ABU Super Dry Kids v1 Review

Fruitkitty

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The Adult Baby Universe (ABU) Super Dry Kids (SDK) is one of the oldest widely-available printed ABDL diapers. It has been largely unchanged since its release in the late 2000s, but the most recent run by the relaunched ABU has been stated to increase capacity 10% and has changed the color of the leak guards to blue. The diaper is designed as a replica of a late 1990s Pampers design.

I am reviewing the medium size Super Dry Kids as shipped in May 2015. The medium size is listed as fitting waists of 32"-44" with an ideal range of 33"-36" and the large size is listed as fitting 36"-52" with an ideal range of 37"-44".

An additional forward: ADISC has previously resisted posting reviews of ABU products because of the old ABU's long list of past problems, both affecting ADISC specifically where several of their employees had been banned for significant offenses, and many more which affected the ABDL community broadly. However, ABU's assets were bought out in the first few months of 2015 and was relaunched. The new ABU has made substantial and widely-praised efforts to honor obligations to customers that the old ABU did not. Despite the same name and products, this is a new company and different set of people, and we are happy to finally put the past behind us.


Appearance, Size, and Features


The Super Dry Kids has a printed front landing zone printed with a repeating pattern of bears with balloons and parachutes. It is based on a late 1990s Pampers Baby Dry design, with a print that is almost identical but with the addition of letters into the image and a change to the printed text. The diaper's outside is white otherwise, though the blue layer from the back is visible through top of the waistband.

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Front and Back of Folded Diaper, Respectively


To test their dry thickness, I stacked three diapers on top of each other and placed a heavy book on top of them, and measured their height. Together, the 3 diapers had a height of approximately 8.6 cm (3.4 in). Thus, the dry thickness of a single folded diaper is 2.9 cm (1.1 in).

This diaper is noticeably thin, at least compared to other ABDL diapers and non-ABDL "premium" diapers.

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3 Diapers Stacked


The Super Dry Kids uses a single-tape system unusual on an adult diaper. The tapes are much wider than typical tapes, perhaps being half the width of the landing zone. It's not obvious what the best height is to put them on the landing zone is given that it is much wider than the tape itself.

Once stuck, the tape sticks adheres very tightly. It takes a bit of a tug to get them off.

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The Tapes

The plastic backing feels smooth, and has a thin, paper-like consistency. It has a dull, quiet crinkle to it; it's not notably crinkly. The landing zone is matte rather than glossy and feels less slick than the rest of the diaper.

The inside of the diaper is white in the center with a light blue layer which includes the leakguards. The padding is arranged in an hourglass shape that is the same in both the back and front. The padding has a packed cotton feel to it, as opposed to being particularly fluffy. The diaper has standing leak guards. It does not have elastic in the waistbands.

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Front and Back of Unfolded Diaper


With the diaper outstretched, it measures 73.6 cm (29 in) in length, 63.0 cm (24.5 in) in width at the wings, 31.2 cm (12.4 in) in width at the center, and 20.7 cm (8.2 in) in width between the leak guards.

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Performance and Fit


This section has been updated to reflect retesting with a sample provided by ABUniverse.

To test the capacity of this diaper quantitatively, I ran a test to simulate use. I put a diaper on and then repeatedly poured water into the front of it in 100 mL increments and sitting down in a chair for 30 seconds each time to give the diaper a chance to absorb the liquid, pace the process, and see if it would leak when sitting.

After 800 mL of water, I noticed wetness at the upper part of the leg cuff, in an area that's typically tightly sealed with double tape diapers. At 1000 mL, the leg cuffs felt substantially wet. At 1100 mL, the diaper leaked on my chair and I ended the test. I also noticed some small drops of water beading through the front backsheet itself at this increment, near the bottom of the diaper where weight was more concentrated.

Diapers do not normally sweat obvious amounts of liquid through the backsheet, at least at pressures typically from just wearing and using the diaper. Pressing the diaper with my fingers after the test caused water to bubble through the outer covering of this diaper.

