The Hunt for the Perfect Short MP5K Can: A Data-Driven 9mm K-Can Ranking
Have we reached the sweet spot, where we have an all-day hearing-safe can that is short and cheap? I went down a rabbit hole the past few months trying to figure out the best 9mm suppressor for my AP5-P running subs.
This post is 80% sharing my findings to help others, 10% a ploy to elicit more head-to-head opinions on the BOE IncoLite, and 10% to avoid working on a report I actually need to do.
Highest head-to-head win ratio in the dataset and the only sub-$450 can that competes with the $950 premium picks — if it's truly all-day hearing safe. Big "if". Full reasoning below.
My Ranking Criteria
Three things, in order:
- All-day hearing safe (hard filter — fail this and you're disqualified)
- K-can short
- Affordable
I filtered out everything not hearing safe, then weighted cost at ~32%, length at ~28%, sound at ~18%, weight at ~12%, with measurement certainty / back-pressure as tiebreakers. Those percentages come from an "A or B" quiz (conjoint) I self-administered.
Translation: I'm explicitly not trading inches for decibels, which knocks the MOB out of contention despite being the empirical performance ceiling.
The Field
| Rank | Can | Length | Cost OTD | Weight | Comparison wins | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BOE IncoLite 9 | 5.0" | $409 | 6.5 oz | 7 | 75 |
| 2 | YHM R9 | 5.2" | $430 | 10.7 oz | 21 | 67 |
| 3 | Resilient RS9 (DT) | 5.5" | $800 | 7.6 oz | 11 | 60 |
| 4 | SAW Tisha 9 | 4.1" | $1099 | 10.5 oz | 6 | 58 |
| 5 | CAT SC modular | 5.5" | $950 | 7.5 oz | 12 | 57 |
| 5 | OCL Milkman | 6.0" | $950 | 8.8 oz | 9 | 49 |
| 6 | CAT MOB | 7.4" | $980 | 9.9 oz | 32 | 40 |
| DQ | SAW Shiv | 3.7" | $525 | 2.5 oz | 5 | — |
| DQ | SilencerCo Omega 9K | 4.6" | $550 | 7.3 oz | 14 | — |
"DQ" cans fail the all-day hearing-safe filter — score shown for transparency. Prices taken from the lowest listing on that pricing aggregator site we all use. The deal cards below pull live r/gundeals listings where we're tracking them.
Key Findings
1. BOE IncoLite 9 — The Pick (with an asterisk)
The IncoLite 9 has the highest head-to-head comparison win ratio in the dataset (70%). u/dmur03 ran it across 2,500 rounds against the MOB, Wolfman long+short, B&T RBS, and HUXWRX Flow 9k: "may even be quieter than my MPX/CAT MOB combo." No instrumented data yet — expected range (CI) is SR 45–60. Even at the bottom of that range, the IncoLite 9 still wins the model. If this is all-day hearing safe, then this is likely the optimal can. Big "If".
2. YHM R9 — The Safe Play
The R9 is the safe play — most A/B comparisons of any can in the dataset (21), and OCL's own Andrew called it "really really good for how small it is. One of my favorites." Multiple owners report it sounds quieter than the Lithium 9 on an AP5-P (which inverts the Pew measured ranking — interesting). What keeps it out of #1 is (a) it likely loses on sound, and (b) weight: 10.7 oz with the DT adapter is real forward bias on a braced K. See the full 9mm suppressor guide for more on the R9.
3. Resilient RS9 (DT) — Measured, but Pricey
The RS9 is the only sub-6" can with measured SR 60+ on K hosts. Pew Science: "That's because [suppressors were always louder on MP5Ks]... until now." At $800 current pricing — for likely inferior real-world performance versus the IncoLite — the RS9 falls behind on cost.
4. SAW Tisha 9 — The 5.56's Less Impressive Sibling
4.1"/10.5oz/$1099 — the shortest non-pistol can on the list, but SAW's own Micah said "the 9mm isn't going to be the quietest." YouTube A/Bs put it on par with the Milkman, maybe a slight edge — but it's heavier (10.5 vs 8.8 oz) and $150 more. The 5.56 Tisha is best-in-class for 5.56; the 9mm is not. Cost kills it the same way it killed the Milkman.
5. CAT SC modular — The Pistol-Optimized MOB Cousin
5.5"/7.5oz/$949, modular (short/long configs). Pew Science ranks it top-tier for pistols, and u/Icarusuki on an MP5: "just as quiet as my MOB... and much lighter." Direct A/B from u/leschcb on an SP5K-PDW: MOB > SC long > SC short, but very close. CAT explicitly says it's NOT full-auto rated and gas stacks on PDW use — a pistol can that fits subgun use, not built for it. The cost sigmoid kills it the same way as the Milkman and Tisha.
5. OCL Milkman — The One My Gut Wants
Field A/Bs put the Milkman at "barely louder than the MOB" — but $950 OTD drops it to a 49. The only reason I'm not picking it is price (I won't shoot it enough in the next 5 years to be worth the premium).
6. CAT MOB — The Performance Ceiling (Too Long for Me)
The MOB is genuinely best on every quietness metric — Pew Science's MP5 study calls it "in a class all its own," and unpublished SP5K data is "nontrivially" better than the published SR 65.3 (Jay's words). At 7.4" it's just too long for my priorities. Most head-to-head comparison wins of any can in the dataset (32).
DQ'd for Sound
SAW Shiv — A Pistol Can on a Subgun
3.7"/2.5oz Ti, runs boosterless on tilting-barrel pistols — wild size and weight. But u/Unable-Pain on a Flux 320 with 150gr subs: "made my ears ring, would not recommend shooting at all without ear pro." Cycling reports are mixed even on the hosts it was designed for (FTE on an FN509, marginal on a Canik METE). Filtered out: it's a pistol can, not a subgun can.
SilencerCo Omega 9K — The Aesthetics Buy
The everyone-has-one can. Most pure recommendations in the dataset (52), but the lowest A/B-to-rec ratio of any can (27%) — it seems people buy it for looks. Pew Science measured SR 43.6 on a P30L, the worst of any modern 9mm can. Silencer Summit 2023 measured it 9 dB louder than the R9 on an MP5K (~2x perceived loudness). Filtered out: aesthetics buy.
Methodology
Pulled data from ~35 threads across r/MP5, r/NFA, r/MPX, r/gundeals, HKPRO, and ARFCON (~2,500 comments). Tracked total recommendations and A/B comparisons for each can. Cross-referenced with Pew Science calibrated SR data on SP5 / SP5K-PDW reference hosts.
Utility curves: length becomes "too long" (sigmoid centered) at 6", sound is logarithmic in SR (dB perception is log), and cost is a sigmoid centered at $500 (where "affordable" starts becoming "expensive" for me).
Open to any feedback or opinions — especially on the BOE IncoLite.
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