Earplugs - which?

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

After an almost literally earsplitting day at Silverstone F1 testing in April, I decided to take earplugs with me yesterday. I got those little soft foam ones from Boots (the chemist's before we get into "it comes through the laceholes" jokes    ) but they seem very variable in effect dependent on how many times they were inserted and removed (oo-er missus).

What type does the WSCC collective use, both for driving and for attending race meetings?  

[S8ight]

me and my lad use THESE when we go shooting, theyre fantastic  

£65.00 a pair, custom moulded and fantastic service.

think most boots with hearing aid centres can take your molds, dleivery isny quick though. we went to see morris the guy who owns the company and had them delivered two days later  

[steve_m]

I use the little yellow foam plugs, you roll them between your fingers before inserting them and they then expand in the ear.  Work very well for me and you can even cut them in half if you want them to be less obvious and they still seem to work as well.  

About £3 for a bag of 20 pairs I think from most bike shops.

[Mrs Westy]

I find superdrug ones the best and most comfortable choice to combat a chronic snorer  

[Lurksalot]

If we have a loud gig or the rest of the band turn the amps up to 11   ,  I use these excellent little gismos

you can still here all the detail of the sound , it just reduces the db that get to the ear drum  

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Thanks all

S8ight, £65 a pair is a bit more than I intended to pay because I will use them only occasionally. I must admit, though, that when I had Bell's Palsy a few years ago and the natural attentuation mechanism of my left ear was kaput, I might have paid it had I known about them then. Even moderate noises were painful.

Lurksalot, are those US ones available here or do you import them via that website?

Mrs Westy, I shall recommend those to my other half who, quite inexplicably, actually dreams that I snore on odd occasions - wrongly of course.  

Steve_M. Those yellow ones are what I used. They do work well but seem to go out of shape after a few insertions.

[Mrs Westy]

Steve_M. Those yellow ones are what I used. They do work well but seem to go out of shape after a few insertions.

That's because you're only supposed to use them for a few insertions  

[dern]

I use max earplugs (orange ones) and I buy them in boxes of 200 for about 15 quid. I use them on the bike and used to use them in the westfield. They seem to be ok for about a week before they get grubby although if you're worried about cost you could clean them I guess but 200 is almost 4 years worth of commuting give or take.

If you go here...

http://www.safetysupplies.co.uk/trolleyed/4/

...then you'll get to where I ordered mine from and they also do a pick and mix selection so you can see which of the 4 types they do best suit you for about 14 quid.

Another possibility if you like your music is to get some shure e2c earphones. They are virtually as effective as the max ear plugs without any music on but you can listen to music through them too. The quality is excellent and they'll fit under a helmet.

Edited to add: if you PM me your address I'll send you a couple of pairs of mine to try... the max ear plugs that is, not the head phones

Regards,

Mark

[Lurksalot]

try here or do a google you'll find a few places I think even Fleabay might have some , they are really good although they might not fit under a helmet but if you don't need any clarity in the noise input just use the bung type  plugs

kev

[Lurksalot]

I must admit, though, that when I had Bell's Palsy a few years ago and the natural attentuation mechanism of my left ear was kaput, I might have paid it had I known about them then. Even moderate noises were painful.

Wow dude

Had a touch of Ramsey Hunt syndrome a couple of years back ,and had the same problem ,even the door bell sounded like your head was inside Big Ben .

Some bad sh*t, but hey ho I'm sure some have it worse

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Mark that is a very kind offer, thank you very much. It's possible that I could take you up on that.  You have given me an idea, though, one that my Good Lady quite likes and that is the in-ear headphones. Shure is a top grade brand I know and I am certainly tempted by them. My son has recently acquired an MP3 player with in-ear cans. I shall borrow those at first and get a feel for how well they work. He is, theoretically at least, half owner of, and financial contributor to, my Westfield (yeah, right!) so he won't mind if I listen to something West Coast cool on his MP3 device in the passenger seat while he frightens me shirtless from the right hand seat.  

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Introduction

In 1907, Dr James Ramsay Hunt, an American neurologist, described in the syndrome of herpes zoster associated with facial palsy as Ramsay Hunt syndrome II. A great part of the illness is Bell's palsy which itself has many causal factors and is the most common form of facial paralysis worldwide.

It has been seen that Bells palsy and Ramsay Hunt syndrome can occur at the same time but one does not necessary lead to an occurrance of the other nor are they caused by the same virus. For example, the Herpes simplex virus type 1 is found to be present in Bells palsy patients but not in Ramsay Hunt syndrome subjects. The latter are known to be affected by the varicella-zoster virus which causes shingles and is the very same virus that triggers chickenpox.

Early misdiagnosis is common but treatment methods are similar in both cases although the useful effect of steriods is currently being questioned in many medical journals. The clearest indication of a Ramsay Hunt syndrome case is the presence of lesions or blisters on the pinner of the ear leading to the eventual facial paralysis.

Funnily enough I had shingles about five years after the BH. Another day, another fact!  

[S8ight]

Thanks all

S8ight, £65 a pair is a bit more than I intended to pay because I will use them only occasionally. I must admit, though, that when I had Bell's Palsy a few years ago and the natural attentuation mechanism of my left ear was kaput, I might have paid it had I known about them then. Even moderate noises were painful.

trust me they make normal plugs seem crap in comparisson. we tried quite a few different types of plugs before we went for these.

appart from being realy comfy in your ears you can hear normal noises fine and you dont end up shouting when you want to talk to someone  

and look on the plus side, if you ever get BP again you'll have them ready to use.

i wont ask if you ended up looking like a dribbling fool when you had BP  

[dern]

Mark that is a very kind offer, thank you very much. It's possible that I could take you up on that.  You have given me an idea, though, one that my Good Lady quite likes and that is the in-ear headphones. Shure is a top grade brand I know and I am certainly tempted by them. My son has recently acquired an MP3 player with in-ear cans. I shall borrow those at first and get a feel for how well they work. He is, theoretically at least, half owner of, and financial contributor to, my Westfield (yeah, right!) so he won't mind if I listen to something West Coast cool on his MP3 device in the passenger seat while he frightens me shirtless from the right hand seat.  

The e2c phones have a set of various sized rubber skirts supplied with them so you can choose which ones fit your ear best and some foam ones too. It's that that blocks the background noise out. If you just use normal in ear headphones you'll end up turning the music up just to cover the engine/wind noise and will eventually do more damage to your ears than if you didn't use anything although this will have far less of an effect than if you were on a bike. If you shop around you should be able to get some for 50 quid.

Feel free to PM me with your address as I have a new box of ear plugs so you won't be leaving me short and I'm sure I have a stamp around here somewhere.

All the best,

Mark

[pistonbroke]

What ?

Eh?

Bugs ?

Whose bugs ?

Don't know anyone called Bugs