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DIY Molded Ear Plugs?

8K views 36 replies 21 participants last post by  blahwas 
#1 ·
I did a quick search and came up with several threads about ear plugs, but I waned to get some more feedback on the DIY molded ones. I use the cheap foam ones now and I'm considering getting/making a set of molded ones.

What brands have you guys used, and how do you like them? It looks like Radians seems to be common brand on the net.
How long do they last if you wash them regularly?
Anyone tried molding in ear buds for music?

I have also read that it may be worth it to contact my local hearing aid place and see if they make molded ear plugs, anyone else go that route?

Thanks,

Mitch
 
#4 ·
I have a pair of molded ear plugs. I got them done at the international motorcycle show when they came into town at the beginning of the month. I really like them so far. I may be a bit used to this type of thing though since I had molded ear plugs as a kid for the pool (I had major ear problems as a kid).
I had mine made by a local guy that's been doing it for years. Supposedly they should last for up to 10 years. A variation with sound drivers were available, but they are really expensive. I paid $60ish for mine. The music playing ones were something like $300-$400.

I'd also recommend asking a hearing aid place. Might be able to use some insurance if you go through them.
 
#7 ·
If your health plan covers hearing aids it will probably cover professionally made silicone plugs. My last set cost me $7. The set before that, $6. Go see a good audiologist and have them done right. Your hearing is too precious to waste. I lost hearing in one ear and recently had it restored. You done realize what hearing in stereo is worth.
 
#8 ·
I use the Earmould brand. Thick liquid silicone pumped into your ears and sets. I use them for clay bird shooting and motorcycling. Excellent. I had my first set made in 2003 and still going strong. At a shooting event they are fitted numerous times during the day. The agent who made them, makes them with ear phones fitted. Great idea. Easy to clean, durable.
Easiest way to clean them is to suck the wax of when you moisten them before fitting. Tasty. Check out shooting suppliers. There will be agents right throughout the country. You could even become an agent yourself. Easy to do. Hope this helps
 
#9 ·
I've used the radians, they work fine, I've also gotten them made at the motorcycle show, more colors and a bit softer and more comfortable than the radians. And lastly I got a set done by an audiologist. Any place that does hearing aids will be able to do them. They will do the same thing as what you get at the motorcycle shows, then those molds are sent out to make the ear plugs. The roll up foam and silicon plugs always seem to fall out of one ear when putting on a helmet. The custom plugs don't do that and will last a long time. I have 1/2 a set that is over ten years old, the other half is now a radian's plug I did myself. :)
 
#10 ·
My wife and I each had a set professionally made (around $50 per set), mine for on the V, hers for my snoring.

My set are uncomfortable under my helmet, and BOTH of us just use the foam plugs that are good for 33 decibles now, so $100 wasted...!
:goodluck:
 
#11 ·
My set are uncomfortable under my helmet, and BOTH of us just use the foam plugs that are good for 33 decibles now, so $100 wasted...!
:goodluck:
This has me thinking that maybe I should try a cheap pair of the DIY Radians for about $15. That way I can try them under my helmet and even just wear them around the house to see how the long term comfort it.

If I'm happy with them I'll just keep them, or look at a better professionally made pair. If I don't like them, at least I will not have wasted money on a expensive custom set.

Mitch
 
#13 ·
This hardly contribute to the thread, but just for sharing, I am using foam type earplugs. Doesnt seal out the noise totally, sufficient to muffle a major part of noise. Just what i wanted since total deafness is not what i want while riding. With the exhaust blaring and wind noise singing around the helmet, i dont want to listen to music.

I wear a balaclava hence has no issue with foams falling out while putting on helmet.
 
#14 ·
I like the foam plugs... Cheap to buy and I don't have to keep track of them. I have a stash of ten or twelve under the seat and never have to worry much about misplacing any... And I've found they work well for me - noise wise.
 
#15 ·
I tried the do-it yourself ones and frankly I wasn't really happy. They didn't seem to work as well as the foam ones. Foam earplugs are cheap and disposable. More sanitary then reusable plugs. Just my 2 cents of course YMMV
 
#18 ·
I tried the guys who make the custom ear plugs at the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows. One advantage of those guys is if the plugs don't work for you, you get a quick and full refund. At least I did.

People have widely varying ear canal shapes. If the roll up kind don't work well for you, there's some chance molded ones won't also. I don't know if a good audiologist might do better than the guys I tried. I know the custom ear plugs at the motorcycle show work for a lot of people. And they do custom ear buds too.

What worked for me was this no-roll ear plug sampler kit, which lead me to Leight Pilot ear plugs. Best plug evah. For me. YMMV.
 
#19 ·
I have custom made plugs from an audiologist and I love them. I can't wear foam plugs, but the custom silicon are almost like having nothing in the ear and clean up easily. I have however, never worn them under my helmet. (I don't find cruising around town on the V to be all that loud).
 
