Holes in leak guards, particularly with Abena Pants/Abri-Flex and Always Discreet, plus my initial thoughts on Abena Pants M3

[DelC]

So, I wore Abena Pants M3 (formerly Abena Abri-Flex M3) yesterday... It was my first time wearing them. I'd meant to test them before wearing them out in public, but never got around to it (terrible idea to wear them for the first time in public, I know). I was pleasantly surprised by how well they held up and how comfortable they were. They were rather thick and bulky starting out. I couldn't close my legs when I first put them on, and I was worried that I was in for a bad day (I ended up doing probably a couple miles of hiking). I folded them down the middle, like I would with a tabbed diaper, and eventually found that the padding became very flexible, while still remaining intact. I am thoroughly impressed with the integrity of the pad (I typically wear GoodNites, and they become a lumpy mess of disconnected chunks of pad pretty quickly). They also didn't overheat, like I was worried they might, with such thick padding (GoodNites tend to get hot, sweaty, and itchy for me). The "fully breathable" backsheet (fully breathable meaning, to my knowledge, that even the waterproof layer is made of nonwoven fabric, rather than the usual sheet of plastic with fabric over it that cloth-backed diapers—including GoodNites—typically have) seems to work, though I still question its ability to contain liquid and not "weep," as people here tend to mention (and yes, that weeping is urine...moisture in the air condenses on surfaces colder than the air; a wet diaper is going to be warmer than the air when freshly wet and is still going to be warmed by body heat when it's "cold;" only in exceptionally hot environments would you ever get condensation on a wet diaper). I didn't wet enough to find out, thankfully.

It was actually my first time going out in public and bringing changing supplies with me. My issues are generally infrequent and mild enough that I've gotten away without bringing changes until now. Very risky, I know, but I've had it in my head that the potential of getting caught with extra supplies was the bigger risk, versus getting caught with a leaky, overfilled diaper. I also was never sure how to carry supplies without people noticing, but yesterday I had a backpack. I figured with all the crazy traffic and long bathroom lines that the eclipse was going to lead to, though, if there was ever a time to bring extra supplies, that was the time to do it. I didn't end up needing to change, but I did end up leaking slightly into the Abena four separate times, from the look of it. I think I only felt one of those times, and wasn't even actually sure I'd leaked, so...that's a little alarming, but hey, it did its job! I'm proud of myself for having the courage to wear more substantial protection than usual, and to bring a couple changes.

I'm just glad I never flooded it. I was looking closer at it afterwards, and noticed the leak guards are full of holes. I've previously encountered this on the early versions of Always Discreet Boutique, when I got stuck using a family member's protection. The elastic is captured in the leak guards by laying the strands of elastic across the fabric, then folding the fabric over and ultrasonically welding it shut to contain the elastic. They overdid it with the ultrasonic welder when making the leak guards, and melted holes straight through the thing in a number of spots. Has anyone else ever encountered this? It can be tricky to tell, because the welded spots end up being transparent sheets of plastic. It can be hard to tell if there's anything there, or not. You often have to look for light reflecting off the plastic to see if there's anything there at all. I'm curious how common this issue is, in general, and if it's getting better or worse.

Please forgive my not saying "please" on a couple of the poll options, I ran out of room! As for the poll questions, I doubt the size or absorbency will actually make a difference, with regard to Abena Pants/Abri-Flex versions but it's still a variable. I'm more curious if anyone's noticed any differences in general (regarding leak guards or other things) between Abena Abri-Flex and Abena Pants. I'd also love to hear people's opinions on Abena Abri-Flex and Abena Pants, in general.

I've debated whether or not to have a closing date for the poll, to keep the recent/not recent thing valid, but it seems like so few people use the Abena Abri-Flex/Pants to begin with, that it wouldn't do much good. I rarely see people talking about them here. If you care to mention when you've had issues with holes, that would be helpful, I suppose. They certainly seem to have potential, though, as long as they don't weep, and don't have holes...

 

[PadPhilosopher]

The leak guards are primarily for stool, though they can also help to steer a flood away from the leg openings. They don't have to be completely nonporous to do that. They're not really meant to be watertight. That's not to say this doesn't sound a little strange, but, they may not be an issue.

I've never used this particular product, so can't comment on that. I used to wear their M3 and M4 quite happily, back in the day, but I've found other things, and heard they're made more cheaply now.