The quest for practicing safe sex does not end after the condoms are purchased and stored in a cool, dry place. Knowing the correct way to put a condom on is as important as wearing it in the first place.

According to Condom Hall, a sexual health organization for students, college students are not always using condoms correctly. Many are experiencing condom breakage and problems like condoms slipping off during intercourse.

According to the survey of 858 heterosexual male students at 18 universities nationwide on March 20, 42 percent reported not leaving space for semen at the top of the condom and 17 percent said they took the condom off before having finished sex. In addition, 34 percent of the male students reported incidents of a condom breaking during sexual intercourse and 15 percent said a condom had slipped off during sex.

Chris Carey, director of Condom Hall said that the breakage and slippage of condoms is most likely due to “condom-use mistakes” and not defective condoms.

Student Health Services health educator Kamal Harb disagrees. “Many factors can contribute to condom breakage, how the condom is used, the amount of lubrication, the fit of the condom,” said Harb. “It is very important to know how to properly put a condom on, but that’s not where correct usage ends.”

The condom failures reported in Condom Hall’s survey could be guarded against by ensuring that the tip of the condom is pinched between the index finger and thumb before rolling it down to the base of the penis. This forces any air bubbles out of the reservoir tip so the semen does not burst through the end of the condom, helping to protect against breakage. It is important that the condom is the right fit so it does not slip off during sex and it must be held at the base before pulling out so the condom and the semen are safely removed.

Students at SF State have had their run-ins with condom breakage and slippage.

Biology major Carlos Calvo, 20, heard the condom snap halfway through having sex with his then boyfriend of two months.

“When I heard it we both kind of froze for a second,” he said. “It was only starting to get serious so we hadn’t had a big conversation about safe sex or anything like that, so after that there was no getting around ‘the talk.’”

Calvo and his boyfriend had the talk and got tested together the next day. They found out they were both STD and STI free. Calvo said he still regrets not talking about it sooner.

“That experience was really stressful,” Calvo said. “It turned out fine in the end, but now I always talk about protection and previous partners before that situation can come up.”

Condom Hall’s research showed that Calvo was not alone in neglecting to talk to his partner about condom use before intercourse. Fifty-eight percent of the men surveyed did not discuss condom use with their partner before sex and 45 percent reported instances when they wanted to use a condom but did not have any available.

Communication is a very important factor in practicing safe sex, according to SF State health educator Ivy Chen.

“It’s important to remember it’s about health,” said Chen. “Keep the conversation on preserving both of your sexual health, not on diseases. The truth is that many STDs may produce no symptoms, so no one is ever 100 percent sure that they themselves do not have an STD.”

Erica Model, 21, junior human sexuality special study major and assistant director of EROS, encourages students not to feel shy about bringing up the topic of condom use before having sex.

“If you’re going to be actually engaging in sex anyway you may as well talk about it,” said Model.

Ryan Stemmler, 23, junior psychology and sex counseling major agreed.

“We’re a species of screw up then figure it out later, but it’s so much easier to just prevent the whole situation,” said Stemmler. “All it takes is getting the subject to come up and then it’s out there.”