ABU Japan Little Kings

[CrispyCookiePup]

I already bought two packs of Little Kings on ABU's website earlier today. They look like premium baby diapers if they had adult sizes, which is pretty cool.

[Little Cub Pants]

6 hours ago, BedWetMark said:

Tried my first one tonight, although I prefer plastic backed as that's what I grew up with, I was curious ... then imagine my annoyance when I ripped off the top left hand panel ... ARGH! I gorilla taped it on so as not to waste it, irritating though. I only ever seem to rip the sides off ABU nappies, never happens with Tykables or Rearz etc. Maybe I'm too heavy handed!? 

Or maybe you just don't know your own strength bud!??????

[BedWetMark]

23 hours ago, BedWetMark said:

Tried my first one tonight, although I prefer plastic backed as that's what I grew up with, I was curious ... then imagine my annoyance when I ripped off the top left hand panel ... ARGH! I gorilla taped it on so as not to waste it, irritating though. I only ever seem to rip the sides off ABU nappies, never happens with Tykables or Rearz etc. Maybe I'm too heavy handed!? 

So these are interesting. Having worn 2 now, I do like the design, but I don't like the cloth - never been a cloth disposable fan, but whilst they hold loads and just seem to keep on soaking up, I felt I had to keep adjusting to tighten at the waist, which is a typical cloth trait for me and annoying.

I'll stick to PeekABUs or Simple Ultra - prefer the plastic backing. But these certainly do look the part - top marks on that count.

 

[Spiderman]

On 2/10/2022 at 5:34 PM, BedWetMark said:

Tried my first one tonight, although I prefer plastic backed as that's what I grew up with, I was curious ... then imagine my annoyance when I ripped off the top left hand panel ... ARGH! I gorilla taped it on so as not to waste it, irritating though. I only ever seem to rip the sides off ABU nappies, never happens with Tykables or Rearz etc. Maybe I'm too heavy handed!? 

I had the same thing happen to me as well when I tried taping it back on when I did number 2 at work in the toilet.  The tapes ripped right off and scared the crap out of me because I had to find a way to dispose of the diaper.  Thank goodness I was in charge of garbage that night.

Anyway, the design is great but the tapes are terrible.  They don't stay on or they rip.  Also, I really didn't think it held as much as the plastic backed diapers I am use to. To be fair I am not a fan of cloth backed diapers, but the design reminded me so much of pampers that I gave it a shot.  Then they reminded me why I don't like cloth backed diapers and promised never to try this diaper or any other cloth diapers for a long time.

[Little Sherri]

I'm definitely going to try these once they become available in the Frozen North, however these stories of fastener failures do concern me. I might go 'bag' instead of 'case' until I can see for myself how they stand up to everyday living. 

[BedWetMark]

On 3/13/2022 at 6:40 PM, Spiderman said:

I had the same thing happen to me as well when I tried taping it back on when I did number 2 at work in the toilet.  The tapes ripped right off and scared the crap out of me because I had to find a way to dispose of the diaper.  Thank goodness I was in charge of garbage that night.

Anyway, the design is great but the tapes are terrible.  They don't stay on or they rip.  Also, I really didn't think it held as much as the plastic backed diapers I am use to. To be fair I am not a fan of cloth backed diapers, but the design reminded me so much of pampers that I gave it a shot.  Then they reminded me why I don't like cloth backed diapers and promised never to try this diaper or any other cloth diapers for a long time.

Agreed - the design is brilliant, but the cloth backing and the tapes are not.  I've stuck with normal plastic backed nappies after giving these a go - I think these are fine for playtime / messing around in or just general ABDL play, but they are nowhere near as good as plastic backed for someone who wets the bed most nights.  They remind me of the reason I ditched Tena years ago when they switched to cloth.

