It depends on what your comfortable with. Some people arnt comfortable with putting a Tampon inside them. Some people are not comfortable with wearing a pad, some have to use both, then there are panty liners, which you can wear just to have there incase you dont notice your tampon getting too full and leaking before you change it. My personal choice. Tampons with a panty Liner for that slight bit of protection that is as thin as your panties.