What ear plugs do you use.

well my hearing is now bad at 71, I put it down to

1)rock concerts (saw the classic rock show in March this year and bloody hell it was as good as ever but decibels????)
2)work, mainly the noise from 9" angle grinders cutting steel pipe, its VERY loud
3) shooting in all of its forms from pop guns, hand guns (when they were legal) to full bore centre fire rifles mainly .303.
4) motor cycle riding racing and mechanicing (in the 70's I knew if the 650 BSA outfit running a 40DCOE and a 2:1 exhaust with megaphone was on song, as when it was 100% the noise was painfull, I thought that was good. when it was a tad off, not painfull.

None of these activities saw me using ear defenders of any sort, I started using ear plugs for work a few years before I stopped, and now always do if using a grinder, and I do also a bit for motor cycle riding, it became a requirement for shooting (on ranges) about ten years ago, the damage is done and cannot be cured, the ear plugs do still offer a degree of comfort.

How is this for daft, when shooting in the field, in France, it is a requirement to wear a hi-viz tabbard so that people dont shoot each other, since records began (about 50 years) this has happenned less than 5 times in Europe, and all of them can be put down to incompetance) try "walking up" pheasants with that garb on, or stalking a boar/deer whose eysight is five times better than yours and peripheral vison of 320 degrees, the only bit they cant see out of is their arse!

Lovely picture 78Jotadave, free as a bird (and this bird you cannot change)

CLEM
 
open face helmets work fine if you put them on back to front.

I was at a shooting conference in an auditorium in London a few years ago, not that big a place more like a cozy operating theatre of old, with about 150 delagates, after about ten minutes of a bloke speaking unaided by amplification, a Jimmy Edwards type of fella, complete with waxed tash to die for, plus fours and a Harris tweed with crevat, stood up and waved his arms to cease the proceedings, and then said very loudly

"i say old chap, would you mind speaking up terribly, as we are all shooters and the majority of us are fucking deaf"
CLEM
 
Open face lids- obviously offer only protection to 3/4 of your head, noisy, rain/ sleet hurt like fuck, as do stones and insects and they make you look like Olive from On the Buses..
Full face lid basically addresses all the above with perhaps only slightly annoying misting up/ lifting visor all the time.
I tried a flip up lid ( I was actually the first UK importer of ROOF helmets) in France and ended up riding 90% of the time with the front up.
So now I’m open face man - I have been told I look like a human cannonball or a big bee- Ive been called a lot worse.
The things I love about my Davida are the fresh air, wind whatever really add to the whole riding thing and 60mph feels like 100mph. This stops me riding like a prat, which offsets any safety benefit of a full face lid. The last thing is other drivers see my face, not a plastic blob and they react differently- I give them the death stare at junctions and they wait- you can see it registering with them. The other odd thing is people talk to me, I must get twenty people say good morning to me when I’m on my first thing Sunday ride- don’t get that with a full face!
Didn’t they used to say the safest driver was the one with the spike on the steering wheel?
 
I love that spike idea, much better than an airbag to concentrate the mind. I have a Shoei Neotec 2 and it's by far the best helmet I have ever used. It is the most expensive as well. It's my first flip top, and they are certified to use both ways, front down or up. Arriving in small towns has me lift the front for a breather. Really comfy, quiet, ratchet strap, and built-in sun visor and it comes with a pin lock double visor that takes out 95% of fogging. The only time it's fogged up it was right on 0c and sleeting in Tassie and travelling at 100kph with the occasional dead tree falling on passing motorbikes, cracking the bottom air vent fixed that. Apparently, there is a Neotec 3 coming soon, I cannot see how they could improve the 2 as there just so good.
 
Alzero said:
Wearing earplugs when you are under 40 is loads better than wearing hearing aids when you are over 50. And a lot cheaper: pence vs thousands of £’s!
Click to expand...
That's for sure. Absolutely.
I use ones called Big Ear with speakers. They are plugged into my SENA intercom that is Bluetooth connected to my phone and GPS.
 
