bloodyrosemccoy | Blackbeard The Pirate's Bucket O' Blood Is Back

A few months ago I decided to try menstrual cups again.

I tried the Diva Cup a few years ago, but even though I kept at it for months, I never could get it to sit right. No matter what I did it always felt like I'd somehow managed to shove one of those foil grocery store party balloons with the stiff stems into a place where foil grocery store party balloons are anything but welcome. So finally I had to give up and go back to destroying ecosystems every month.

But my failure always nagged at me, especially given the absolutely over-the-top way everyone who's used them carries on with an almost alarming wild-eyed enthusiasm over the darn things. So I recently decided to give it another shot and went back to forums like

menstrual_cups.

Have you ever been to one of those? They're hilarious. They may be wild-eyedly enthusiastic at some points, but mostly they read like any other nerdy forum devoted to things like slot cars or doll mods or brewing or cosplay--absolutely devoted to maximizing the potential of their chosen interest. Something about earnestly technical discussions of nether regions just amuses the hell out of me. Although, given the potential discomfort when you do it wrong ("OH GOD IT FEELS LIKE I SUCKED MY ENTIRE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM INSIDE-OUT"), I can see how it would be something you'd want to get right.

Anyway, what do you know, they gave me some ideas. Turns out the Diva Cup is one of the longest cups, as these things are measured, and I'm--well, let's just extrapolate from the rest of my short and stubby anatomy and assume I have a, how shall we say it, a hobbit hole.* My problem was that I probably needed a shorter one.

So a couple months ago I got the Moon Cup,** chopped off most of the stem, sanded the stem's new rim, and damned if this thing isn't working out great. Now I don't have to feel like I'm destroying the environment every month!

Also, as long as I was on the site, I picked up a bunch of cloth pads. I don't know about you guys,*** but I think they're entirely worth it.

Although, even if the patterns they have are cute, I am still waiting for the pirate-themed pads.

ursulav, you have destroyed me forever.

*Okay, the extrapolation is bullshit, but in my case it's true, judging from my own experience and my doctor's added input.

**I should add that I found this site through the fabulous Erika Moen's Oh Joy, Sex Toy comic, which reviews--surprise!--sex toys, as well as many other sex-related or just sexy topics. It is cute, fun, and exactly as NSFW as a comic entitled "Oh Joy, Sex Toy" sounds.

***Well, likely mostly gals, in this case.

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Last year I had a mixed age rollcall/home room, i had year 7s who were 11 right through to year 12s who were 18 in that group. One of the year 12 boys one day decided he just NEEDED to know what a feminine hygiene cup was? I was all "really JAMES, really, YOU want to know what that is????" But he was insistent, so after pointing out that if i got any parent complaints from the little kid parents (some of those 11 year olds were very very young!) i was referring them to him. Needless to say, 30 kids, male and female, in shocked silence, attempting to process what i had just told them.

On his way out i asked him why he wanted to know, he said he had been in sickbay the day before and seen a cupboard marked Feminine Hygiene Cups and wanted to know what they were but the office staff wouldn't tell him. So i went a checked it out myself (because i really couldn't see a high school just handing out diva cups to the point of needing a whole cupboard for them), and what do you know, a cupboard marked Feminine Hygiene Cups! With Pads and Tampons on the top shelf and styrofoam coffee cups on the bottom :D

BWAHAHAHAHA. Well, hey, he learned something!

The look on his face the next day when i told him what he would have seen if he had just, opened the door of the cupboard!

<giggles> Oh my. That must've been quite the roomful of expressions...

HAHAHAHAH. At least the coincidence ended up being educational!

I had a keeper and now have a moon cup, and am quite fond of them, but a forum for enthusiasts still sounds scary. I cut the stems entirely off both to make them comfy for my rather short self.

And now I want to make cloth pads with skull-and-crossbones covers, but really can't justify buying more fabric for that.

Hee hee! The forums are mostly just about helping people figure them out. And I can kind of understand the "Hey, this thing works great! I ought to tell people about it!" mentality that would make someone start one.

A few years ago I was going to make a pouch for my Diva Cup with skulls-and-crossbones, but then I gave up on the cup. But I had the fabric. Maybe I'll dig it out ...

I've never tried a cup since I can't stand tampons, but I lovelovelove cloth pads. My wife and I bought our first batch 6+ years ago, and when they finally started losing absorbancy we recently went through and tried a bunch of different ones to pick the best ones.

I love the pads from Mom and Me Creations. The 12" one is plenty large enough for nighttime use, and isn't inclined to slide around and get mis-placed. With two liners they're super-absorbant, and the solid layer of water-resistant backing (unlike the split layer on the gladrags-style ones) makes it harder for anything to leak through to the panties. The largest ones do tend to be bulky with 2 liners, which might bug some people.

My wife likes the pads from Sckoon. Since the liners are on top, if you're just spotting it's very easy to whip them out and refold them so a fresh layer is on top. (Each liner in a Sckoon pad is actually a squarish sheet of fabric, meant to be folded in 3rds.) The straps to hold the liners in aren't noticeable at all once you have it on, which honestly surprised me. The only problem I had is that the liners kept trying to slide out, but that doesn't happen to my wife, so YMMV.

Hmm ... maybe next time around I'll try those! I like the GladRags and the LunaPads, though I'll note that since I use the cup for heavy flow I don't need quite as much absorbency.

Interestingly, I have always hated tampons. Never could get the hang of them. Insertion was always painful, I could always feel them in there, and my body seemed to react to them by flipping into a sort of low-level shock mode till I removed them. But the cup--yeah, I can feel it in there, but once I trimmed and sanded (very important, the sanding!) the stem, I only notice it when I pay attention. It's a bit surprising, actually.

I've never heard of this device before! Sounds so much cleaner than tampons and sanitary napkins. Is it very expensive? Also, if you cut off the stem, how did you pull it out later on?

Also, thanks for the comic reference, it's definitely an interesting one!

Well, I didn't cut off the whole stem--the things are pretty long to start with. My own anatomy means that the cup sits pretty low down, and I can get a grip on the base, too. That also has another advantage--gripping the actual cup means you can break the seal it forms, which makes it easier to get it out. And be warned--it takes a bit of getting used to, and chances are you're going to make a bit of a mess the first few times you pull it out. But I got used to it pretty quickly.

Around here they seem to cost about $35. Given that they're supposed to last 10 years, it seems like a good investment if you decide you like it. ;)

I am FASCINATED by the comic! It's definitely not in my usual sphere of interests, but Erika and Matt are so cute and smart and fun that I can't stop reading it. And I'm learning a lot.

Every time I read one of these posts I think I should try it again, but I, er... (TMI warning) tossed mine away in horror after a brutal suction incident.

*sheepish*

Yike! Ouch! I can see how you'd be leery.

Well, you don't have to feel guilty! I'm just reporting my own experience.

Oh, nothing to do with your word choice or anything, just already existing internal eco guilt!

...also sheepishness. Because I remember thinking "Oh, FUCK, will I have to be THAT person in the hospital? No one wants to be THAT PERSON in the hospital!"

(spoiler: I did not, it wasn't actually a big deal, just slightly traumatic).

BWAHAHA yeah, I had one of those moments, too. The momentary panic alone can be traumatic enough!

I've been using the Keeper since 1999. My mom got us all one when doing preparations for Y2K. ;) It doesn't make my cramps worse like tampons do. Because of how much I bleed I do need to use panty liners with it, but that's still a lot less.

Blackbeard The Pirate's Bucket O' Blood Is Back

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