Earplugs while riding spyder

[NancysToy]

Scotty: Didn't your mother ever tell you not to put anything in your ears that was smaller than your elbow? :2thumbs:

No, she told me to never stick anything in my ear except my elbow.......but who listens to their mother? :roflblack:
-Scotty

 

[bone crusher]

6800s are a great way to go...use something....don't ride without them...etc...

 

[WaltH]

No, she told me to never stick anything in my ear except my elbow.......but who listens to their mother? :roflblack:
-Scotty

We must be brothers. That would explain why I love motorcycles so much.

 

[dltang]

EarPlugs revisited

Well, I had a chance to ride for about 2 hours the other day with my Howard Leight Fusion Earplugs, they started to hurt in my ears. Also, the seal of sound broke and I was getting wind noise. To keep them sealed, it seems like I had to put them in too far and they really started to bother me on the longer rides.

So back to the drawing board. I just purchased some of the disposable Hearo's that Nick Caro suggested. They are very soft, much softer than the disposable's that Brian has here. I haven't had a chance to ride in them yet, but I will be doing that today. I have to find something that works for me this week before we leave. Hard to imagine now that I rode without any plugs all the way to Valcourt and Gatlinburg last year. After just having them in this past week for my riding, if I don't put them in for short rides, I really notice a difference. I am going to try the various suggestions from this board and see what works out.

Oh on a side not, since I bought these at the local pharmacy, the cost, such as it is, was covered under my medical flexible benefits card. So was the sunscreen we purchased.

 

[baldev]

Would it not be dangerous to have ones ear blocked from hearing other vehicles on the road!!!

 

[Dudley]

We have never used earplugs, but after reading some of the posts, we bought some twist and install kind. It was about 80 miles to home and when we got home it was time. We both decided earplugs were not for us. Made us feel disoriented, like riding in a jar or partial vacuum. We don't listen to music while riding, just the sounds of nature. Guess we are just a step back from modern.hyea:

 

[draboo]

Scotty: Didn't your mother ever tell you not to put anything in your ears that was smaller than your elbow? :2thumbs:

I used to think the same, till my audiologist told me how much she charges for a thorough ear cleaning. Then out came the Q-tips.

I ve been wearing earplugs at work for 25 years. Never had a problem with any sort of infection. And the plugs would get plenty dirty, working construction, and I would still use them.

I just recently started using them while riding, thanks to my friend Jomion. I do like them. If you get the ones approved for construction standards, they do let in enough sound for you to hear a person talk in a normal voice 4 feet or so away.( unless your hearing is as bad as mine from NOT wearing them the first 15 years of construction work.:yikes

I can do without the wind whistling in my ears so I guess I ll wear them on long rides. Maybe those with full faced helmets might not get as much noise.

 

[nater1]

evryone is different in the senses I guess that would explain it

I love the sound of the wind, and that is why I wear I open face helmet when it is above 40*f. In 20 years of riding I have never had a issue with wind.
My open exhaust on my chopper with a full face helmet just drives me crazy so I understand ear torment. It is like you can not even focus it is so bother some.
Forget water boarding go right to ear hairs, and drum vibration it will make anyone confess.:clap:

 

[Cundiffla]

Well I just turn off my hearing aid "cochlear implant" or plug my music into the implant and listen to the music. Wonderful piece of medical device. For years I couldn't hear, I wore hearing aid all of my life until I lost what little hearing I had to ear infection. About eleven years ago had surgury done and voila there is sound! So I agree if you have hearing protect it the best one can. If not make sure to have GOOD insurance. But the wonders of hearing implant I can turn off anytime!

 

[quackerz]

I found nothing that felt comfortable to use until I tried the custom fit earplugs. They work great at the firearms range so I had one made for my bluetooth ear piece. I did have to have a filter fit into that one because even with the volume all the way down it was too loud. They can also fit them to your Ipod earbuds. I never thought to use them for riding pps:.
Thanks again for more useful info. I love this website.

quackerz

 

[effgjamis]

Well I just turn off my hearing aid "cochlear implant" or plug my music into the implant and listen to the music. Wonderful piece of medical device. For years I couldn't hear, I wore hearing aid all of my life until I lost what little hearing I had to ear infection. About eleven years ago had surgury done and voila there is sound! So I agree if you have hearing protect it the best one can. If not make sure to have GOOD insurance. But the wonders of hearing implant I can turn off anytime!

Yeah....SA....... I bet your wife knows when to slip up on you and give you a head bash...:roflblack::roflblack::joke:

 

[Lamonster]

As a long time sufferer of Tinnitus, I always use "Hearos" brand, 33 dBa reduction, available at drug stores and Walmart, the package comes with a small plastic container that holds two and keeps them clean.


