Prevail Breezers 360 vs Air Plus

[Little Sherri]

I love big plastic diapers, but the one place they don't work for me is at the gym - they're obvious under athletic clothes, and, plastic diapers are not ideal for strenuous exercise. So, after a wide search involving dozens of samples, I had finally found my go-to gym diaper - the Prevail 360 Breezer. They had reasonable capacity for a cloth-backed, slim diaper, they were a bargain relative to the low-end diapers you can buy in stores, and, most importantly, they didn't chaff or cut me to ribbons if I wore one on a 5 mile run. They also had absolutely tenacious tabs - they would not let go, and could be opened and closed repeatedly. However, Prevail has begun phasing them out, to be replaced, according to my supplier, with the Prevail Air Plus Briefs. Prevail has a bewildering array of products, many with similar names, so I was happy to take their direction on which model I should use in place of the Breezer. Dutifully, I ordered a sample of the Air Plus, and on first examination, they seemed a heck of a lot like the Breezers they were meant to supplant. The body of the diaper is identical, with the main difference being a "full-length" Velcro-like tab, rather than a smaller tab at the top and bottom of each stretchy wings, as on the Breezers. 

However, the tabs proved to be the Air Plus's undoing (pun intended). Like the ones on the Breezers, these tabs held tight to the front of the diaper... but, they happily relinquished their hold on the rear wings, to the point that I had to use staples to keep them in place. Not a good start. The rest of the diaper performed as expected - they were comfortable, discrete and reasonably trustworthy for a short-haul diaper. But there's no way I'd try going for a run in one of these - the tabs would blow apart. So, the search is on again. I'm next going to try out the Perfit 360's. 

[Little Sherri]

Okay, so I've moved on from the Prevail Air Plus to the Prevail Perfit 360. As near as I can tell, the Prevail 360 Breezer, the Air Plus and the Perfit 360 are all basically the same cloth-backed diaper, with the same stretchy wings. They look identical, they have the same wetness indicators, and the shape of the stuffing is the same. However, the Air Plus seems to have a bit more stuffing in it than the 360 Breezer, which has a bit more than the Perfit 360. I don't have any more Air Plus' in inventory to compare them to, but the Perfit costs less than the Air Plus, and you get 18 in a bag versus 16, so I'm pretty sure I'm correct. I do still have 360 Breezers in inventory, so I put a Perfit 360 beside a Breezer, and the Perfit seems *slightly* thinner. This may have more to do with the use of more polymer and less stuffing, or, they may indeed just have less capaity. It's hard to say for sure without running an experiment, because I generally don't wear them to failure - I'm in them for the way they fit when I exercise, not because they offer any range advantages. 

The Prevail website offers little in the way of an explanation as to any differences between the Air Plus and the Perfit 360. The are both described with generic terms like "maximum absorbency" and "core designed by wizards" and breathable this and that. 

I found the tabs on the Air Plus to be a downgrade from the Breezers - they run the full width of the wings and when they land, they kind of turn the diaper into a pull-up. The Breezer has a tab on the top and bottom corner of each wing, the size of a postage stamp, which you would think would not work as well, but, they are some of the best tabs in the industry. Or, they were, before the product was discontinued. They basically never let go. 

The Air Plus tab began separating from the wing almost right away. It never separated completely, but it was hanging on by a thread after a night in one, tossing and turning. So, it held onto the front of the diaper, but not the wing it was mounted to, which is still a failure. The Perfit 360 has what look like the same tabs on them, but I would swear that the wings have just a bit more stretch - I find that the tabs don't part ways with the wings as quickly. Both the Perfit and the Air Plus are allegedly rated to something like a size 46 waist in their small/medium size, which I find REALLY hard to fathom - they feel like they're barely making it around me, and I'm a 38. 

The next test will be wearing one to the gym, which should occur soon, as my gym is allegedly opening up at reduced capacity next week. Can they stand up to a brisk run or a martial arts class? 

[2sail2]

I couldn't agree more about the PRevail web site.  With all the options available to purchase, you don't know which is this years model and most importantly, what absorbencies levels there are. 

I noticed AirPlus thicker too, but right just between the legs and nothing extra up front, which is minimal at best.

For those super wide tabs, I either cut about 1/3 off or cut right down the middle of it to turn it into two tabs.  The 1/3 cut could either be at an 45 degree angle going down or all the way to the back (it's too wide and folds over and often I found my shirt or pants would stick to it and when going to the bathroom, something would pull on it and then open up the diaper).  I think I prefer all the way to the back.  

I'm also 38" and found Perfit to be small.  I could barely get the tabs onto their landing zone, so I need the next larger size (which I think would be 2, since it probably was a  1).

The Nu-Fit seemed to have a good amount of padding upfront.  I don't wear at night so can't say if they are ok for that.  

 

Edited July 24, 2021 by 2sail2

[Little Sherri]

Interesting, @2sail2. I'll have to try playing around with splitting the tabs. I haven't tried the Nu-Fit. My only experience with the next size up in Prevail is some size 2 Breezers I bought about a year ago; they are massive on me. The tabs almost meet at the front. The difference in size from the 1 to the 2 is astonishing. The main reason I wear them is as discrete gym diapers, and the larger size came 1/3 of the way up my back and well above my navel in the front, so I went back to the smaller size, overstretched though they feel.