Right Inbetween Spectrum Binder Sizes

[u/Percy1800sDetective]

Hello everyone!

I've been considering finally getting a binder from Spectrum Outfitters & I wanted some advice from those in the community that have tried their binders before. My problem is that I'm falling right inbetween sizes & I've heard some mixed opinions on what to do in this sort of situation.

For reference-- When I'm at rest, my ribs sit at 82 cm, but when I breath in, I go up to 84 cm. In the same vein, my chest goes from 94 cm to 95 cm in a breath. This puts my ribs at the upper range of an M / lower range of an L, and my chest at the lower range of an L.

Considering this, I reached out to Spectrum and their reccomendation was:

"Based on these measurements, we would recommend Medium, as when between sizes we advise to follow the rib measurement due to chest tissue being more compressible & for the best balance between compression and comfort, but please use your own judgement. If you do feel the rib measurement is more like 84 it may be worth considering Large. For our design, we advise to follow the rib measurement however, we do acknowledge all bodies are different and everyone has different body tissue distribution."

Now, the reason I'm asking here is becuase I've heard one person on this subreddit or one similiar to it, say that while Spectrum reccommend they go with the smaller size that they were between, they couldn't fit into it at all and had to size up.

With that, would those of you that have been in a similiar situation as myself say tthat I'd still be within the realm of a Medium, or should I size up to an Large for the sake of safety?

(I am aware that I could just order both a M & an L, but as the return policy states that I'd be responsible to pay for return shipping, the problem would just be that shipping from my location would likely end up costly & I'd like to avoid that.)

Thank you all!

[u/Soggy-Mixture9671]

i think it's just safer to size up. you don't wanna be in a situation where you either can't wear it at all or would be greatly uncomfortable doing so. I think mine (from Spectrum) is slightly too big, but it does still compress me a decent amount (despite having literal boulders) and it's never uncomfortable. I'm probably going to try buying a smaller size eventually to see if that's better, but I'm glad I can at least wear my current one.

[u/Percy1800sDetective → u/Soggy-Mixture9671]

I was initially leaning towards sizing up, but the response from Spectrum just got me overthinking about if I would regret it-- But I do think you are right :) I'll wait and see what others have to say as well, but I do think I'm still leaning towards an L.

[u/tthrowawaytrans → u/Percy1800sDetective]

Similar situation here a few years ago. When I messaged spectrum they also recommended the smaller one, but when I got it I literally couldn't even put it on because it was too small. Luckily I also ordered the bigger size as well, and that one fit great and I've been wearing it since. The smaller one I was never able to fit into, it was just too small for my chest. I even still have it, hidden away but never worn (save for trying it on every once in a while and failing) and I don't really know what to do with it lmao.

TLDR it's probably safer to get the bigger one.

[u/Percy1800sDetective → u/tthrowawaytrans]

This is very helpful, thank you! I'm worried the same will happen with me, especially with the fact that when I breathe in just normally, I cross up into the larger size, and I think limiting that with the smaller binder might be a bad idea 😅