 

[BabySofia]

For fun usage I've had no issues with them. I actually think these are great honestly... It's like the perfect baby diaper to me. I'm not hung up on the plastic backed part, so much as if they hold. I haven't ever had a disposable that never leaked, so maybe my bar is low. If I don't want to deal with any leaks at all, that's when I wear cloth. I'm on my fourth pack of the Alligatorz now. (I did find the Kings were harder to center the tapes. I didn't like them as much)

[Little Sherri]

I just got my hands on a package of the Little Kings; it seems that with little fanfare, they were added to the ABU Canada repertoire. I went looking about a couple of weeks ago, and they weren't listed, and then, suddenly, they were. At their current landed cost (about $6 per diaper), they are not going to become a daily staple for me anytime soon, but, given how much has been said about them, and their design, I decided that I had to try them for myself. 

The look of them was what primarily attracted me - they remind me of various Pampers products from the last 20 years or so. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Pampers, because I grew up in them, although not ones that looked anything like these. Their appearance is exactly as advertised.

Their sizing was a surprise to me, though; because I've read comments about the alleged failings of the tabs, I payed close attention to the sizing guidelines, even breaking out a measuring tape, and as a result, I bought them in XL, which is an uncommon diaper size for me. For the most part I buy size large, although I can wear Megamax's in medium, because they are cut a bit more generously. So I was worried that XL diapers would be enormous on me, but their sizing recommendations turned out to be spot-on; these are not much bigger than a size large in most brands I've tried. One of the issues I suspect is driving people's comments about the tabs is the relative brevity of the landing zone. The hook-and-loop tabs will stick anywhere on the cloth shell, but the landing zone includes mesh reinforcement that allows for a better stick, and that won't let the tabs pull away from their moorings as easily. That zone terminates a few inches in from the edges of the front cover, forcing you to draw the tabs forward of where they might sit on a diaper where the landing zone continues closer to the edges, such as on a Rearz Barnyard, for example, where the large size is more than adequate for me. So I could see people accidently yanking the tabs off if they went with their usual size in these, because there is no stretch to them. If I'd bought them in large, instead of XL, they would be a "top tab only" diaper; my hips are just too wide. 

However, properly-sized as this XL Little Kings diaper is on me, the tabs don't seem particularly stressed, and they have shown no signs of impending structural failure. Outside of that consideration, these are otherwise a very comfortable diaper to be in. They are quiet and soft, typical of a cloth-backed product, and of medium bulk- not as stuffed as a Rearz Alpaca, for example, but definitely bulker than, say, a Rearz Lil' Monster. I have not tested these to failure yet, but early evidence suggests that they could be a workable daytime or overnight diaper, in the the "medium-duty" category, good for maybe an 8-hour day, or an overnight plus morning shift. 

The graphics drew no commentary from my wife, which is par for the course in my household, although I did wonder if she'd notice them, because I think this is the most ornate cloth-backed diaper I've worn around her, most of them being either completely white, or, having just a decorated landing zone. But whereas aficionados might have dozens of subcategories in which to classify various diapers with subtly different characteristics, most of the world probably falls in line with my spouse: white, or, not white.  

 

[Little Sherri]

I can add a little more information to the above; after wearing a Little Kings for a good part of the day yesterday, I can report that they rank in the upper classes of capacity. I don't have any empirical data to offer, just a generalized impression that by the time I needed to change, the diaper was quite heavy, had swelled up impressively, and hadn't leaked. In fact, a lot of the padding in the back was still dry, but meanwhile the front was impressively distended. I sat in my office chair for most of the day in the diaper, under jeans, so had I been able to shift positions more, I might have been able to engage more of the rear padding, and possibly used more of the overall capacity.

It was the expansion that actually pushed me to change the diaper when I did, rather than discomfort or fear of an imminent failure; I have contractors coming in and out of the house and I reached a point where I felt that it looked like I had a pillow jammed into my pants, and could no longer be confident that it wouldn't be obvious that something was going on down there, were I called upon to see something by one of them.