My Favorite Ear Protection

[gixxerjasen]

Also remember: If you go on a trip and room with any of these Forum guys, make sure you have plugs. Many here snore like chainsaws. There's a couple guys here I love like brothers, but Jeebus...

Yup yup, room with me and you'll need them!

 

[rbentnail]

https://www.earfuze.com/store.html

 

[escapefjrtist]

Moldex Pura-Fit 6800

Best fit I've found for this Dumbo!

--G

 

[Fred W]

I have Etymotic hf5 earbuds and can easily wear them all day. They sound great and are supposed to have 42 dB noise isolation.

Just so that you realize, there is not a chance in the world that this is true. Clicky

 

[John d]

I have Etymotic hf5 earbuds and can easily wear them all day. They sound great and are supposed to have 42 dB noise isolation.

Just so that you realize, there is not a chance in the world that this is true. Clicky

So they're liars eh? Who'd a thought those marketers would do something like that?

I'm still quite happy with the noise isolation they do provide, and have always had a better experience with earbuds, than helmet speakers with or without ear plugs.

 

[Bungie]

My buddy Jim who I roomed with at the last Ramble. Jeebuz! I've shared rooms with a lot of guys on trips over the years, but none of them can even come close the racket he makes. I can't even fake a snore that loud. If it weren't for ear plugs I would've had to get another room.

Also remember: If you go on a trip and room with any of these Forum guys, make sure you have plugs. Many here snore like chainsaws. There's a couple guys here I love like brothers, but Jeebus...

 

[Warpdrv]

Warpdv, there's a reason some ranges require over the ear protection. The pressure waves and noise will cause serious damage to your ears whether they are plugged or not. You should see how many older guys I shoot with that have lost significant hearing. Now they all "double plug" like me. Plugs in and muffs on.
Also, don't depend on suppressors to reduce sound and pressure enough to protect your ears. We still use protection when we use suppressed weapons. For a couple shots, it's prolly ok, but I wouldn't do it over prolonged use.

I've yet to see a suppressed pistol that doesn't report. It's not like TV. Rifles are even worse. From a few feet away, my .308 is great, but its still too loud for the user.

removed......

 

[wheatonFJR]

Maybe there should be thread for guns here.... seems theres something for everything else.. LOL

I seriously doubt that there's ever been a thread on here about guns. Nobody on this board carries or uses them.

But this is an awesome thread on ear protection.

Let's not fook it up with guns.

 

[Fred W]

I have Etymotic hf5 earbuds and can easily wear them all day. They sound great and are supposed to have 42 dB noise isolation.

Just so that you realize, there is not a chance in the world that this is true. Clicky

So they're liars eh? Who'd a thought those marketers would do something like that?

I'm still quite happy with the noise isolation they do provide, and have always had a better experience with earbuds, than helmet speakers with or without ear plugs.

Q: How do you know when a marketing person is lying?

A: When his lips are moving.

Their web page actually says: "35-42 dB", but I wouldn't even believe the lower 35 number. It takes a seriously good earplug to attenuate 33 dB and these can not be equivalent to a seriously good earplug since they have an audio driver and sound port running right through the middle of them. I'm sure they do a good job of attenuating and the acoustic quality is probably excellent, but their specsmanship is sub-par.

 

[majicmaker]

Maybe there should be thread for guns here.... seems theres something for everything else.. LOL

I seriously doubt that there's ever been a thread on here about guns. Nobody on this board carries or uses them.But this is an awesome thread on ear protection.Let's not fook it up with guns.

I'll second that motion!

 

[kaosbandit]

Some great suggestions in this thread. Keep it coming!

 

[WBill]

I have Etymotic hf5 earbuds and can easily wear them all day. They sound great and are supposed to have 42 dB noise isolation.

Just so that you realize, there is not a chance in the world that this is true. Clicky

So they're liars eh? Who'd a thought those marketers would do something like that?

I'm still quite happy with the noise isolation they do provide, and have always had a better experience with earbuds, than helmet speakers with or without ear plugs.

Q: How do you know when a marketing person is lying?

A: When his lips are moving.

