Author Topic: Earplugs that work (Read 21630 times)

SVonhof · « **on:** September 30, 2011, 06:07:37 PM »

There was another post in here that sorta got off topic when talking about earplugs, so I figured I would start a new post about them.

I have always had a hard time getting the foam plugs to seal in my ear canal and just didn't wear earplugs for years when riding unless it was going to be multiple hours of riding. I finally decided to protect my hearing and got these made about 1 1/2 years ago:

Product page: https://www.westone.com/hearing-protection-products/4rt

I went with the more expensive option of silicone instead of vinyl as it stays soft for years and years where the vinyl starts to harden.

These are a great option for most people as they are super low profile and when in your ear, you do not have anything sticking out (hence the little tabs to pull them out). They also allow you to still hear surrounding traffic, sirens or the bike. It takes the edge off the bad sound though.

I went to the Westone site and looked for a local site to have the molds made, made an appointment and had them made and about 3 weeks later, went and picked them up. One of the best $230 I have spent, since I have been riding since 1996 and this is the first time I have actually had earplugs that I actually wear.

maxtog · « **Reply #1 on:** September 30, 2011, 07:51:04 PM »

SV- thanks for the info. I probably should have gone that route. Instead, I cheaped out and bought Radians do-it-yourself stuff. What a disaster. It was completely defective. It was supposed to harden in 10 min. 60 min later, it was still goo in both my ears. It took days to get it all out. I BLASTED the company that sold it to me on Amazon and they sent a replacement kit. It is still sitting on my desk, I haven't gotten the nerve to try it again. I was trying to make custom molded earphones.

SVonhof · « **Reply #2 on:** September 30, 2011, 08:09:43 PM »

I bought a set just like yours recently from Bass Pro Shop (sold in the gun department) as I wanted to get my blutooth (for the car) to have a custom earpiece. That didn't work either. It did harden, but since I could not get the blutooth earpiece centered, it had one area with none of the earplug material.

A friend of mine used a kit from: http://www.earplugco.com/ to get headphones in custom made (at home) earplugs and he was happy with it.

bbhzx12 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 30, 2011, 08:50:11 PM »

I had custom plugs made for about $60 at Moto-Market off 199 in Ma.
The company that came in to do them does a lot of shooting sports events, made them while I waited and they work great.

accbiker · « **Reply #4 on:** October 01, 2011, 06:15:45 AM »

Earfuze earplugs with earbuds are great. Perform as advertised.

www.earfuze.com

-David
Athens, Ga

stevewfl · « **Reply #5 on:** October 01, 2011, 08:31:17 AM »

Quote from: bbhzx12 on September 30, 2011, 08:50:11 PM

I had custom plugs made for about $60 at Moto-Market off 199 in Ma.
The company that came in to do them does a lot of shooting sports events, made them while I waited and they work great.

+1

I had a set made custom molded to my ears and they are incredible! They've been used heavily on the street, track, and shooting ranges.

SVonhof · « **Reply #6 on:** October 01, 2011, 10:02:35 AM »

Quote from: bbhzx12 on September 30, 2011, 08:50:11 PM

I had custom plugs made for about $60 at Moto-Market off 199 in Ma.
The company that came in to do them does a lot of shooting sports events, made them while I waited and they work great.

I know there are earplug companies that go to the motorcycle races and do them on the spot as well. I would have gone that route if there were any of the big races coming around, but the timing was off. Also, I liked the ones that I got for the reasons I mentioned as well. It seems as if the ones made at the tracks (and maybe the ones you guys are talking about made at Moto-Market) would filter out more sound than a motorcyclist would want. I don't know if that is true, but that was one of the perceptions I had that drew me to the ones I got.

danl · « **Reply #7 on:** October 01, 2011, 01:12:49 PM »

I use some silicone swimming ear plugs I got at Wally world, they are much easier to get in and out than the foam kind and block out the wind noise pretty effectively.

Jeremy Mitchell · « **Reply #8 on:** October 01, 2011, 05:28:08 PM »

Quote from: maxtog on September 30, 2011, 07:51:04 PM

SV- thanks for the info. I probably should have gone that route. Instead, I cheaped out and bought Radians do-it-yourself stuff. What a disaster. It was completely defective. It was supposed to harden in 10 min. 60 min later, it was still goo in both my ears. It took days to get it all out. I BLASTED the company that sold it to me on Amazon and they sent a replacement kit. It is still sitting on my desk, I haven't gotten the nerve to try it again. I was trying to make custom molded earphones.

