Never Tried Abena Abriform M4's.....holy Crap

[h200420012]

I just got my samples in today ...... my JAW dropped at the sheer thickness of the Abena "comfort" ... I guess they used to call them the M-4's????

[gah!ghost]

The thing I like more about Abena compared to Bambino is that while they're roughly similar in thickness they're a lot narrower through the crotch which makes them more comfortable to wear.

[square_duck]

Yup, Abena M-4's are pretty awesome! The first time I tried them I likened them to an adult sized pampers, just how they fit and how bulky they were and how well they worked, and they do hold a LOT. They are one of the heavier duty products that you don't have to worry about flooding, just let go as it wont leak Unless you're an elephant pouring in gallons at a time

They are comfortable as well and long lasting. I wore one all day on my last road trip up north and by the time I finally got home, it was SOAKED

The one down side to them is that the padding will bunch up and collapse into the middle when saturated, so you are best off wearing something over it to support it as time passes so this doesn't happen. A pair of mens briefs or a onsie or other more snug fitting pants works well. Just by itself though the padding will bunch and slide down making for a mess.

Other then that, they are one of my choices for extended wear when needed, like road trips and such, where I don't want to stop for a restroom or anything.

Of coarse they are thicker than Bambinos but the teddy has a lot of SAP in different areas than the Abena, but interestingly they hold almost the same. I have flooded Teddy's before and they will take 2 good ones from me before reaching capacity or the "worry level' where Abenas will take a bit more before I start worrying about leaking.

I consider both to be 'extended wear' items, just different ways of achieving that goal, one with more 'fluff' (Abena) the other with the addition of more SAP crystals in different parts of the brief (Teddy)

I wear both but it just depends on my mood and what I will be doing. The nice thing about the Teddy, is that it doesn't have the padding issue that Abenas have. Bambino managed to figure out how to keep the padding in place no matter how soaked it got or what else what happening, which makes it more comfortable in the long run.

Hope you enjoy your samples and that they might find a place in your stash!

[DLdapper]

I find with the abri-form series that they have great capacity and feel great. However as duck mentioned, after they get to like 70% of their capacity the padding will fall down to the crotch of the diaper if you are doing any sort of movement or physical activity. This makes it almost impossible to use these diapers to full capacity most of the time. So if I plan on sitting around all day not doing anything, then I might buy some M4s, however if I am going to be active I prefer the M3. The M3 holds nearly as much as the M4, but is much more resistant to the fluff collapsing when wet.

[EricInDiapers]

I want to try Abena's but I think they'll be a waste.

[gah!ghost]

I wish the 1-3 were still available in plastic readily. I know XP still has some, but I normally order through Northshore via Amazon because they ship UPS and FedEx doesn't really work for me.

[h200420012]

Sunday night is the first test for the Abena's..... Tuesday is the Tena Slip Maxi

[DLdapper]

I wish the 1-3 were still available in plastic readily. I know XP still has some.

[gah!ghost]

XP is just selling what they have left. When Abena disco'd them they bought up all the stock they could.

[DLAthlete]

Got some of these abenas from XP because Dry 24/7 are unavailable.

[Hookedondiapers]

I love M4's.

[h200420012]

not to knock the Abena's but I decided to try one of the Tena Slip Maxi's.........holy cow, I could pee upside down and not have it leak.

[square_duck]

Order samples first and try them out before making a big purchase. It might be a bit of a cost, but better then buying something that your not happy with. I don't know anything about an Abena super or super plus....Molicares yes, as they use that terminology, but Abena has (as far as I know) always just used M-2 m-3 M-4 for designations between their lines..unless they changed something.

[gah!ghost]

Based on the case count number you give (88) I'm guessing you're asking about how the Abena 3 compared to the Abena 4? The 3 is slightly thinner with a slightly smaller spread of the mat across the front and the back. The 0-4 Abenas are a gradual gradient of thickness and padding size.

[PaddedPat]

The M4s are great, but I still don't think they quite eclipse Teddies in terms of quality and absorbency. In particular, the padding in the seat becomes over saturated and leaky after about two wettings, which sucks if you're sitting or laying down. I've also had a few issues with tapes slipping, although the "cross-tape method" helps mitigate this a bit. Never really had either of these problems with Teddies.

That said, I will confess that - using the cross-tape method - M4s probably have the best fit of any diaper I've tried. They're also very reasonable from a price standpoint.

It all depends on your priorities, I suppose. For my money, I still prefer Teddies overall.

[gah!ghost]

I really love what Bambino is doing as a company and the products they make are well constructed. I really wish I could support them by buying them but they just don't fit me right at all. No matter what I do though they're very uncomfortable for me to wear. My guess as to why is a mixture of the thicker plastic that tends to bother my sensitive skin, and the wider than usually crotch. I know some have complained about the change to a thinner plastic on the Abenas but I actually have liked them a lot more since they that change was made. The plastic is a lot more comfortable against my skin. Granted I'm only a recreational wearer who usually is wearing them at home and not moving around much, but I haven't really had any issues caused by the plastic being thinner.

[Will Ford]

I agree about the high capacity. A few days ago I did my best to get an M4 to its limits, and it held 2,179 ml (73.7 oz.), over half a gallon.

[DavidMW]

The M4s have been my choice.

[h200420012]

I did get samples to try. But I figure, I've got a 20% off coupon from Bambino so I'll probably get a case of m4's and a bag of tena slips.....and wait till they have a sale or something.

[DLdapper]

The M4s have been my choice.

[gah!ghost]

I think I've heard people complaining about issues with everything but Bambino. The only complaints I have heard about Bambino are when they changed the design and with it the fit. Never heard any issues with quality control.

[h200420012]

More decisions.

[square_duck]

Unfortunately, yes. This is probably the only flaw with Abenas, is that when saturated the padding will collapse and clump, something that bambino (aka secure personal care) had resolved quite a while ago. Thats why Bambinos don't do that. to try and offset that flaw, I just use a pair of mens briefs to hold things together and support the diaper.

I wore an M-4 all day on a road trip back from San Jose a few months ago, I mean ALL DAY, and it was soaked front to back, didn't clump nor leak. I had a lot fo drink that day also and was traveling with friends, so I had to be discreet but using my regular "big boy' pants (briefs) helped keep everything in place other then that as a precaution, I had no issues with them as an extended wear product.

I too am one of those who, though I do enjoy Bambinos, hesitates to buy them simply because of fit issues. The mediums are just a tad to small but the larges are wayyyy to big so, as much as I appreciate the companies efforts, they need to get the sizing thing fixed. The recent changes just made things worse, not better. I order samples now and then to check on changes and 'improvements' but the last samples had the same issues....oh well.

I am considering on my next trip up north to stop by their facility and have a sit down with these guys and show them whats going on see if I can get things straightened out :wtf:

Thats why I went with Abenas for the road trip, they fit right and have a good capacity and are comfortable. I know that Bambinos hold a lot, but again being on the small side, I couldn't trust them to do the same job on a trip where I had to be careful. I could have gone with a bellisimo, but again there is that fit problem...

So thats it in a nutshell for me, Abenas work great, with the one exception of the padding clumping, but thats an easy fix with some snug type of over pant for support.

[h200420012]

I've

[h200420012]

ok... so an update.