Latex Warriors

Published 4 May 2011

It wasn’t always as easy as it is today. Once upon a time it was an issue fraught with difficulty reducing grown men to stammering fools unable to get the word out. The only place you were able to get them was from a chemist and that usually meant asking an attractive young or crabbed older woman: and they seemed to delight in the agony of the asking. Embarrassment and averted eyes and asking for a host of unrelated products before you could get up the courage to ask for a packet. And the product that produced this angst? Why, the simple condom no less.

Nowadays condoms are available seemingly everywhere and there is simply no issue as to where you can get them from. Whereas chemist shops used to be places where you went in to ask for a packet, nowadays everywhere is self service with open shelves where you choose your item and take it to the counter. But chemists are just one location. Condoms in a variety of sizes, colours, with added ribs and bumps, to enhance the pleasure, can be obtained from 24/7 convenience stores, sex shops, milk bars, department stores even special condom shops that sell a host of items condom related.

At the Victorian AIDS Council / Gay Men's Health Centre in South Yarra we have two brands of latex condoms in three sizes for what we think is the lowest price in town. In addition there are two brands of lubricant in different thicknesses and a new silicone lubricant, latex gloves and latex dams. These products are also available from our medical clinic is St Kilda.

One of the important issues to remember when you are using latex condoms is that they must be used with water-based lubricant. Oil-based lubricants like Vaseline and baby oils for example can and will compromise the integrity of latex condoms.

Increasingly there are guys (and gals) popping out of the woodwork who say they can’t use condoms as they are latex intolerant. We even have a solution for these folk too. The non-latex condom has been available for a few years now and whilst they are a little more expensive than the latex variety, they are still affordable to ensure a safe time by all involved. Unlike latex condoms, the latex-free variety can be used with both water-based and oil-based lubricants. However we do caution that when playing, especially in a group it is best to use latex or latex-free condoms but to not mix the two, as the latex-free come packaged with an oil-based lubricant inside the packaging.

For further details on our locations or for pricing, please feel welcome to visit our safe sex products page or call 03 9865 6700.

By Tex McKenzie