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Over the course of my time in the military, I destroyed over a dozen pair of headphones. Some were caught on flight gear and ripped to shreds. Others destroyed under my boots; one pair went down for the count against a bicycle chain. While another was smashed by an angry Frenchman in Lyon. These things happen. But after switching to Bose, my luck has changed for the better. And after much testing of various brands, I’ve finally concluded that the best travel headphones for every situation are the Bose Soundsport series.
The Bose Soundsports are a blue-tooth enabled wireless headphone, for use with mobile devices.Brad Howard/Task & Purpose
In Afghanistan, the wired version of the Soundsport was a godsend whenever I had some downtime on a plane. Usually, they were great just relax and take in some Linkin Park (yes, I listened to a ton of Linkin Park at 22, and I have no regrets). These days, when I am getting my run on, I take Gen. David Petraeus’s advice and listen to a podcast to get in the zone. The Bose headphones just fit my ear perfectly, and still do today.
The most recent iteration of the Soundsport is the pinnacle of the system’s development. The headphones come with three different sized ear pieces to ensure you get the right plug for you earhole.
Brad Howard/Task & Purpose
They’re also Bluetooth enabled to free you from the tyranny of 3.5mm plugs. Also, the earbuds are connected so they’re harder to lose. They can also hang around your neck if you need to chuck them off for a second.
After testing this pair of earphones on overseas trips and workouts (not to mention miles and miles of running) they held up incredibly well. The only drawback was that they are not noise canceling, which means they may not be the best option on long flights. If you absolutely, positively, have to destroy something in a foreign country, it wouldn’t hurt to have a pair of these headphones to blast some death metal while you do it.
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