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I accept that high leakguards work well and keep my diapers from leaking. I also understand that high leakguards are important for wearing boosters with my diapers.
But if I am wearing my diaper and the leakguards are squeezed against my skin, why does it matter if a leakguard is low or high? I guess I am wrapping my mind on how the leakguards actually work and prevent leaks.

The reason you want high leak guards is that you can't be sure that the leg elastics will always be tight against your skin due to factors like body movement, diaper stretch and/or sagging. In theory, even if these problems occur, the leak guards will still be up against your skin and prevent a leak.

Of interest is how a 1 inch leakguard performs better than a 1/2 inch leakguard since both are being compressed against your skin. I've wondered how the 1 inch leakguard works in preventing the leaks.

If both sizes of leak guars are compressed against the skin I don't think there would be any difference in performance. The size only really comes into play when the diaper is sagging or otherwise moved away from the skin and in that case I would say the taller the better.

After you poop in that diaper, it will sag. That is when the internal standing leak guards matter most.

Trust me, I know about poop in diapers (unfortunately).

--John
(double incontinent)

fiacs wrote:Of interest is how a 1 inch leakguard performs better than a 1/2 inch leakguard since both are being compressed against your skin. I've wondered how the 1 inch leakguard works in preventing the leaks.

the I inch leak guard will provide 1/2 move flexibility in movement thus keeping you dryer as you move. understand the way they work is they naturally want to stand up when the product is placed on your body when you walk, bend over, lean the product moves the leak guards adjust to your movements, and the bigger they are the more chances they will work. as a product gets heavier they always tend to sag thus opening up more opportunities for openings to develop as you move and again the bigger the leak guards are the more they are able to do. combined with good leg gathers the pair of features do a good job of continuing solids and fluids when you see products with mediocre quality of either or missing one of these features you quickly see how well they work. I see this very often in my testing I will never buy products for myself without either of these features.

Thanks for the useful reply about how the leakguards work. It makes sense to me now especially regarding how leaks can occur when a diaper is saturated because the urine likely collects longer instead of getting readily absorbed which makes the leakguards that much more important for preventing leaks.

With that being said, which diapers have the highest leakguards?

Better Dry/Crinklz and Northshore's MegaMax certainly have some of the tallest leak guards. I'm not sure if there are any taller but these are the biggest I've seen.

As I am bowel incontinent, I pay close attention to the height of internal standing leak guards.

For very tall internal standing leak guards, add to the list Rearz Inspire +InControl and Elite Hybrid. These are truly excellent diapers. Unfortunately they are a bit pricey.

I now use BetterDry as my daily diaper and MegaMax at night.

I use Rearz Inspire +Incontrol on those occasions when I need very high absorbency to avoid changes.

I use the more expensive Elite Hybrid for medical appointments as, in addition to being super absorbent, it has mechanical hook and loop tapes that can be refastened an almost infinite number of times. As I have lower back problems in addition to the incontinence, I suffer through a lot of examinations.

--John
(double incontinent)

The very absorbent diapers are the ones with the high leakguards and some of them are quite/too expensive for routine use. Its too bad that they cant make some with high leakguards that are cheaper.
What is it about the rearz inspire +incontrol that makes it worth the higher cost compared to the betterdry or megamax?
It sounds like the elite hybrid allows you to undo the tapes at the doctor appointment. Luckily for me i can wear my diaper to the urologist or pcp appt without taking it off unless i am doing a test in which case i just take off the used diaper, complete the test and put on a new one. What made you decide to go with wearing the same diaper before and after the appointment versus changing into a new one.