I used to be deathly afraid of tampons, because of a bad experience I had with them when I was like, 12. Until the day I ran out of pads and couldn't get to the drugstore. I had to go to the school's mini-mart and all they had were tampons. Now, I swear by them...
Not to mention, summertime in Louisiana + pads is a pretty nasty combination! I'll spare the details
I like playtex, they just fit better. Tampax seem to be a bit on the long side...just my personal preference.