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When it comes to advertising, more people should approach the matter with a healthy dose of skepticism. Not pessimism, mind you, because skepticism is more open-minded than pessimism.
We're all familiar with the ultimate goal of advertising: to sell and move product. The more cynical view would say the goal is to separate a person from their money by deceit but again, that's pessimism. One has to be wise, think, don't let the frill and thrill influence them. Bearing that in mind...
A diaper's basic job is to contain urine and feces. That's the bottom line, so to speak. Everything else is frill. Diapers can only control one mess before various factors scream for a changing...but diapers can contain multiple wettings. This is nothing nobody already knows but it's the big thing to consider here.
Four selling points, in order of importance, regarding AB/DL diapers are: performance, comfort, price and "frill". Performance-wise...the two big things are how much urine a diaper absorbs and how well the diaper contains it. But let's focus on absorption: it's a big seller (depending on a given person's priority "sliders") and most AB/DL diaper vendors focus heavily on that. It's amazing that a certain diaper vendor states their diaper can hold almost two full gallons of urine, but can you see yourself waddling in a very swollen diaper that's stressing its own tapes' holding power as they weigh on your hips to the tune of up to 16 pounds? That's how much water weighs...urine, a little more so. And with movement, there's going to be leaking, squeeze-out. And definite tattle-tale wet-diaper marks on your clothes' bottom. So, we'll say the diaper will hold that much when laying flat on a table and not taped onto or bunched around your bottom. That is what we'll call static capacity...what vendors may call "holds up to".
But the reality is: we move about, sit, walk, run, jump and so on, so static capacity won't work. We're not bedridden, we gotta live, right? Okay. So there's a more-acceptable capacity that applies, for sake of discretion in-public, for sake of comfort, for sake of not getting a rather nasty, stinging diaper rash or lugging that heavy, soggy mass around all day. Depending on activity level and discretion & comfort needed, a diaper's maximum capacity is limited, lest the wearer be more limited by increasing the diaper's condition. Let's call this dynamic capacity.
Depending on the particular diaper you wear, your activity, how fast your body processes fluids, your level of continence, etc., different diapers will have different dynamic capacities. Padding is only one factor; diaper integrity (tapes, gathers, outer shell permeability, etc.), body shape, activity level and so on are others. So, depending on all these, a diaper's dynamic capacity can range from, let's say, 40 to 65% of its static capacity. That's just fact. It's one big fact, though, before you then settle on other deciding factors, like taping system, gathers, cute look on your bum or a cute color/design (or vintage white look). Besides, as far as dynamic capacity goes, your clothes, skin and hips will thank you tremendously.
Then comes...wait for it...affordability. How well a diaper's price can fit into your "budget vs. need".
I am impressed with Rearz' InControl Elites and Northshore's MegaMax, based on overall performance, comfort and various features. Bearing in mind what we just covered, I set the dynamic capacity slider to between 50 and 60 percent for these diapers. I've seen diapers just as thick, maybe even thicker (and maybe even pricier) that can't hold a candle to them. And they're softer, more comfy for extended/overnight wear, making them "bang-for-buck". Remember most of the AB/DL diapers we had 10-12 years back, when AB/DL specific diapers were just emerging? Not as comfy, only marginally better than the medical diapers we were relegated to wearing before them.
Other diapers try to compete, and it's a very competitive field. When performance doesn't quite match the best, other vendors rely on other things: cuteness, a storyline or diversion. Yes...hype, another factor. I've been taken in by cute or misrepresented stats/image...thankfully, only by the cost of samples. But again, to be fair, some perform adequately and can fit into a given budget, whether diapers are an occasional luxury or a 24/7 lifestyle.
But all things considered, it comes down to whittling down: sampling, living & learning, settling. Because no one given diaper works for everyone. The bottom line (I love saying that in diaper talk!
): play the field, go with what works best for you. That's what makes the market what it is. So, soak 'em if ya got 'em, mess 'em if ya must! 