I had great luck with the Radians kit that I bought off of Amazon. I actually stuck some Skull Candy ear buds in my ears before putting the putty in and they worked great. It was a great "poor mans" custom made headphone setup. $25 for the whole setup, and I heard nearly zero wind noise and I could run my ipod at very low volume levels and still hear traffic around me.

CB Schmaltz · « **Reply #9 on:** October 01, 2011, 06:29:38 PM »

on a long ride
IMHO
any plug is better than no plug
there are some great $$$ ones out there
fact
plugs cut down on fatige (sp?)

SVonhof · « **Reply #10 on:** October 01, 2011, 06:51:45 PM »

Quote from: CB Schmaltz on October 01, 2011, 06:29:38 PM

on a long ride
IMHO
any plug is better than no plug
there are some great $$$ ones out there
fact
plugs cut down on fatige (sp?)

Fatigue. And yes, you are correct that it cuts down on it especially on long rides.

Barry · « **Reply #11 on:** October 01, 2011, 08:50:23 PM »

Anyone have problems with earplugs actually hurting your ears? I have Howard Leight 30db reduction plugs. Foamies. They hurt my ears after about an hour.

I'm very curious to see if silicone custom made units are any better.

Barry

Gearhead82 · « **Reply #12 on:** October 01, 2011, 09:19:11 PM »

I have odd, small, s-shaped ear canals and no ear plug that I've ever tried will stay in my ear. I guess I'll need to try get some custom ones made at some point.

TimmyG · « **Reply #13 on:** October 02, 2011, 05:35:05 AM »

The foam ones used to hurt, but we have to wear them at work, after 2 or 3 days you hardly know you have them in

VirginiaJim · « **Reply #14 on:** October 02, 2011, 06:08:39 AM »

There's a place in Fredericksburg that makes the ones Scott was referring to. I think I'll have some made up this winter. I use the reusable foam and what's great with them is that I can use em to harvest for my ear wax collection. Conversely, they do hurt me after a day of riding and they muffle out the music from my SMH10. I really need to get them customized to my ear.

Jeremy Mitchell · « **Reply #15 on:** October 02, 2011, 06:39:54 AM »

For those of you thinking about getting custom plug made you can also try these. They are made by Surefire (EP3), and I picked them up for $10 at Clothing Sales. The are very good for the price. For long trips I will use them since they are comfortable and block alot of the wind noise and allow me to hear my Sena. They could be worth a shot before you drop $100+ on custom plugs. There are different sizes so you might check to see what works best. They also make the EP6 that is made for motorsports.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=surefire+ear+plug&hl=en&rlz=1C1SNNT_enUS342US342&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=677&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=18060766743406269423&sa=X&ei=zlqITumNFcHcgQew05X6Cg&ved=0CIABEPMCMAU

Here is the link to Surefire's line of earpro
http://www.surefire.com/EarProProducts

SVonhof · « **Reply #16 on:** October 02, 2011, 10:13:01 AM »

Jeremy, funny, I clicked on that first link and a map comes up showing where Surefire is located and it's about a mile from where I used to live. I am now an hour away from them.

As for the custom earplugs hurting, I have no problem with that even on long riding days.

RBX QB · « **Reply #17 on:** October 02, 2011, 01:24:08 PM »

I ended up with these... http://www.hearos.com/products/rock-n-roll.

They work pretty well... no pain, cuts wind noise without losing too much ambient noise... They clean really easy.

I know they aren't as good as some of the custom options listed in this post, but for $5, they work pretty damn good. About 10000 miles with mine so far.

And now for the body fluid(?) comment... It's REALLY easy to wipe wax off of them!

maxtog · « **Reply #18 on:** October 02, 2011, 01:52:29 PM »

Quote from: Barry on October 01, 2011, 08:50:23 PM

Anyone have problems with earplugs actually hurting your ears?

Of course, that is why we are mostly talking about custom earplugs...

jjsC6 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 02, 2011, 02:03:05 PM »

Yesterday and today was my first time riding with these....
http://www.earplugstore.com/silnatrubear.html

I did 140 miles yesterday and 310 today. Keep in mind that I have the low 2008 windshield so I get a lot of turbulence. I find these as quiet as any I have worn, maybe even a little quieter. The real beauty is that they are the first ear plug I've had that I can't even tell it's in my ear. I bought the two pack that comes with both average and smaller size. The average size fits me best. Not sure what that means as I have no idea if my ears are bigger than average or average or not. I started measuring things and got depressed when I found out I wasn't bigger than average in other areas.

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Author Topic: Earplugs that work (Read 21630 times)