Hearing protection

Should wear them more often than I do. Long range fast trips I always do ie motorway jaunts. Just use slightly pointy soft foam factory types about £15 for a box of millions!
You need to hear engine and emergency vehics. Oh the embarrassment factor of the missed gear! Or the gesticulating ambulance driver!

The girl at the Sainsbury's petrol counter looked at me like I was deaf the other day when I said pardon? I then told her I had ear plugs in which I don't think helped! I'll bet she still thinks I'm either deaf or deaf AND stupid!

http://www.aces.uk.com/13/Ear-plugs/Earsoft-FX/

These are the type I use and you can barely hear the engine with them in. No wind roar but a bumpy road causes a weird thumpy sound which is a bit annoying till you get used to it! Not tried them with the SV yet....wonder if the V vibes will be intrusive? Hmmm!

Originally Posted by graemepaterson

My missus dad told me to wait until the bike show to get some of the moulded ones, they take a mould of your inner ear then at the end of the day you pick up your ear plugs.

£45 for the basic ones I believe, but you can also get ones with noise filter built in that let certain sounds in so you can hear people talking to you.

I'm going to get some of these with the speakers in I think. Having headphones blaring in to your ears on the motorway at full volume can't be good!

£45 for earplugs???? For that much money I would expect a 10 year supply mate!
When for about 19p per pair you can shut out a pneumatic drill at 2 paces!
What a gigantic rip-off!

[northwind]

You're having a laugh... £45 for a pair that'll last 5 years, that is. 20p for a pair of disposables is £50 a year, if you actually do dispose of 'em daily as you're supposed to. The fitted ones are usually more comfortable, too, and easier to fit (well, mine aren't, one of the molds seems to have gone a bit wrong, but I've got a money back guarantee and I'll get another set made)

Also, total blocking's pretty simple. Reducing high frequencies, wind noise etc while still letting you hear fire engines, other cars, your own bike if it starts to rattle etc, that's not so easy.

[glade]

Work in a factory and get a free supply and a chace to try a few different ones.

My favorite one-use ones are laser lites (rhubarb and custard) - these came out top in a Bike mag test. You have to really squish them and get them right in the ear, but when you figure out how to get them in they are very comfortable and make it almost silent.

I also occasionally get Howard Leight "quiet" plugs which are an orange moulding with a blue stick. these are easy to insert and re-use a few times. They also come in individual packs which is quite handy.

I only use them on motorway runs though, can't be bothered the rest of the time.

You're having a laugh... £45 for a pair that'll last 5 years, that is. 20p for a pair of disposables is £50 a year

So just remind me again dude...what do you do with these £45 earplugs when they require cleaning to remain hygenic and avoid ear infections? Clean them?

You don't throw things away if there's no need to. Whats the point? The manufacturer tells you to throw them away with stories of your head exploding in a big ball of puss so they sell you more earplugs. Why not clean them, you are going to be washing those £45 ones anyway!!!

I've been washing and reusing earplugs for 20 years and never had an ear infection.
I throw them away after a few washes cos they lose their ability to puff up.
A little biological on a 40 degree and they come out looking like new.
If its good enough for a babies bibs and nappies its good enough for my earplugs!

Its new EU directives innit? All the factories have gone health & safety bonkers! You do a quick search to look up general prices of ear plugs and you are met with an astonishing array of hyper-expensive blobs of wax & plastic foam. All you need to do is 'REDUCE' the noise so its not damaging and you can still hear stuff going on around you.
The industry scares you with statistics about how 1 in 4 of us will be stone deaf by the time we retire. Yes thats true...its called getting old!!
Then they fleece the living daylights out of people to the tune of £45 for two blobs of gunk which probably cost them 4p.

Look at it this way Northwind, if the cheapo ones that I use are a 'legal' requirement in noisy factories where people are subjected to horrendous noise levels for 8 or more hours 5 days a week, then surely they are good enough for a quick blast down the M6, and if you use them to get to and from work they only need cleaning once a week. Unless you have exceedingly waxy tabs!!

Originally Posted by RhythmJunkie

So just remind me again dude...what do you do with these £45 earplugs when they require cleaning to remain hygenic and avoid ear infections? Clean them?

