So, I heard of the dangers of improper chest binding. Now if you have read some of my other threads you know that I'm not out to my family and to only one friend. Now could I chest bind with a one size smaller bra? (I don't really have anything there right now... I'm barely out of a first timer's bra) Is doing this dangerous? If so how to I safely bind without my family knowing? Sorry if this is a 'tmi' or in the wrong spot...
I know a lot of guys use the "two sports bras" method. Hudson's Guide: FTM Binding Just remember, if your chest starts to hurt, take it off and give it a break. And try not to bind for more than 8-10 hours at a time. Good luck.
Second the sports bra method. I used to do that at night after my mom went to sleep. Jason's covered the main points of binding safely, so I won't repeat them.
I did the two sports bra method too when first starting out. If you have a small chest, you could also stick with one and layer clothing, which I could sometimes get away with if it was cold enough. I would be careful with the kind of sports bra you buy. Some are great and smoosh everything down. Others have those detestable breast pockets and don't really do a great job at binding. Underworks actually has, from what I hear, a pretty fantastic sports bra that actually seems to be pretty good at binding. I know you're not out but I don't think your parents would be opposed to you buying a sports bra that, superficially, is marketed towards cis women. Try to avoid going too small with binders or sports bra. It's better to be properly sized as opposed to sizing down. Safer that way. Take breaks from binding whenever you need to. Stopping after 8-9 hours is usually a good rule of thumb but stop sooner if you're experiencing pain.
I got my son a core compression sports bra from target and it works really well. We call it jubbly control.