#20 · (Edited)
I bought a set at Gander Mountain that I use both for shooting and riding. It comes as a 2 part putty. You mix the 2 parts together and push it into your ear and it cures in about 10 minutes. then you pull them out and let them sit and finish curing.

I use mine when I mow, shoot (under my muffs), and ride. Highly recommend trying a set to see if they work for you. Mine are much more comfortable than the foam type.

http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Custom-Molded-Ear-Plugs&i=415810
 
#21 ·
In theory there is nothing better than a moulded earplug for a perfect seal. Done "correctly" they should work fine. I do think that the silicon needs to be "injected" into the ear with a syringe, to fill the cavity properly. A small cotton plug on the thin string is carefully placed into the air to act as a dam. Then the silcon is injected in and left to set for 10 mins. This is how it is professionally done. All my three sets were done this way and they all work perfectly. In theory, there is no ear canal that cannot be filled. It needs to be done properly.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Just an update to this thread and a review of the Radians for you guys.

Having read this post I went to Amazon and ordered a pair of the Radians for $11 with free shipping (Prime Member). Figured I'd give them a try for that price point.

Just to give you some background... I'm the Safety Director for a construction company and have spent 17 years working in safety and dealing with hearing protection issues. I have tried hundreds of brands of ear plugs and muffs in an occupational setting. I currently have half a dozen types of ear plugs I can use on a daily basis when riding my V. I wear earplugs every time I ride because I have a cheap helmet and it is loud, mostly from wind noise. The foam ear plugs I currently use have a NRR rating of 33db. There are ear plugs out there that have a higher NRR rating but I have found that anything over NRR 34db results in all sound being cutoff and I can no longer hear what is going on around me, I don't even hear the engine running at high RPMs. --------Just a quick note on NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) and db (decibels) -- Normal conversation is around 60db. I haven't measured the the db's inside my helmet yet (I should do that sometime since I have the monitor) but I would guess that it is in the range of 90-95 db at 60mph. OSHA (Our governmental safety overlords) require hearing protection when a worker is exposed to sound levels above 85db. So if we do the math... with my 33db earplugs in I reduce the sound hitting my ear drum to 57-62 db. Well within normal conversational decibel levels. I contend that if you wear an earplug with 37db NRR rating you are blocking out too much of the world around you. I have tried at least 8 different earplugs for motorcycle riding ranging from soft foam to silicone/plastic models. Most work well, but some protrude too far out of the ear and it is uncomfortable when I put on or take off my helmet. An issue I have found with my own personal ears is that the ear canal in my right ear is larger than my left. Inevitably this leads to hearing more noise with my right ear as all the different foam earplugs do not expand to the same amount.

Okay.. now enough of the boring background info and on to the actual review.

I received the Radians and opened them with a skeptical mind. I didn't see how these little tubs of goop were going to work very well. I read and followed the directions and followed some advice given in various customer reviews of the product. The directions were pretty straight forward.

Step 1: Open tub of white goop and divide the quantity in half. Then divide that quantity in half (so you're quartering it). Set aside.

Step 2: Open tub of blue goop (or whichever color you picked when purchasing) and divide the quantity in half. Then divide that quantity in half (so you're quartering it). Set aside.

Now you are ready to start the mixing of the two ingredients. Make sure you have set aside at least 30 minutes from the time you press the two ingredients together as that is when the curing process starts.

Step 3: Take one quarter of both blue and white goop and start kneading them together in your hand. Continue to knead for at least 30 seconds ensuring that there are no streaks of white or blue showing.

Step 4: Lay down on your couch or floor (on your side), turn on the TV, and cram that goop down in your ear. Roll it into an elongated ball before hand so you can at least start it down your ear canal.

Step 5: Follow the included directions as you cram it into your ear. You're basically going to fold over the excess material and smooth it down. It sounds complicated, but you'll see what I mean when you start it.

Step 6: Spend about a minute getting it all smoothed out with your fingertip and be prepared for what comes next....

What comes next? That goop in your ear is going to start to cure and harden. This was a pretty weird sensation. It wasn't uncomfortable per se but you'll see what I mean. By the way... stay laying on your side for at least 10 minutes... I went 15 minutes just to be sure.

Step 7: Get up.. dig your new earplug out of your ear. It may take some time the first time you do this because you aren't used to how you get these in and out. It isn't like foam ear plugs that you just grab and pull. You have to kind of twist them as you take them in and out.

Step 8: Mark one of them somehow so you know which is right or left so you don't get them mixed up. Mine came out looking significantly different from each other (due to the larger ear canal on right side) your's may not.

Step 9: Repeat for other side and then store the excess back in their containers.

If you read closely and were paying attention you will have noticed that you quartered the amounts of goop.... so basically you can make 2 complete pairs (4 total plugs) with this one purchase. So you don't really have to fear messing one of them up.