You don't throw things away if there's no need to. Whats the point? The manufacturer tells you to throw them away with stories of your head exploding in a big ball of puss so they sell you more earplugs. Why not clean them, you are going to be washing those £45 ones anyway!!!

I've been washing and reusing earplugs for 20 years and never had an ear infection.
I throw them away after a few washes cos they lose their ability to puff up.
A little biological on a 40 degree and they come out looking like new.
If its good enough for a babies bibs and nappies its good enough for my earplugs!

Its new EU directives innit? All the factories have gone health & safety bonkers! You do a quick search to look up general prices of ear plugs and you are met with an astonishing array of hyper-expensive blobs of wax & plastic foam. All you need to do is 'REDUCE' the noise so its not damaging and you can still hear stuff going on around you.
The industry scares you with statistics about how 1 in 4 of us will be stone deaf by the time we retire. Yes thats true...its called getting old!!
Then they fleece the living daylights out of people to the tune of £45 for two blobs of gunk which probably cost them 4p.

Look at it this way Northwind, if the cheapo ones that I use are a 'legal' requirement in noisy factories where people are subjected to horrendous noise levels for 8 or more hours 5 days a week, then surely they are good enough for a quick blast down the M6, and if you use them to get to and from work they only need cleaning once a week. Unless you have exceedingly waxy tabs!!

you're a very argumentative man...

I think northwind was suggesting that all noise can be blocked out easily - a la earplugs designed for workplaces. But custom earplugs can be designed with filters in to control what you do and don't hear, which is important when driving.

Custom earplugs are also made out of a different material than disposable ones which lend themselves well to being cleaned. Foam ones will stay damp and harbour bacteria. £45 is a little price to pay for one of your senses, and comfort everyday.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by RhythmJunkie

You don't throw things away if there's no need to. Whats the point? The manufacturer tells you to throw them away with stories of your head exploding in a big ball of puss so they sell you more earplugs. Why not clean them, you are going to be washing those £45 ones anyway!!!

Look at it this way Northwind, if the cheapo ones that I use are a 'legal' requirement in noisy factories where people are subjected to horrendous noise levels for 8 or more hours 5 days a week, then surely they are good enough for a quick blast down the M6, and if you use them to get to and from work they only need cleaning once a week. Unless you have exceedingly waxy tabs!!

I reused a foam one for a week and got an ear infection... Obviously that gets worse if you ever mix them up, which lets be honest, you will. Dismiss it as an industry myth if you want, that seems to be one of your hobbies but loads of people have found the same. It's not about wax, incidentally, it's an infection vector but not an infection cause. An earplug can be waxy and perfectly safe, or visibly clean and carrying all sorts of nasties. Disposables don't wash well as they're so porous, of course. Reusables are designed to be cleaned.

Also, hearing loss is a proven risk of long-term biking. If you do 100 miles every second weekend then it's probably not relevant, but if you ride any number of miles at speed then it's not if, it's when, especially with a heavily vented helmet- today's race rep lids are louder than at any time before, as insane as it sounds.

As for the volume, I already answered that, should i do it again? I wouldn't ride with a patch on one eye, and I won't ride with heavy industry earplugs.

I also didn't mention ease of use, it takes about a second to properly fit a custom fitted plug, it takes longer'n that to open the bag on disposables.

you're a very argumentative man...

Who me?

The industry hobby! Yes, I guess it has become a bit of a hobby but my kids are not going to go without because some fat-cat industry geezer is just plain greedy!
Junior can have his bike 'and' daddy can have his bike as well but not if Mr Industry rips off daddy too many times!

Northwind: Yes your ears need protecting against wind roar which can be very damaging.
I wear them to protect.

An ear infection though is probably due to bacteria from your fingers not the earplug!
Always wash your hands thoroughly before inserting anything in your ears.....ooer!
Some people are more susceptible to infections than others though, my youngest son is but then he never washes his hands, see my point?

...and before anyone has a go, I'm not saying N'wind never washes his hands...picky...picky...you could even pick up an infection from a washroom, tap, door or handle, motorway services are just yucky!


(breathes sigh of relief...almost had them thinking you were argumentative their Rhythm!)