Earplugs while riding

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Wreck · #1 Unread post by **Wreck** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:45 am

Who uses earplugs when they ride to protect their hearing from being damaged by wind noise?

If so, what sort, and are they any good? Can you still talk to people with them in if you stop for gas with your helmet still on?

Zagnut · #2 Unread post by **Zagnut** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:41 am

I use them 100% of the time. I love them. I use the little disposable foam kind you squish and put into your ears, you can get them cheap at most equipment rental places or home depot or places like that. I use them over and over for about a month until they get nasty. Sometimes they even get forgotten in my jeans pocket and they go through the wash which cleans them pretty well. After about a month or so they get to where they wear out and wont stay compressed long enough to fit into your ear...thats when I chunk them.

You can hear people talk to you while they are in but of course you cant hear as well as if you didn't have them in your ears. If I have to go inside the store, I will take them out but if someone talks to me at the pump I leave them in and can still hear enough to get by. While riding, though, you can actually hear better than if you didnt have any in. They cut out the wind noise so you hear other car's engines and horns, and sirens and stuff better than if you were just listening to the wind.

...and finally, after I'm done riding and I take them out, I can hear perfectly... if I ride without them, after listening to the wind scream in my ears for a couple hours, my ears are ringing for the rest of the day.... No ear ringing afterwards when I use the plugs... and that is the main reason I use them.

Wreck · #3 Unread post by **Wreck** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:23 am

Ah good stuff. Yeah I got quite bad tinnitus from riding without earplugs for a few years. I'm sure a couple of 10 hour trips on the bike really didn't help things either.

I stumbled across these earplugs a while back from EarBuddies (http://www.earbuddies.ca) that don't muffle sound. Wear em whenever I'm riding now! They drop the wind noise enough to protect your hearing, but don't muffle sound so you can still talk to people easily with them in. Real lifesaver!

MTexile · #4 Unread post by **MTexile** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:25 am

I would start out with the disposable foam ones at first and go from there to see if they work for you. I don't have your problem. Videotaping M1 tanks shooting, explosions, machine-guns firing, etc. took care of my hearing after a few years in the Army...

RockBottom · Mon Apr 06, 2009 11:39 am

There is a big difference in quality among foam ones. I never found the drugstore ones very useful. I'm a big fan of Moldex Pura Fit.

http://www.amazon.com/Moldex-Pura-Fit-E ... 419&sr=8-1

I have a very quiet bike and helmet, so I don't normally use the plugs to commute (which is less than ten minutes) or running errands around town. I always use them for longer recreational rides.

Whitetiger018 · Mon Apr 06, 2009 12:38 pm

I don't wear ear plugs I have a windshield and I wear a full face helmet. Somewhat like MTexille, my hearing is shot from being around jets in the Air Force

RockBottom · Mon Apr 06, 2009 12:41 pm

I found this article useful:

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/Earplugs/earplugs.htm

Wreck · #8 Unread post by **Wreck** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 12:47 pm

Cool, I used foam ones for a year or so before I came across the Alpine earplugs from EarBuddies. One of the things I like the most about the Alpines is that I've been able to use a single set of them for the last 3 years and they never get lost because of the keyring case. I got sick of having to chuck my foamies out all the time after they got dirty after a couple of uses.

Beats paying a couple of hundred bucks for custom molded ones for performance that's just as good.

RockBottom · Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:03 pm

Wreck wrote:Cool, I used foam ones for a year or so before I came across the Alpine earplugs from EarBuddies. One of the things I like the most about the Alpines is that I've been able to use a single set of them for the last 3 years and they never get lost because of the keyring case. I got sick of having to chuck my foamies out all the time after they got dirty after a couple of uses.

Beats paying a couple of hundred bucks for custom molded ones for performance that's just as good.

I haven't used the Alpines but I have such a small channel in one ear that reusable ones are uncomfortable for me. I just throw the foam ones away after every wearing. It's only a dime or so.

High_Side · Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:39 pm

I use industrial plugs but will use anything in a pinch. Once I started using them I couldn't believe how much less fatigue that I felt at the end of a day of touring. And yes, I need to remove them to talk to anyone.