By Mark O’Neill

Contributing Writer, [GAS]

You’ve just got to love the Germans. They really do think of everything.

If you’re having problems finding the right size of condom, maybe it’s time to spray the latex onto yourself and make your own size of condom instead?

That’s the idea that Jan Vinzenz Krause had. He is the director of the “Institute for Condom Consultancy” and he got the idea for the spray-on condoms in the weirdest of places:

I went to get my car washed. In Germany, you drive through a tunnel, and there’s water coming from all sides. I was sitting in my car, and I said, “Yes! This is the idea! I will try this with a condom.” So I went to a hardware store – I felt a little like MacGyver – and I bought a tube, put some holes in it, attached these nozzles and connected them to a box of liquid latex. The latex sprays out of the nozzles.

One of the downsides to the spray-on idea though is the time. Although he is aiming for a drying time of 10 seconds, it currently takes 20-25 seconds for the latex to dry. Talk about a guaranteed romance killer! What are you supposed to do while you’re waiting for it to dry? Whistle a tune? Stare at the cracks in the ceiling? Ask your partner where they’d like to go on their holidays? By the time the damn thing dries, your partner will have gone to sleep and so will your….ahem….well, you know what I’m talking about. Can you keep it interested for 25 seconds?

As for cost, the spraying chamber will cost around EUR 15 to EUR 25 ($22-$36) and the liquid latex refills, which produce between 10 and 20 condoms depending on size, will be priced at between EUR 7 and EUR 10 ($10-$14). That’s quite a reasonable amount and I expected it to be a lot more expensive. They just need to get that latex drying time down and they’ll have a winning product on their hands.

So male GAS readers, would YOU use an invention like this for your love life? If your wife / girlfriend bought it for you, would you use it? Do you think it’s a good invention and something people should use? Or something that is just downright silly?

My Quest? Build a better condom – Time Magazine

Spray-On condoms – still a hard sell – Time Magazine

Revolution in the bedroom – Spiegel Online