I bought these because I have noise canceling earplugs that I wear because large grizzly bears snore near my bedroom at night (or so they sound like). like - I don't know, it's dark.) I've tried all sorts of skull caps, headphones, ear bandages - nothing has held up and held the buds except these. The flap closes my ear tightly and the earbuds stay in. There's a softer side (inside) that's comfortable against my skin, and the outside is smoother so the tape doesn't cause any friction that it would. to change position. I would deduct half a star if I could because ribbons tend to stretch and I haven't found a way to shrink them back to their original size (and I can shrink anything in the wash). Luckily they're cheap and come in packs of four, because I can use the stretched headphones under a thinner watch cap as regular earmuffs.