Earplugs

[Scott9999]

I guess that this could have gone under the "Riding Well" section, but here it is.

 

I am looking around at helmets, and as always, I picked up on unrelated stuff that makes my shopping far more time consuming.  I've heard about the need or value for ear plugs in passing, over the years.  I've never worn them.  I have some hearing loss, but I'm quite sure that's more from my time aboard US Navy ships where the average sound almost anywhere seemed to be above 100 DB, and many times, much higher.  But I digress.

 

Found this interesting and informative article on the subject, so I'm sharing it for y'all.

 

https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/advice/biking-tips/what_are_best_motorcycle_earplugs_protect_hearing_custom_foam

 

 

[Hosstage]

The best ear plugs are the ones you'll use.

[Skywagon]

I’ve been wearing ear plugs since 2000. Won’t ride without them. When I first started wearing them I didn’t like the muted normal sounds of the bike and traffic. It didn’t take long to adjust

 

If we go to a restaurant, movie, or other place where noise is annoying, we put them in. My best friend plays the radio in his car to an annoying level. I wear plugs. Problem solved. He’s happy and so am I

[dirtrider]

Morning  Scott9999

 

Ear plugs are one of those things that I REALLY REALLY REALLY wished I had started wearing earlier in my life.  (before I actually had irreversible hearing loss).

 

I have been wearing ear plugs for every ride since the 1990's but that was way too late in my riding/shooting/mowing/farm equipment/loud engines/pneumatic tools/etc life.

 

I now use ear plugs (religiously) for just about anything loud or hearing damaging, but that only protects what little hearing I have left, doesn't bring back the hearing I lost being stupid from the 1950's to the 1990's.

 

I raced snowmobiles in my younger days with snappy 2 strokes with expansion chambers with the open stingers ending right beside me. A couple of times I returned to the pits with  blood coming out of my ears (still too stupid to wear ear plugs).

 

Even in the service we were issued cheap (pretty useless) ear plugs but most of us were too dumb to use them when shooting or using loud equipment.  

 

My suggestion (based on experience) is for EVERYONE to use ear plugs when riding as early in their riding career as possible, if they don't then by the time they discover hearing loss it is too darn late to get it back & it gets worse as they get older. 

 

As I look back one of the biggest mistakes in my life was in not using proper ear protection early in my life. 

[Lowndes]

Scott,

 

You are really getting into this "riding" stuff!!  It is fun exploring all the nuances and aspects of the addiction.

 

Thanks for that link.  I agree with his conclusions.  Well written and concise.  

 

Much experimenting has shown me several things:

 

A very small hole can let in a lot of sound (noise) to your ear.

 

A wire or cord/lanyard will transmit sound directly to your ear.

 

ALL helmets have at least on "hole", it's the one you poke your head into, and THAT'S where most of the outside sound enters - around your neck.

 

The soft foam 3M E-A-R Soft FX type make my ears hurt in less than 1 hour.

 

The "firm foam" disposable 3M Classic have the best numbers and can be worn all day and night very comfortably.

 

The "firm foam" disposable 3M Classic "corded" (with the cord cut short) are much easier to remove.   

 

If you leave the disposable earplugs in your pants pocket they come out of the wash nice and clean. 

 

Ear "buds" (in-ear speakers) are a closely related topic.

[Hosstage]

My brother uses the moldable putty ear "plugs", foam plugs just don't fit for him.  A friend also mentioned EarPlane plugs, he's a musician and rider, so he's half deaf now, but says those work well for him, can still hear but damaging noise is filtered. I've not tried them yet.

As much as the protection ear plugs offer, I find I get much less fatigued during longer trips.

[Scott9999]

2 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Morning  Scott9999

 

Ear plugs are one of those things that I REALLY REALLY REALLY wished I had started wearing earlier in my life.  (before I actually had irreversible hearing loss).

 

I have been wearing ear plugs for every ride since the 1990's but that was way too late in my riding/shooting/mowing/farm equipment/loud engines/pneumatic tools/etc life.

 

I now use ear plugs (religiously) for just about anything loud or hearing damaging, but that only protects what little hearing I have left, doesn't bring back the hearing I lost being stupid from the 1950's to the 1990's.

 

I raced snowmobiles in my younger days with snappy 2 strokes with expansion chambers with the open stingers ending right beside me. A couple of times I returned to the pits with  blood coming out of my ears (still too stupid to wear ear plugs).

 

Even in the service we were issued cheap (pretty useless) ear plugs but most of us were too dumb to use them when shooting or using loud equipment.  

 

My suggestion (based on experience) is for EVERYONE to use ear plugs when riding as early in their riding career as possible, if they don't then by the time they discover hearing loss it is too darn late to get it back & it gets worse as they get older. 

 

As I look back one of the biggest mistakes in my life was in not using proper ear protection early in my life. 

I have always used ear protection with tools, shooting, etc., probably a habit since my safety-conscious Navy days.  (5 inch 38's can convince ya pretty dang quick, as well as sailors grinding off non-skid right over your freaking quarters.  Silence on a Navy ship, like when ya go DIW-dead-in-the-water, is uncomfortably eerie. 24/7, a Navy ship is a factory of noise.  But, I digress ... )

I just grew up riding (dirtbikes) without hearing protection (hey, we had helmets, right, so that should be enough!).   Never really thought to add ear plugs.  No one we rode with ever did.

 

I've got a Cardo unit, which will be new for me.  However, after some (prior) thought on the issue, and the link I posted, it seems stupid not to.  I'll probably start with the 3M foam types, and adjust from there.

