Ear / Eye Protection ?

[Odds]

Hi Folks,

Does anyone have good recommendations for ear and eye protection when running aero screen and doorless ?

I tend to use a pair of wraparound sunglasses and a set of Bose over-ear headphones, but still find that after a decent blat my eyes are full of rubbish, and my ears are ringing !

Recommendations for a better solution would be appreciated.

[egnshane]

I dont know about eye protection as I use a screen and sunglasses but nothing really beats ear plugs for ear protection. Headphones do virtually nothing.

howard leight are my prefered brand

[downsman]

I have a screen so eyes aren't so much of a problem. For hearing normal head phones won't give enough protection. I don't think sound cancelling head/ear phones give enough protection. I have tried disposable Howard Leight ear plugs (worked well but uncomfortable after a long day and couldn't talk to passengers, and couldn't listen to music). Shure se215 sound isolating earphones (good isolation and could hear music at normal volume up about 80mph, but became uncomfortable and couldn't talk to passenger). Now I use 3m peltore optime 2 ear muffs modified to take headsets made for Starcom digital intercom. This set up gives decent ear protection, easy communication with passenger and I can listen to music as well as with the Shure earphones. On a hot day I do get hot ears though, but they hold my cap on

[Aeroscreens]

You won't go far wrong with the following:

Goggle .These are ballistic rated. Very important in my view if going aero'd

Earplugs. These provide enough protection but allow me and Mrs A to converse.

The above is from personal experience of some 70,000 'aeroscreened' miles

[subirg]

After 11 years of tinkering with my R400 and now R500, my default set up is:-

- Aero screen mode - full face helmet and earplugs

- windscreen mode - earplugs

Simples...

Given that I’ve averaged a new windscreen once every 2 years, the idea of doing aero without a full face helmet doesn’t appeal much as I’m sure my head isn’t much good at absorbing 70mph stone projectiles.

[upsidedownmark]

IMHO this ^^

Eyes important, but in aeroscreen mode I want something to protect my head from the odd rock that gets flicked up by the car in front; of course I don't live somewhere with nice empty roads! I also use earplugs a lot of the time.. 'tis a bit personal, but I buy some yellow ones from my local motorbike place (infinity) as they seem to block well, and have used them forever on the bike/can wear all day without issue.

[Odds]

Thanks for all the replies - some great suggestions here.

[thebraketester]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/3m-peltor-optime-iii-ea...

[boxedin]

For ear protection head over to Howard Leight: http://howardleight.com

[trunnie]

I've tried 3m earplugs and 3m Peltor earmuffs. The latter come in various levels of protection and I use the X4a. The earplugs work, but the earmuffs are far more effective at blocking out noise, albeit that they are florescent green and thus not inconspicuous. Have a look at 3Ms website if you want to check out the levels of protection.


Trunnie

[framerateuk]

I use some ballistics rated sunglasses with my aeroscreen. As far as ear protection, I haven't found a perfect solution yet.

Even with ear plugs or in ear headphones there's a lot of wind noise. I'm thinking of trying some Peltor protectors, with some in ear earphones inside them, hopefully to just take the edge off!

[BertBert]

I've got proguard full blocking earplugs that I use both under my race helmet and au naturale...
https://www.proguarduk.co.uk/products/custom-fit-e...

[NeilC4S]

Peltor work tunes bluetooth. You can stream music and take calls but the mic pics up too much wind noise. The best bit is it filters wind noise and a lot of vehicle NVH. It makes it feel like you are almost in a mainstream manufacturer convertible. Perfect for longer drives especially on the motorway.

Neil

[anonymous-user]

Bolle safety glasses for eyes (you can get UV/sunglass versions as well as clear) and only cost a few quid

As for hearing I (like a lot of fellow tiger and westy owners) use proper, over ear, ear defenders purchased from that big website named after a river, modified to include a handsfree headset so I can listen to music, use the phone hands free

Keeps all the noise out, can listen to music without being deafened and can still hear sirens

[BertBert]

Interested in how you have modified the ear defenders to include a headset. I use ear defenders and like that idea. Can you give some more details and poss a pic?

Cheers
Bert

[Amris]

Depending on how serious you are about hearing protection, i have a set of these and couldnt recommend them enough for the caterham. They also do great headphones if your interested.

http://www.read-audio.com/earplugs-1/

[downsman]

BertBert said:

Interested in how you have modified the ear defenders to include a headset. I use ear defenders and like that idea. Can you give some more details and poss a pic?

Cheers
Bert

I bought my Starcom with open face helmet headsets. I cut the wires fitted them into the ear defenders and soldered them back together. The wires are fine so it is fiddly, I used hot melt glue to secure the boom after cutting a hole into the ear cup.

[downsman]

Amris said:

Depending on how serious you are about hearing protection, i have a set of these and couldnt recommend them enough for the caterham. They also do great headphones if your interested.

http://www.read-audio.com/earplugs-1/

Those look good but they are max 19db sound reduction. My peltors give 31db and there are times I wish it was more!

[anonymous-user]

BertBert said:

Interested in how you have modified the ear defenders to include a headset. I use ear defenders and like that idea. Can you give some more details and poss a pic?

Cheers
Bert

Sorry I missed this. Not near my gear st the moment so cant give you any pictures but it was pretty straight forward. Most of the defenders you can buy on Amazon can he dismantled without destroying them so I basically used my motorcycle intercom and just set the speakers into the ear pieces, and velcroed the mic onto the outside of the headset and fixed the control unit on the outside as well. It's all Bluetooth so no wired connections required and the wire between the control and the speakers is small enough to slip between the earpiece and the ear padding.

Works really well, can listen to music and my sat nav, and if I get a call I can answer hands free and the caller can't even tell I'm in the car

[hairykrishna]

I thought I'd revive this thread rather than start again. I'm about to buy a ridiculous kit car, not quite settled on which one yet but it's likely to be aero screened. I'm thinking open face helmet with a visor? i.e. something like this;

https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/...

That way I get decent visibility but less bees in the face. What are the seasoned aero peoples thoughts? Would I want ear plugs under a helmet? Am I better with separate goggles/helmet? My limited experience is that I really don't like the resitricted visibility that comes with full faced helmets. Even when I did a lot of paintballing I used to use a 'bubble' type mask that looked a bit like i had half a goldfish bowl stuck to my face... Now that I type that, I wonder if a paintball mask would work!

I wear glasses when driving so a recommendation that works well with them would be nice. Prescription driving goggles?