I heard that...

“Do not carry condoms in your wallet for long periods of time. Replace them every once in a while. Friction from opening and closing your wallet, and from walking (if you carry your wallet in your pocket) can lead to tiny holes in the condom. Nevertheless, it is better to use a condom that has been in your wallet for a long time than to not use one at all.”

There’s an excellent and longer answer here: http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/5660.html

Who better to answer this question than Condom Man

Firstly is the old question of keeping your condom in your wallet. The reason behind why this is a bad idea is because, over time, your body heat can weaken the latex of the condom. If you put the condom in your wallet, and then the wallet in your back pocket, that condom is trapped in all of that body heat for a considerable amount of the day, for days at a time. The ideal temperature for storage of your condom is room temperature. They were manufactured to be easily taken care of and easily stored, so that there wouldn’t be any problems with consumer error, or during transit to various retail outlets, etc. So in order to avoid your body heat breaking down the latex, it is advised that you replace that condom often and throw the old one away. You can also only store the condom in your wallet over the weekends or on days when you are especially optimistic.

If you keep it in your wallet, it sure ain’t gonna work. Heck, even if you wear the darn things they don’t always work.

If a guy or a girl has them in their wallets for a long time – I believe something is NOT working LOL

[Fluther Moderator:] Great question, but please use a more descriptive title in the future.

condoms are only studied to REDUCE risk of HIV.

condoms are ineffective against DOZENS of STDs.

condoms are too porous to stop HPV

condoms have an FDA documented ~%14 failure rate

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female birth control, whether chemical or mechanical, is ABORTIFACIENT not contraceptive

When condoms usually fail… it’s because people people don’t know how to use them.

Let me quote the CDC: “Laboratory studies have demonstrated that latex condoms provide an essentially impermeable barrier to particles the size of STD pathogens.”
Let’s quote them again: “Laboratory studies have shown that latex condoms provide an effective barrier against even the smallest STD pathogens.”

http://www.cdc.gov/condomeffectiveness/latex.htm

LATEX condoms are different from sheepskin condoms, which can only prevent pregnancy.

If you don’t want a condom to break…
“Ensure that adequate lubrication is used during vaginal and anal sex, which might require water-based lubricants such as K-Y JellyTM, AstroglideTM, AquaLubeTM, and glycerin. Oil-based lubricants (e.g., petroleum jelly, shortening, mineral oil, massage oils, body lotions, and cooking oil) should not be used because they can weaken latex, causing breakage.”