 

Mainly just shared the link, 'cause I thought some of us might find it useful (and of course, somewhat entertaining).

 

Thanks all, for the feedback.

[duckbubbles]

2 hours ago, dirtrider said:

Morning  Scott9999

 

Ear plugs are one of those things that I REALLY REALLY REALLY wished I had started wearing earlier in my life.  (before I actually had irreversible hearing loss).

I totally agree! 

 

Frank

[wbw6cos]

I use Howard Leight by Honeywell; 

 

I bought a box so I can loose a few, let some go through laundry, etc.   They are disposable, but I use them quite a few times until they get dirty, or they do not return to shape, or when Laura brings them to me after an inadvertent wash cycle in a shirt pocket.  HA!

[realshelby]

I agree with all the posts above about the importance of ear plugs. I started using them in my teens running heavy equipment ( some of those were diesels with NO mufflers ).

There are a LOT of choices in foam earplugs. They all fit and work a bit different. They are cheap, so buy a bunch and try each. The 3M and Howard Leight are couple that seem above average. 

But by far the quietest and most comfortable are a set of custom made silicon earplugs I have. I can wear them all day with no discomfort. 

[narcosis]

I've been using earplugs since 1978 when I ended up working around jet engines and associated equipment.  With dozens of earplug brands and compositions under my belt, Howard Leight Quiet earplugs are the best I've ever used.  The ones I use are latex (or some rubbery substance) with the solid stem in the middle.  The stem lets you push the earplug in to obtain the perfect seal.  They will lose their elasticity after a while but I get more than a month's worth out of each pair.  I buy them by the box.

[Rinkydink]

I played music semi professionally for over 30 years and always wore earplugs. Cymbals are the worst. I use the foam kind and wash them in my wife’s zippered lingerie bag in the washer and dry them too. They cut (supposedly) 29db but washing them probably lowers that number a bit. I figure anything is better than nothing. 

[Michiganr80rt]

I've used foam ear plugs for several years. Last year my son gave me EarPeace plugs. I like them. They let some of the traffic sounds in but block the wind noise. They are comfortable for all day rides. And, most important, I have not lost one yet. I clean them every few weeks and they still seem good after a years riding.

 

https://www.earpeace.com/pages/earpeace-moto

[RecentConvert]

FWIW, the article is mostly correct.  However, because of fit, movement and other factors you cannot simply subtract the rating from the source volume and call it good.  Professional monitoring services for industrial locations often use a factor of 50% of the rating to get to a final exposure number.   So 110 db  source with a plug rated at 30 db yields an "as used" exposure of 95 db.   We often use muffs over plugs for really loud environments.  Can't do that in a helmet.

 

Get the highest rated plug you can find, be certain it fits, be extra certain it is installed correctly.  

 

I use Howard Leight green plug in my left ear and 3M in my right ear, because the canals are different.

 

 

[VaR1200RT]

I have two sets of custom molded ear plugs. I can't wear them with my helmet for very long because they start hurting after about an hour from the helmet pressing on my ears,

I have No-Noise ear plugs that are comfortable all day long with the helmet.  Like others have said, you must wear the ear plugs for them to be effective, so find what is comfortable for you to wear.

[Sailorlite]

I think our favorite dealers could sponsor earplug events where a good earplug molder/vendor could set up his/her bench for a day once or twice a year.  For me only the custom molded plugs seem to be comfortable and effective.

[MichiganBob]

About 25 years ago, my wife got her Master's Degree in Speech Pathology. She had to take an audiology class and round up three volunteers for the hearing booth. She choose me which is a form of volunteering I guess. She and the instructor sat outside the booth just smiling and gigling. When I came out, he asked to see my hands and went over the palms. He said that you do not have the hands of a factory or equipment worker so it must be motorcycling that caused your hearing loss. He took out a graph and showed me where I was. He said that I would be most affected in places with a lot of ambient noise, high ceilings, many windows, crowded rooms. And he was right. I immediately started wearing earplugs and now wear them religiously and use high end ear muffs for mowing, sawing, powerpraying, shop vac ... all of the things that make a lot of noise. Had my ears checked last year, and lo and behold, no significant change from 25 years back . I've become a true believer. I like the soft foam ones from Howard Leight Max-1. Also have been satisfied with the Laser Lite's from Leight. I mouth them first and get them wet for a better seal. You can tell the difference when they are wet. 

 

MichiganBob

[Grouchy]

Bought eargasm plugs, mostly because of the name.  They are just ok but I keep using them because the name makes me chuckle.😏

In all seriousness, I never found an earplug that was comfortable all day.

[Dennis Andress]

I've found these to be all day comfortable. 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X26Z1L2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

On 12/21/2021 at 4:28 PM, MichiganBob said:

I like the soft foam ones from Howard Leight Max-1.

 

+1.  Box of 200 individually wrapped pairs, $30.  Just fifteen cents a pair, grab a handful in a zip-loc bag before a moto trip, use a fresh pair each day.  NRR of 33, pretty much the best you can get.  I keep a box of these in the basement for power tool use, and another box in the garage for moto and lawn mowing. 

[lawnchairboy]

+2

[Hosstage]

Luckily I get all the earplugs I need from work (the work part isn't lucky), get them by the boxful, 500 pair, 3M max orange plugs. Takes a while to get thru a box. Keep a stash in the saddlebags for me and handouts to others, and in the house and travel bag for sleeping.