeling than any other condom I've ever touched.

I haven't experienced any problems with durability with these; they've held up well through regular sex, sex where I could have been more lubed, and haven't broken while being tied off. In addition they really do let both parties feel more.

I got pretty close to these condoms, and they didn't have any scent to them that I could detect at all, which was a fantastic thing. The entire condom was lubed with a water based lube that was also smooth and silky and didn't leave either of us feeling funky at all. The lube was enough for me, but I did end up adding more for comfort. If you decide to use the same, you can use any water or silicone based lube. Just not oil based lubes since those can degrade the latex and cause breakage. You should also keep these in a cool dry place to help them keep to their expiration date.

As my husband and I experiment more with different kinds of condoms, we run into some we really don't like, a whole lot that we're fairly neutral on, and a few that we really do like. I've noticed that all my favorites have been studded condoms, and his favorites have all been the thinner condoms. I suppose that really shouldn't be a surprise to me, but it almost was when I sat down and thought about it. I really liked these because to me, it was really close to having sex without a condom at all. My husband commented that he could feel a whole lot more than he normally could. He's about 5" long and about 5" around and his head looked smooshed in these condoms. He didn't say anything about it, so I think the trick with these is long and thin. Short and thin works well too as the condom will just not unroll all the way, but really thick guys will want to avoid these.