Condoms are a must, unless you've been with your partner long enough to be comfortable swapping bodily fluids. I know, the guy's prerogative is to get his sexual fluids all over the place, but that's not OK most of the time. You need to keep that shit contained.

Note I didn't say anything about 'contraception'; don't get it in your head that since she's on the pill or has an IUD, or you've had a vasectomy, that condomless sex is fine by default. It's not even just a 'disease' thing, either. Swapping sex fluids is a special thing, and unless she's told you that you're that special, wrap it up, boys. Sex has levels, and condom sex is perfectly fine.

There's not just four bases, sex is less like baseball, more like a marathon; getting to have sex is the 13.1 marker, and if you get that far, there's still a lot of ground to cover until you reach that holy grail of perfect, mutual sexual satisfaction. Cover that ground gracefully and with the courtesy and safety of using a condom all the time.

The most common tip bandied about is to put a dollop of water-based lube in the tip, and from experience this does work; it's not a huge difference in feel, but as you have sex, the condom does slide around a little bit and the tension pulling on the sensitive skin of the tip isn't as pleasing as letting the rubber slip around a bit on the head.

Don't overdo it though - if you put too much lube on, it'll seep up your shaft and lubricate the whole condom, potentially causing it to fall off during vigorous sex. Accidental condom loss is a bad thing, make sure it doesn't happen.

Although condoms come in lubricated form, there's no reason not to add some water-based lube to the mix; the condoms don't come with a whole lot of lube on them, enough to do the job for some unexpected sexy time, but if you've got lube don't be afraid to use it. Note that water-based lube is critical: the silicone based lubes can damage the condom, causing them to break during sex.

Guys, it's also important for you to know what condoms work best for you. Go ahead and try some out, until you find the ones you like the best. If your previous experience is that condoms make sex worse, it may be that you're picking shitty condoms. For the most part, a generic condom will fit pretty much any penis and do the bare minimum, but there's plenty of condom shapes, sizes, and materials to see what works best for you.

Speaking of materials: stick with the tried-and-true latex condoms. They're the strongest and best tested condom material. There are a variety of non-latex condoms, which have improved in recent years; in my experience they're a little less stretchy than latex condoms, so make that part of your testing, to make sure they fit. Lambskin condoms are frequently recommended for the best feel, but don't use them with a casual partner: they aren't 100% effective against STDs, so why risk it when the synthetic condoms are getting so good. Don't skimp on price for condoms; if you're getting to have carefree sex with someone, why worry about a dollar difference in price? Invest in your pleasure and your health and it'll be a better experience overall.

Well, you're wondering: how do you test condoms? Buy some, and use them to masturbate. You've probably never thought about jacking off with a condom on, or thought it seemed futile, but how else are you going to find one that works?

A positive side-effect of using a condom while masturbating is you'll acclimate yourself to the feeling of condom sex. If the only time you have a condom on is when you're in the middle of intimate relations, of course it's going to feel foreign or unusual. Also, you'll save on your sock laundry because masturbating with a condom on means quicker cleanup, nothing spraying all over the place when you finish.

Some other quick tips that might seem obvious to some, but not everybody's a smart as you:

• Don't use more than one condom at a time
• Look at the thing before you put it on, so you have it the right direction and it's not damaged
• Condoms are single use, don't reuse
• Spermicides don't actually help much and can irritate sensitive skin, so don't worry about having it

So, there you go: ultimately, the key to condom success is to be aware of how condom sex works, and practice makes perfect. Nothing says "experienced lover" like a guy who doesn't bat an eye on condom use, and you don't want to look like a beginner, so get some condoms and figure it out.