Now on to performance...

The NRR rating on these is 26db. I'm not sure how they came up with that since there are too many variables to the human ear and the ability for humans to closely follow directions. Irregardless I would guess that their NRR is pretty darn close to 26db at least as far as my own applications of them have shown. Real world sound reduction on these is very good. Unlike my 33db earplugs I can now hear the wind noise from my helmet, but basically I can just hear that the sound is there, it is not painful or loud. I actually prefer this 26db sound reduction as I can now hear my engine and sounds around me. I don't get the feeling that I have been totally isolated from the world.

Fit and comfort is great on these as well. With foam earplugs I would sometimes feel I had "lost the seal" due to head or jaw movement and suddenly I would be getting air noise and it would be obvious a lot more sound was reaching my ear. With these DIY plugs I have not felt that at all. I get a perfect seal every time. The other nice thing about these plugs is that they are spread out across the folds of the ear more so less sound has a chance to get into your ear canal. This changes the frequency of that loud wind/helmet noise quite a bit (in a good way). The plugs are much more comfortable in my ears because they don't go as deep into my ear canal as foam plugs I jam in there. They are also more comfortable under my helmet as they don't stick out of my ear at all, they are flush with my ear.

All in all I think this is a good product for someone to try out custom earplugs and it is what I have switched to using for every ride. They have converted me and now I'm going to research local audiologists in my area to try and get some professional ones made.

Hope this has helped you guys out.




EDIT: Adding link and photos.









(not my ears :) )
 
#29 ·
Zatx

Thank you for your review. I picked up the Radians kit but I'm going to get it as a Christmas gift so I won't get to make the plugs for a couple weeks yet.

I hope my experience goes as well as yours did. Thanks for the tip on only using 1/4 for each ear. I was thinking that since I want the plugs smaller (not sticking out of the ear much) it sounds like using less of the material would be the way to go.

Mitch
 
#30 ·
Just to add to this review and clarify a point.

This was written from the point of view of someone that rides 8 minutes to work in a city setting. There are two spots of my ride where I get up to 60mph (the first mile and the last mile). My average speed for my commute is somewhere around 40mph. Needing to hear traffic sounds while cutting down on wind noise is what I expect from an earplug. These 26db plugs fulfill that role for me in this setting.

If I was going to be riding sustained highway speeds, in a highway setting, for long periods of time, I would probably opt for a 33/34db earplug to eliminate all the noise I possibly could. Each decibel represents increased fatigue over a long ride.
 
#31 ·
If I was going to be riding sustained highway speeds, in a highway setting, for long periods of time, I would probably opt for a 33/34db earplug to eliminate all the noise I possibly could. Each decibel represents increased fatigue over a long ride.
That is interesting, I was thinking the exact opposite, but maybe fore a different reason.

The 32db foam ear plugs are rated at that level when they are installed 100% correct.
I have had several times where the feel like they are getting "loose" during a longer ride but I don't want to stop just to adjust my ear plugs, so instead I end up wearing them that way to the next gas stop, only effective at maybe 75% (24db).

If I can get a constant 26db out of the molded ones I will probably end up with a better overall ear protection. Plus, the added comfort will be nice on those full day rides.

I'll have to wait (4 months until the snow melts :mad:) to try things out with my new N104 anyway. Hopefully the 26db molded plugs are enough with that helmet.

Mitch
 
#32 · (Edited)
Wow, thanks zatx for the review.

However i have some problem in considering the radians. The skin of my outer ear is flaky. It's short of saying psoriasis, although not to same extent but yeah you get the idea. Every day i would be able to scrape plenty of dead dry skin. Setting up the radian? I'm sure plenty of dead skin would get stuck while curing the radian. So, while it may work for some one, i cant say it will work for me. so to each his own there.



I've been using this plugs. The rating says 37db but i cant say for sure. All i know is that i loved it. Plus i wear head cloth that covers the ear too, so no problem with foam plugs moving out of position while putting on or taking off helmet.

 
#34 ·
Wow, thanks zatx for the review.

However i have some problem in considering the radians. The skin of my outer ear is flaky. It's short of saying psoriasis, although not to same extent but yeah you get the idea. Every day i would be able to scrape plenty of dead dry skin. Setting up the radian? I'm sure plenty of dead skin would get stuck while curing the radian. So, while it may work for some one, i cant say it will work for me. so to each his own there.
Take heart Andrew.. I have the exact same problem you mentioned! I actually forgot to include the very first step..... to thoroughly clean out your ears! I used a warm wet washcloth followed by a Q-tip (Yeah yeah I know they can be dangerous if inserted too far, but I've been doing this 40 years and have never done that). As far as problems associated with that condition on a daily basis there are none. The silicone wipes right off.
 
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