The diaper started thicker than other diapers and finished thicker than other diapers. By the end of the test, it was getting difficult to put my legs together. After the test, I measured it and it had expanded to roughly 6.5 cm (2.5 in), about 2.2x its original size.

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Dry Diaper Next to Full Diaper After Quantitative Test


To gather qualitative data for this review, I put on a fresh diaper and wore it while going about ordinary activities. The diaper lasted about 3 hours before leaking, over which time I had several moderate wettings but did not flood it.

By the time the diaper leaked, the front panel was very stretched to the point that the landing zone layer was developing fissures. It's possible that it was taped a little too tight, but it's also notable that the wide tapes stuck very well, stretching the whole landing zone rather than sliding or popping.

On the retest sample, the beading issue did again occur to a small degree on the same moderate wetting that caused the diaper to leak generally. Since this only seems to occur near the point that the diaper is already failing and in much smaller amounts than what leaks through the leg cuff, I would say that this issue does not fundamentally affect the capacity, but neither is it ideal for a diaper to be able to leak in unexpected places.

I have a 36" waist which puts me in the ideal range for the medium. The diaper does feel a bit different at the waist compared to a two-tape system, because there's less pull at the cuffs and top. The seal around the legs definitely was not as good, but it didn't cause an obvious problem in my test. I suspect it might cause issues in a flooding scenario, or if the raw capacity and by correlation the degree to which the diaper stretched was increased. The waistband is unusually tall, which compensates a bit for not having a dedicated upper tape to tighten it.



Price and Final Thoughts


This section has been updated to reflect retesting with a sample provided by ABUniverse.

I purchased these diapers from https://www.abuniverse.com at 129.99 USD for a case of 80, including shipping to the US. This comes to $1.62/diaper. This price is comparable to "premium" ABDL diapers, above the regular Bambino products and the Snuggies Waddler but below that of other ABDL products.

This is an expensive diaper for its capacity. The price is higher than other benchmark ABDL diapers and more than just about any non-ABDL diaper on the market, but the capacity is not comparable to that of "premium" diapers. This was less glaring when the product was introduced over half a decade ago, as there were fewer ABDL-specific options and none yet had a particularly authentic print, but it's notably behind the curve functionally in 2015.

The Super Dry Kids does still have cosmetics on its side after all these years, given that no diaper can boast a similarly authentic print and few on the market have a single-tape design. If you're willing to pay more for a diaper that is as close of a replica of a real baby diaper design as possible, then it's hard to beat this diaper. While other companies have made strides towards designs that are very believable, this is the only diaper that actually more or less matches a preexisting design.

My original conclusion to this review was very negative – the diapers that I originally tested had a much more severe issue with beading through the backsheet – but my experience with the retest sample was much better. I am still disappointed with the functionality of this product given its price.

The new ABU team was responsive and helpful after I published my original review. I'm optimistic that they'll improve this product, and I look forward to revisiting the Super Dry Kids again when they do.
 
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I purchased these diapers from https://www.abuniverse.com at 129.99 USD for a case of 48, including shipping to the US. This comes to $1.62/diaper. This price is comparable to "premium" ABDL diapers, above the regular Bambino products and the Snuggies Waddler but below that of other ABDL products.

$130.00 / 48 is $2.70/pc? I thought these came in cases of 80? That'd come to $1.62/ea.

Thanks for the review. The weeping through the cover is alarming. I didn't realize they swelled that much when wet though. I don't recall this problem in the few I had here, it may be more of a manufacturing problem than a design flaw?

I don't recall the padding being so "straight through rectangular" (as opposed to the more common "hourglass" layout) - not sure if I'm remembering wrong or that changed. sure looks odd. Must not be good for overall capacity (not wider in the back) or side sleepers (not wide in the front)

There seems to be quite a spread on abdl diaper prices right now. Waddlers right now look like the best deal (overnights or originals) and then we have crinklz/fabines at the other end of the scale. ABU seem to be a bit higher than I would expect, given their features. (lacking capacity, elastic, and comfort), assuming the leak issue will be solved.
 
bambinod said:
$130.00 / 48 is $2.70/pc? I thought these came in cases of 80? That'd come to $1.62/ea.

