It’s a familiar situation: You’re with a girl or guy whom you find particularly attractive, and you exchange “let’s get busy” looks. You start kissing, things get progressively heated, clothes start coming off, and you’re anticipating a pleasurable experience. At this moment, you have an important decision to make: condom or no condom?

What makes a person say, “Yes, condom” or “No, no condom tonight”? Some students say it all just depends on how well you and your partner know each other. Jimmy Shelite, Medicine Lodge senior, says he always uses a condom when he’s with a girl for the first time. Once he gets to know the girl and knows she doesn’t have any sexually transmitted diseases, he says he stops using condoms.

Jessica Phan, Overland Park senior, also says that knowing someone makes a difference. She says she almost always uses condoms, unless she is in a monogamous relationship and both she and her partner have been tested for STDs. But even then, Phan says, she prefers to use them because they make her feel safe. She says she likes having that peace of mind and knowing that she is taking care of herself.

Fear of unwanted pregnancy and contracting diseases keeps people reaching for those boxes in nightstands and underwear drawers.

Torie Kim, Overland Park senior, says that since she switched to birth control pills from the birth control shot Depo-Provera, she has become more insistent on using condoms. Kim says the pill’s effectiveness depends on so many factors—like the time of day she takes it—that she always wants to have a back-up method of birth control. Kim says that she likes and usually uses Trojan Ultra Thin condoms, and although she admits that condoms can be a hassle, protection against pregnancy and STDs trumps any inconvenience.

Daytha Lindburg, a physician’s assistant in obstetrics and gynecology at Mowery Clinic in Salina, highly recommends using condoms as a method of STD prevention. She says that even women who use birth control should still use condoms to ensure that they will not spread or contract diseases and infections.

Most students can agree that condoms serve an excellent purpose, so what makes them so inconvenient? Why do some couples opt to leave condoms out of romance?

Shelite says he simply dislikes the feel of condoms. “It isn’t real,” he says. “It feels like there is too much between me and the girl.” He says that some condoms tend to dry up, which kills the mood and usually brings sex to an early and unwanted end. But, if he has to wear one, Shelite’s condom of choice is Trojan.

Phan stresses the necessity of lubrication with condoms. She says she sees how it’s uncomfortable for a guy to wear one, but she also says girls can up the arousal factor by putting the condom on for him.

Phan prefers to use Trojan Magnum condoms with warming sensation, but “only if the size is comparable to the product,” she says.

Lindburg says that when in need of lubrication, you should never use Vaseline because it tends to weaken the latex in the condom and increase the risk of a ruptured rubber. According to Lindburg, the best lube solutions are personal lubricants, such as KY, or lubricated condoms.

And, though many students cite pregnancy prevention as their main motivation for using condoms, Lindburg says that condoms are not the most effective method of birth control.

“It’s kind of like playing Russian roulette,” she says. “They can break or leak.”

Some men and women can have trouble with condoms because of latex allergies, Lindburg says, but condom companies have accommodated by making latex-free products, which are usually made of lamb skin. Lindberg also says that condoms with spermicidal lubricant can cause bladder infections in females, so women should consider avoiding them.

Bottom line: Couples should work together to find their ideal method of protection. “It’s all about preference. You have to kind of play around and find out what works and doesn’t work for you,” Lindburg says.

So try some clear, some pink, some warming, some extended pleasure, some twisted pleasure. Create your own condom smorgasbord, and then have fun finding the perfect pleasure for you and your partner.