Vince said:
Apparently, there is a Neotec 3 coming soon, I cannot see how they could improve the 2 as there just so good.
Click to expand...
Well, I hope they fix the crap visor ratchet and closure latch. It's impossible to crack the visor open to get sufficient draft on the first detent position. The ratchet doesn't hold the visor firmly enough on the next position so it blows shut at low speed. The latching mechanism is very difficult to use with gloves that have any thickness to them. And I find it to be the noisiest helmet I've owned since I changed to full face a long time ago, despite altering the cheek pads to optimise the fit. Swapped to HJC which mebbe ain't quite there in terms of the quality, but it means I can easily put my specs on without having to poke a finger to try and navigate the arm around my ears.
 
I wish I had wore them early in life before I lost some of my hearing. Now I just use the common foam orange ones you can buy at any hardware store. Road noise really varies depending on the combination of helmet and wind dynamics of the motorcycle, or snowmobile etc as well as actual wind direction and velocity. I had one helmet and motorcycle combination I didnt need earplugs...it was perfectly quiet. In most riding situations the wind noise gets to me especially on longer rides. With earplugs I dont get any ringing or fatigue and can still hear traffic etc.
 
Hello young spunkers. Sorry, noble and wise gentlemen.

Just for fun, download an app (there are many) and find out how muchigh frequency sensitivity your ears have lost.

I did it recently, as i was looking at buying a fancy-pants new pair of hi-fi speakers.... Absolute waste of time.... In the upper frequencies I'm deaf! Mainly thanks to a 3:1.
 
What’s really strange is how things sound when you get your hearing corrected after so long missing the upper frequencies. Everything sounds all jangly and tinny for the first few weeks and even after wearing them for a year they still sound weird for the first few minutes of the day. And for the first minutes after taking them out at night everything sounds dead and dull.
 
Rob said:
Well, I hope they fix the crap visor ratchet and closure latch. It's impossible to crack the visor open to get sufficient draft on the first detent position. The ratchet doesn't hold the visor firmly enough on the next position so it blows shut at low speed. The latching mechanism is very difficult to use with gloves that have any thickness to them. And I find it to be the noisiest helmet I've owned since I changed to full face a long time ago, despite altering the cheek pads to optimise the fit. Swapped to HJC which mebbe ain't quite there in terms of the quality, but it means I can easily put my specs on without having to poke a finger to try and navigate the arm around my ears.
Click to expand...
That's odd, mine is the opposite. I have had trouble removing the visor and putting it back on. It's way too complicated, I do wish it had a halfway-open lower front vent. Open flows so much air even with glasses my eyes water. I have found a trick with the visor, when it's fully closed it should SNAP over a little ridge on the left side of the helmet making the visor virtually watertight. Why I know this is mine did exactly that very easily when I first bought it, and then it stopped doing it mid-Snowy ride causing a very cold draft right across my eye. Didnt matter how hard I shut the visor it wouldn't do that SNAP till I closed the visor and pulled hard at 45 degrees on the right side visor pivot causing that SNAP to happen and sealing the visor tight to the helmet. Might be teaching you to suck eggs but on mine that visor SNAP went missing for a good 6 months till I discover the trick. As I said it needs to pull over a tiny ridge on the helmet near the visor lifting lip to completely seal tight. It's hard to notice it. Let me know if this is a thing on yours. My visor is very positive on the notches, staying open on its first click. Manufacturing tolerances, slight misalignment who knows.
 
As an emergency services first responder I would never wear an open face helmet.
If I was an A&E doctor I would never ride a motorbike.
Each to their own but for the majority I think it's a matter of form over function.
 
Exmoor beast said:
Let’s face it, motorcycling is a circus trick not a serious mode of transport we all pretend it is.
Click to expand...
Motorcycling would be a lot safer if we didn't share roads with cars.
That's why there's cycling lanes, cyclist get killed or maimed a lot less by cars when they're separated from cars.
Same goes for pedestrians. There are rarely serious pedestrian injuries in strictly pedestrian zones.

Paul
 
Earasers - sound canceling ear protection.

www.earasers.net

Earasers Earplugs for Motorsports

Comfortable and hidden hearing protection. Earasers fit comfortably, even under helmets. Guaranteed not to sweat, tickle, or itch. Allows awareness of surroundings while wearing.
www.earasers.net www.earasers.net

Bought a set of these for racing. I was skeptical at first because normal levels of sound weren't muffled at all. Only when I speak does my own voice sound muffled to me. Riding the race HL500 replica (XT500 motor) with the pipe exiting to the left just behind my knee, used to pain my left ear. Sound canceling ear plugs worked for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top