Their web page actually says: "35-42 dB", but I wouldn't even believe the lower 35 number. It takes a seriously good earplug to attenuate 33 dB and these can not be equivalent to a seriously good earplug since they have an audio driver and sound port running right through the middle of them. I'm sure they do a good job of attenuating and the acoustic quality is probably excellent, but their specsmanship is sub-par.

Not to mention the fact that although your Etymotics block some of the ambient noise, you replace it with whatever sound, such as music, you are delivering directly to your tympanic membranes at a hearing level high enough to mask whatever ambient noise remains audible. WBill

 

[Queensland Ken]

It's part of an Audiologists tests to place a transducer on various areas of your noggin and induce a sound through your skull, bypassing your middle ears.

About the best SLC rating I've seen is around 30 dB using noise cancelling headphones and ear plugs.

 

[wheatonFJR]

It's part of an Audiologists tests to place a transducer on various areas of your noggin and induce a sound through your skull, bypassing your middle ears.About the best SLC rating I've seen is around 30 dB using noise cancelling headphones and ear plugs.

Is that what they call "chin music"?

 

[bwv]

 

[Fly Bye]

I have been using the Howard Leight "MAX".

Yep, they are the orange foam ones, noise reduction rating at 33 decibles.

I have used several versions of both foam and plyable wax and find the HL Max best for comfort and noise reduction.

I never ride without them.

 

[Harald]

I have been using the Howard Leight "MAX".Yep, they are the orange foam ones, noise reduction rating at 33 decibles.

I have used several versions of both foam and plyable wax and find the HL Max best for comfort and noise reduction.

I never ride without them.

I tried those in my helmet, but they worked TOO good. I could no longer hear my Sena SMH10 speakers at full volume. They are my "go to" plugs for sleeping in noisy areas though.

In order to hear my helmet speakers, I had to step back to the old standby EAR yellow foam cylinder earplugs. They are still a 29dB rated plug.

I tend to drop plugs also. Haven't done the toilet trick yet, but even a pavement drop ends the life of that plug. So even when commuting around town, I carry at least one spare set. On road trips, there's numerous spares in the bag and also the "snore avoidance" MAX plugs!

 

[Fred W]

I have been using the Howard Leight "MAX".Yep, they are the orange foam ones, noise reduction rating at 33 decibles.

I have used several versions of both foam and plyable wax and find the HL Max best for comfort and noise reduction.

I never ride without them.

I tried those in my helmet, but they worked TOO good. I could no longer hear my Sena SMH10 speakers at full volume. They are my "go to" plugs for sleeping in noisy areas though.

Were you aware that there is a way to increase the maximum volume from your Sena headset? I forget the exact sequence, and it is only a single step that it can be incremented, but I cranked mine up and it seems adequate with 33 dB plugs in.

 

[gixxerjasen]

I tend to drop plugs also. Haven't done the toilet trick yet, but even a pavement drop ends the life of that plug. So even when commuting around town, I carry at least one spare set. On road trips, there's numerous spares in the bag and also the "snore avoidance" MAX plugs!

Yep, me too now. Seems whenever I take a trip I stash some. I have rarely used them or removed them from their stash place. I've got spares in my inside jacket pockets, top box, under the seat and in my tank bag. Next I'll put some in the locking glove box.

 

[Checkswrecks]

I generally just stay with a better set of SkullCandy earbuds and use them at the gym, riding, and music off to shut out office noise. Not sexy and any of the foamies do better for protection, but I break or lose a set a set of earbuds every 6 months or so, and can't justify another set of really good ones with that loss rate.

Then I got the ear aches. We are talking SERIOUS pain! Cutting a long story short, anything that blocks your ear also holds crap in that will create an ear infection.

The ear doc said that the answer is simply soap and cheap ol' hydrogen peroxide. His "prescription" was simply to wash the earbuds daily (I get to it every few days when I remember) and to use the hy-peroxide in the shower to flush out the ear canal every day till the pain stopped and then every few days. I get to it about once a week and it's strange to hear the bubbling against the ear drum as it also cleans out the wax. But I haven't had a recurrence since.

I'm sure the little nasties love to grow in foam, so I toss those after every use or two.