I was not certain these would hold up to any sort of hiking. Good quality materials. My guess is since it does not fit at all the wiggling of normal wear and tear became too much for it causing audio issues. If your running on the street and a car passes by you can not hear the music, because of the gap in you ear. highly recommend, tho theyre not the most glamorous I can wear a pair for 3 years. There was a missing bolt so one of the doors wouldnt close properly. From which country are they selling through. I had to charge the Tablet 5 times during the trip, this one was still going strong when I finally switched off. They have so much support it helps my back pain when I walk.