We're all familiar with the ultimate goal of advertising: to sell and move product. The more cynical view would say the goal is to separate a person from their money by deceit but again, that's pessimism. One has to be wise, think, don't let the frill and thrill influence them. Bearing that in mind...
A diaper's basic job is to contain urine and feces. That's the bottom line, so to speak. Everything else is frill. Diapers can only control one mess before various factors scream for a changing...but diapers can contain multiple wettings. This is nothing nobody already knows but it's the big thing to consider here.
Four selling points, in order of importance, regarding AB/DL diapers are: performance, comfort, price and "frill". Performance-wise...the two big things are how much urine a diaper absorbs and how well the diaper contains it. But let's focus on absorption: it's a big seller (depending on a given person's priority "sliders") and most AB/DL diaper vendors focus heavily on that. It's amazing that a certain diaper vendor states their diaper can hold almost two full gallons of urine, but can you see yourself waddling in a very swollen diaper that's stressing its own tapes' holding power as they weigh on your hips to the tune of up to 16 pounds? That's how much water weighs...urine, a little more so. And with movement, there's going to be leaking, squeeze-out. And definite tattle-tale wet-diaper marks on your clothes' bottom. So, we'll say the diaper will hold that much when laying flat on a table and not taped onto or bunched around your bottom. That is what we'll call static capacity...what vendors may call "holds up to".
But the reality is: we move about, sit, walk, run, jump and so on, so static capacity won't work. We're not bedridden, we gotta live, right? Okay. So there's a more-acceptable capacity that applies, for sake of discretion in-public, for sake of comfort, for sake of not getting a rather nasty, stinging diaper rash or lugging that heavy, soggy mass around all day. Depending on activity level and discretion & comfort needed, a diaper's maximum capacity is limited, lest the wearer be more limited by increasing the diaper's condition. Let's call this dynamic capacity.
Depending on the particular diaper you wear, your activity, how fast your body processes fluids, your level of continence, etc., different diapers will have different dynamic capacities. Padding is only one factor; diaper integrity (tapes, gathers, outer shell permeability, etc.), body shape, activity level and so on are others. So, depending on all these, a diaper's dynamic capacity can range from, let's say, 40 to 65% of its static capacity. That's just fact. It's one big fact, though, before you then settle on other deciding factors, like taping system, gathers, cute look on your bum or a cute color/design (or vintage white look). Besides, as far as dynamic capacity goes, your clothes, skin and hips will thank you tremendously.
Then comes...wait for it...affordability. How well a diaper's price can fit into your "budget vs. need".
I am impressed with Rearz' InControl Elites and Northshore's MegaMax, based on overall performance, comfort and various features. Bearing in mind what we just covered, I set the dynamic capacity slider to between 50 and 60 percent for these diapers. I've seen diapers just as thick, maybe even thicker (and maybe even pricier) that can't hold a candle to them. And they're softer, more comfy for extended/overnight wear, making them "bang-for-buck". Remember most of the AB/DL diapers we had 10-12 years back, when AB/DL specific diapers were just emerging? Not as comfy, only marginally better than the medical diapers we were relegated to wearing before them.
Other diapers try to compete, and it's a very competitive field. When performance doesn't quite match the best, other vendors rely on other things: cuteness, a storyline or diversion. Yes...hype, another factor. I've been taken in by cute or misrepresented stats/image...thankfully, only by the cost of samples. But again, to be fair, some perform adequately and can fit into a given budget, whether diapers are an occasional luxury or a 24/7 lifestyle.
But all things considered, it comes down to whittling down: sampling, living & learning, settling. Because no one given diaper works for everyone. The bottom line (I love saying that in diaper talk!
): play the field, go with what works best for you. That's what makes the market what it is. So, soak 'em if ya got 'em, mess 'em if ya must!
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M diaper last year'ish; I understand the Elite's are for a different audience than us, so they have the size and numbers printed on the landing zone to help care takers, but I would love an all white hybrid Rearz diaper! Barnyard is the most comfortable diaper I've found.
