Earplug Recommendation

[philblade]

After many years of using cheap foam earplugs, I splashed out on a set of made to measures back in July costing around £40.00. The owner even made a personal visit to the house to make a mould of my shell likes ..(he just happened to be passing by) ..

They have taken a little time to settle in, more due to me learning to put them in correctly but now I am used to them, they work well..

Details http://customearprotection.co.uk/home.htm

Has anyone else tried these? I had heard story of discomfort some some owners and pleasure (!!) from others. Luckly my case is one of the latter.

[beanbag]

Sounds very expensive! Bit of a bummer if you loose one! However I do entirely agree with the wearing of ear plugs on a bike. Having tinitis can really screw up your hearing as my friend has it down to pure stuborness of not wearing earplugs.

I get my brother-in-law to bring me back a box from the power station he works at every so often. Bargain at £0 for about 200!

[stooz]

The key with earplugs is just to get them in right. roll them very tight, then (and this is key)
pull bag the lobe with the other hand, thus opening the canal VERY wide.

It should be EASY to insert the plug past the point of no return, and almost impossible to get it back out!!!
practice makes perfect, but if you can see "plug" in a mirror - its not in far enough.

Add to that the plug being a high Decibel limit, yu should get perfect effect.
the super FX at 39Db is currently the highest I know of
here

[huge_ego]

Hi Phillip,

Yeah, I've got custom fitted ear plugs. I never really got on with foam plugs, but my custom ones fit a treat and I find 'em really comfy. Most of the other custom ear plugs I've seen are hard plastic, but mine are squishy. If you have a choice, definitely go squishy!

No worries about losing 'em, as I've kept the original moulds.

However, unlike disposable plugs, the only thing is the need to wash the plugs regularly (to avoid ear infections).

>> Edited by huge_ego on Wednesday 11th August 17:58

[BU5T4]

I dont wear ear plugs. Should i?

Is it only sports bikes you need them on as they are very whiney? or should I be wearing them too? I drive an XJ600 which is rather loud with its remus can. I dont notice the noise really though as my helmet blocks out alot of noise.

I cant even wear a radio on my bike or a cd player as i feel weird not hearing the road. Anyone else get this?

[beanbag]

BU5T4 said:

I dont wear ear plugs. Should i? Is it only sports bikes you need them on as they are very whiney? or should I be wearing them too? I drive an XJ600 which is rather loud with its remus can. I dont notice the noise really though as my helmet blocks out alot of noise. I cant even wear a radio on my bike or a cd player as i feel weird not hearing the road. Anyone else get this?

You should ALWAYS wear earplugs on a bike. Noise levels over 85dB over a period of time will damage your hearing permanately. It's my guess that any bike with a remus can will be over this limit.

Also, I don't recommend using a CD player. It's very distracting and technically illegal I found out recently from someone. (But I may be wrong here. Someone please correct me if this isn't true).

[philblade]

I echo beanbags comments..A test many moons ago in one of the bike journals found all helmets (Arai, Shoei etc)let in ,more than around 75db of noise at 70mph if I remember the facts correctly. Now consider the decibel level at 100mph, 120mph and you can quickly see you are damaging your ears without earplugs in.

Having worked in industry for many years where noise levels are taken seriously, ear protection is usually mandatory on the shopfloor where volumes reach around the 75/80db mark.

In summary..it is not recommended to ride any bike at these speeds without some protection. Safe biking and all that..!!

[iguana]

BU5T4 said:

I dont wear ear plugs. Should i? Is it only sports bikes you need them on as they are very whiney? or should I be wearing them too? I drive an XJ600 which is rather loud with its remus can. I dont notice the noise really though as my helmet blocks out alot of noise. I cant even wear a radio on my bike or a cd player as i feel weird not hearing the road. Anyone else get this?

I couldnt get on with them to begin with- found them quite disorientating, but for high speed stuff you will damage your ears if you dont wear earplugs over the long term.

Its not the engine noise thats the issue its the wind noise.

If im just going across town & low speed local stuff I don't wear 'em, but higher speed open road stuff they are a must.

[cazzo]

iguana said:

Its not the engine noise thats the issue its the wind noise.

Exactly, I can hardly hear my exhaust at speed due to the to the wind noise (Arai) but some Helmets are better than others, my previous lid (Shoei) is much quieter than the Arai - but it's got crap ventilation.

My Arai is painful, over about 60mph, without earplugs - I use the disposable foam ones as I'm able to 'acquire' them FOC through work.

[Mad Dave]

I bought some earplugs on saturday and couldnt believe the difference they make! The only problem is, it kind of secludes you away from the elements, a bit like a car does. I also ended up riding faster as it was more comfortable.

Definately a thumbs up to earplugs though.