I hear where you are coming from hairyman101, but it's not in any way the same is all I can say. Honestly, the claims HARDWEAR makes can't be matched by any soft ring (rubber, silicon, elastic or other), it's just that simple, those rings can't produce the constriction that HARDWEAR does, or the focus on key pressure points.
HARD rings work better than soft ones, there is no question, this is fact. The problem with old fashioned hard rings (metal, etc) is that they are crude circles, guys (especially guys who grow a lot) will tend to get trapped in them... this is dangerous. So in order to keep from getting trapped guys have to wear old fashioned metal rings too large for them to offer the constriction that HARDWEAR does, and again the circle is not going be able to produce the focus on key pressure points that HARDWEAR does.
HARDWEAR lives up to its claims and is very high quality, so you can't get it for 3 or 4 dollars, but it's certainly worth what it costs.
44.00 to 69.00 for a cock ring??? i dont know......sounds like alot when you can get rubber rings for 3 or 4 dollars. if it is to good to be true it probably is.....my 2 cents