Stephen wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 7:45 pm .At the Milton Keynes show earlier this year i went to get ear moulds taken from Ultimate Ear for a decent set of earplugs,but my ears were checked and i had an ear infection so couldn’t be done,the same guy was at the NEC,so he checked my lug ‘oles and all was ok,got the moulds taken and have gone for plugs with the filters in,makes listening to sat nav and music better,not bothered with earplugs before,so it’ll be interesting to see how i get on,should have them before Chrimbo.

OK I know this whizzing off at a tangent, but I hope your custom earplug experience works out better than mine. I did try some (using a local company) and the earplugs didn't reduce the sound level much and were always put out of place when I put my helmet on. Someone somewhere sells 'mould it yourself' earplugs, which I tried and they were utterly useless. I've even tried the reusable plugs sold by Pinlock (and also under other brands) which can be OK, but again I find them far too easily displaced by putting my helmet on. I must have big dumbo-like floppy ears or something!

So for me, the cheap foam disposable plugs work far better than anything else, both in the level of sound reduction and in reliability. btw I find earplugs quite useful in a wide variety of situations especially in hotels etc as I'm the worlds worst sleeper and at home when the Police helicopter decides to pay us a nightime visit!

MrGrumpy wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:37 pm

OK I know this whizzing off at a tangent, but I hope your custom earplug experience works out better than mine. I did try some (using a local company) and the earplugs didn't reduce the sound level much and were always put out of place when I put my helmet on. Someone somewhere sells 'mould it yourself' earplugs, which I tried and they were utterly useless. I've even tried the reusable plugs sold by Pinlock (and also under other brands) which can be OK, but again I find them far too easily displaced by putting my helmet on. I must have big dumbo-like floppy ears or something!

So for me, the cheap foam disposable plugs work far better than anything else, both in the level of sound reduction and in reliability. btw I find earplugs quite useful in a wide variety of situations especially in hotels etc as I'm the worlds worst sleeper and at home when the Police helicopter decides to pay us a nightime visit!

Once i have received the earplugs(4 weeks from when ordered)i’ll road test them a couple of times and come back with a product report,only thing is the earplugs are due at Royal Mails busiest time so i may not even receive them until the new year and if the weather takes a turn for the worse i may not be able to get the machines out for a blast.

Steve

I have the Alpine Motosafe plugs.
About £20 ish. Absolute bargain, I’ve tried all sorts of ear protection on bikes over the years but always had problems with them. Either uncomfortable after an hour or so, too tight, too loose, too little protection or just downright rubbish.
Until I found these. For me the absolute perfect solution. Relatively cheap, very good protection, comfortable and value for money. Recommended

This subject deserves its own thread so I created one from the posts in the NEC Show thread

Some years back now the wife got me some earplugs that swimmers use. They came in a case, are handed, or eared, are washable of course, work well and I can’t think of any negatives. They were only about £2.50 , after using them for a couple of years I got her to get me a spare pair as I thought they may split or something but didn’t, so am still on the originals which must be perhaps 7 years old. They are not branded so can’t pass that on here, probably made in China which is why I didn’t think they would last. One big plus point is that I do have to push any plug I use in a long way otherwise they come loose, which is annoying as it means putting up with the noise or stopping to correct things. Anyhow, the last previous plugs, well one of them, was so far in I had trouble getting it out but thankfully managed it with tweezers . The present ones have a large flap that prevents that and are shaped , hence the handed bit. Someone with small ears, not that mine are big, could conceivably trim/shape them if required.

The handed bit could be important as that makes it less likely to get an infection or pass one that may otherwise clear up.

As Meldrew says the Alpine ones are probably the same or similar to the ones sold by Pinlock. For me, they can be good, but get dislodged too easily when I put my helmet on, and after a couple of cycles of plugs in, helmet on, helmet off, put plugs in again, I say sod it and go back to the foam ones - which do work very well for me.

Name must have rubbed off my plug case, just looked at the new ones and they are slazenger .

I used to work in a noisy environment and my then employer an American company paid for two sets of ear plugs to be made moulded to the inside of my ears they fit perfectly and I can get my helmet on/off without dislodging them they don’t block all sound just filter it to acceptable lnevel,I don’t use them or any other earplugs when riding as I don’t feel the need to.The earplugs cost £70 a pair 10 years ago don’t know the going rate now

I swear by Moldex Rockets myself. Used them for years as they seem to suit me. I have had a pair last for three months of daily use. Mind you, at the end of this I had one break in my ear, resulting in a trip to A&E to have it removed. Whoops! So being miserly didn't pay off in this case. Since then I have changed them after a month of daily use. Don't know how much they are at the moment because I haven't bought any for ages (I ride very little these days anyway) but they aren't expensive.