Fixed - it is 80; the other numbers were correct.

bambinod said:
I don't recall the padding being so "straight through rectangular" (as opposed to the more common "hourglass" layout) - not sure if I'm remembering wrong or that changed.

It's hourglass-shaped. There's a blue leakguard layer overlaying it at the top and bottom wings, but it's hourglass-shaped as per usual.
 
Fruitkitty said:
It has been largely unchanged since its release in the late 2000s, but the most recent run by the relaunched ABU has been stated to increase capacity 10% and has changed the color of the leak guards to blue.

Thanks for the review. As a recreation of one of the first diapers I ever got my hands on after I was potty trained, the SDK holds a special place in my heart. I'm sad to see the did so bad in your test. Yeah, they're more of a play diaper, than one for normal wear.

I am glad to see the leak guards being made blue again. They were blue several years ago. The last batch I ordered, had white leak guards. That was a couple years ago. I'm not exactly sure why I didn't like the white leaks guards. Maybe it was something about loosing part of it's charm, since the Pampers they're modeled after had blue leak guards.
 
Great review indeed. I've always wanted some of these and thanks for a fellow diaperfur friend today I was able to get my hands on a few to try out. I'm looking forward to wearing them and seeing how they hold up. To me their appearance is worth having them alone - I've got more serious/heavy duty diapers on hand if I really want to take a wearing episode out. Sometimes I just want to wear something cute :)

Thanks again for the review - very thorough!
 
Thanks for the review. I will stick with the TotalDry Plus Briefs for a good daytime diaper.
 
Presumably, the materials used to make these diapers are pretty standard adult diaper stuff. It would surprise me a bit if ABU's own specification called for something that simply didn't work, as far as the waterproof backsheet goes. With this in mind, it's tempting to wonder whether their latest run is victim to some kind of manufacturing or materials defect. I certainly haven't haven't heard this sort of problem mentioned before. Unfortunately, with the small volume of production these kinds of diapers get, the shortest-lived of screw-ups can spoil a whole run. Let's hope, for ABU's sake, that the diapers used for this review are some sort of anomaly. I haven't used SDKs myself, but I have used Cushies, and they've been quite reliable.
 
While we have not received any complaints to this effect (leaks through the backsheet) we will be performing more testing and will definitely be improving these (without any price changes). Fruitkitty - Please shoot me an email and I will go ahead and send you another pack from a different part of the batch to test the same way you did the first time (that was it's consistent).

We've committed to a gradual increase in absorbency over time, and we have been doing replacements for customers that have had issues with tape defects or damaged product. We ask that anyone that IS having a problem please contact us.

-Thanks,
Casey Strom
 
klo555 said:
While we have not received any complaints to this effect (leaks through the backsheet) we will be performing more testing and will definitely be improving these (without any price changes). Fruitkitty - Please shoot me an email and I will go ahead and send you another pack from a different part of the batch to test the same way you did the first time (that was it's consistent).

We've committed to a gradual increase in absorbency over time, and we have been doing replacements for customers that have had issues with tape defects or damaged product. We ask that anyone that IS having a problem please contact us.

-Thanks,
Casey Strom

Email sent (to the ABUCares account). I'm happy to rerun the tests and update the article if this turns out just to be a bad batch.
 
I've updated the review to reflect the results of a retest with a sample provided by ABU. Before that point, I did try my tests on several diapers from several packages in my own case and was replicating my original results.

The summarized version - the retest sample worked much better, though I could still reproduce the problem with beading through the backsheet on each diaper I tested. On the retest sample though, unlike the diapers in my original case, the issue was much more limited and only happened at the same point that the diaper was leaking normally anyway. I would say that my case, from which I performed the original testing, was probably a bad bit of the batch.
 
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