Ear plus are also handy for concerts and when the spouse plays CW music in the car on long road trips. :gaah:

The reason I have a bad case of Tinnitus is because I got caught in a wind storm coming back from a Grand Canyon trip with a half helmet and no ear plugs. I loss 80% of my hearing for a week and thought it would never come back. I'm not sure what my hearing is now but I'm guessing a 50% loss and the ringing is so loud that I think other people should be able to hear it coming from my ears. nojoke

That was one of the worst days of my life and I will pay for it till the day I die. :sour:

 

[bone crusher]

If you do not wear ear plugs here is a link you should check out. If you do a search I'm sure there are many good sites that would be educational.

http://www.zianet.com/rcmedic/know.asp

I wear ear plugs just riding to work, about a 15 min. ride. It is so important to wear hearing protection while doing a lot of things for more than 20 min. at a time(mowing lawn, running a chain saw, vacuuming). I love listening to music and watching movies with the great sound that is produced. Without good hearing I would not be able to hear the delicate sounds in music or movies. Everyone hears the guitar and drums, the machine guns and explosions. I want to hear it all.
I use the yellow foam plugs, not because they're cheap but because they work for me and have a great noise reduction rating. I'm 54 years young and still have good hearing. The only time I notice a little hearing loss is when my wife speaks to me, go figure.

:agree: This isn't even a debate...there is NO side to NOT wearing ear plugs. Either you wear them or you'll go deaf earlier...no way around it...

 

[bone crusher]

Would it not be dangerous to have ones ear blocked from hearing other vehicles on the road!!!

Not a good reason to not wear them. You're looking at over 130db without a full face shield and about 110db with a full face shield. Anything over 90db will cause deafness...

Plugs will reduce by about 30db, depending on which you get...some are more.

They only block 'white' noise...you can hear everything just fine...

 

[Zerocool]

Picked up a pair of ear plugs last year at a music shop, same as drummers use, about $10 w/a case.

Always wear them when highway riding. I just wet them (a little spit) and pop them in; I don't use the cord they provide... a bit dangerous on the :spyder: IMHO.

 

[NancysToy]

Would it not be dangerous to have ones ear blocked from hearing other vehicles on the road!!!

I have never found that to be the case. I actually seem to hear approaching traffic better, due to the lack of the distracting noises. This is especially true after riding many miles, when being without earplugs actually causes temporary hearing loss. Nice to be able to hear a normal conversation after riding. Earplugs even help make obnoxious, loud mufflers more tolerable to the rider. They do not drown out sound completely, they only reduce the volume of the stronger noises, especially at the far ends of the audible frequencies.
-Scotty

 

[bone crusher]

I have never found that to be the case. I actually seem to hear approaching traffic better, due to the lack of the distracting noises. This is especially true after riding many miles, when being without earplugs actually causes temporary hearing loss. Nice toi be able to hear a normal conversation after riding. Earplugs even help make obnoxious, loud mufflers more tolerable to the rider. They do not drown out sound completely, they only reduce the volume of the stronger noises, especially at the far ends of the audible frequencies.
-Scotty

:agree: I call it the 'white' noise...or the background noise from all the airflow...I can hear my navigation, music, etc... better with the plugs as all the extra stuff is filtered out...I use the 6800s and recommend them...drops the dbs by 33...that's quite good...I use them several times without a problem...got a box of 200 pair on Amazon for about 24.00 delivered...

 

[bjt]

I have never found that to be the case. I actually seem to hear approaching traffic better, due to the lack of the distracting noises. This is especially true after riding many miles, when being without earplugs actually causes temporary hearing loss. Nice to be able to hear a normal conversation after riding. Earplugs even help make obnoxious, loud mufflers more tolerable to the rider. They do not drown out sound completely, they only reduce the volume of the stronger noises, especially at the far ends of the audible frequencies.
-Scotty

:agree: I call it the 'white' noise...or the background noise from all the airflow...I can hear my navigation, music, etc... better with the plugs as all the extra stuff is filtered out...I use the 6800s and recommend them...drops the dbs by 33...that's quite good...I use them several times without a problem...got a box of 200 pair on Amazon for about 24.00 delivered...

:agree: The overall volume of all sounds are reduced slightly but conversation, music, traffic should be able to be heard as well as it was heard without earplugs. By reducing all the extraneous wind noise, some of the other sounds may seem to stand out more. Also, earplugs can have different frequencies that they are more effective at. Finding ones that are "tuned" properly for one's use could make the difference between liking them or hating them.

 

[dltang]

:agree: The overall volume of all sounds are reduced slightly but conversation, music, traffic should be able to be heard as well as it was heard without earplugs. By reducing all the extraneous wind noise, some of the other sounds may seem to stand out more. Also, earplugs can have different frequencies that they are more effective at. Finding ones that are "tuned" properly for one's use could make the difference between liking them or hating them.

So far what I have found, with the Hearos, they are the most comfortable of all the plugs I have tried. They are way softer than the disposables that Brian has from work. They do a fairly decent job with the wind an muffler noise too and I can hear my music very clearly. I am getting a reverberating sound in my right ear when I wear these that I did not get from any of the other plugs I tried. At this point I will probably just stick with the Hearos for now and take a couple of my other pair with on my trip and I can rotate them as I like or need depending on comfort and wind noise and such.

 

[Questions]

S-Plugs

If you enjoy helmet speakers it destroys the fun when you put in ear plugs. If you would like to maintain your music and reduce wind noise you can try S-plugs. These ear plugs have micro speakers build into them and the sound so much better than helmet speakers ever could. The cord has a 3.5 mm male plug on the end to fit in most mp3 players and GPS units. They are not cheap but they are very comfortable and sound great while blocking almost all the unwanted wind noise. Here is the link,

http://plugup.com/cart/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9&zenid=05da05694f940a223aed576649da71b3

Ducman