16 replies to this topic

[Cy Peake]

What are people using for hearing protection inside the car?  I ALWAYS use the squeezable orange foam inserts but would like to begin using a better form of protection specifically developed for motorsports.  I don't use a radio and would be open to mouldable inserts if they don't cost a small fortune.  I recently read about a company in one of the car periodicals that makes products directed towards our sport but can't find it now.  Any suggestions?

[Yosh]

Get the "make your own" moldable ear plugs.  Any gun shop should have them.  I used it to make my own "custom" radio earplugs - got it at a Cabela's, IIRC.

 

http://www.cabelas.c...ugs/1530075.uts

Amazon should have it too.

[G.Obadia]

Ultimate ears may be the brand

[ChrisA]

I use custom ear plugs or my custom headset which blocks just as well unless someone is jabbering in the radio. 

[svvs]

Cy, the moldable ones you do yourself (yosh pointed them out) will get you 95% of the way to the noise reduction done by a $100 custom set.  They are pretty good, especially if you take care of them.

 

when inserted properly the disposable foam ones will give you some of the best noise reduction out there.  Kind of hard to keep in place properly when you pull your helmet on though.  I use tape to hold my radio plugs in place.

[wheel]

I just shut off my hearing aids.

[mhiggins10]

Cy, the moldable ones you do yourself (yosh pointed them out) will get you 95% of the way to the noise reduction done by a $100 custom set.  They are pretty good, especially if you take care of them.

 

when inserted properly the disposable foam ones will give you some of the best noise reduction out there.  Kind of hard to keep in place properly when you pull your helmet on though.  I use tape to hold my radio plugs in place.

 

I wear a balaclava, so staying in place when I put my helmet on is no problem.

[svvs]

I wear a balaclava, so staying in place when I put my helmet on is no problem.

I do too, but with the foam ones just knocking your ear around a bit is enough to break up the seal and create an air gap.

 

Besides, with the tape my teammates get to laugh as I wind up ripping off half of a sideburn or something.

[svvs]

Cy:

 

Just because I was in one of my outdoor catalogs, NRR's are basically as follows:

 

Normal foam earplugs, when inserted correctly: NRR of 26-30

 

The really good foam earplugs, when inserted correctly: NRR of 33

 

The custom ones you do yourself: NRR 26

 

The main benefit of the custom ones is comfort....when you're shooting sporting clays or on a range all day or something like that they are nice.

[Qik Nip]

What'd he say?

Rick

[Cy Peake]

Vick - I've never had a problem with the orange ones falling out, as I use new ones every weekend.  Maybe I jam them in farther than most?

 

I ordered a set of the "NoNoise Motorsport Noise Filter Hearing Protection" units and will report back after our first regional weekend in a few weeks.

[Johnny D]

Do you guys roll them into a smaller diameter before you put them in ?

They go in deeper without force and then expand.

 

I get a box at work.

http://www.mcmaster....arplugs/=rw7zko

 

J~

[Alberto]

Is this for hearing protection from your own car or the cars around you?

 

I run 2 mufflers so I'm around 89 db.  1/2 HP loss on the dyno when the second muffler was added.  Nice and quiet in my car.

[Ron Alan]

Is this for hearing protection from your own car or the cars around you?
 
I run 2 mufflers so I'm around 89 db.  1/2 HP loss on the dyno when the second muffler was added.  Nice and quiet in my car.

I thought you were the pace car mid race at one point...just heard tires with my head down at turn 1

[Kyle Keenan]

Oddly enough, and since I work in an industry where I'm in and out of industrial buildings with thousands of ear plugs, I've tried just about every disposable ear plug out there. I finally found some that fit awesome, are super comfortable, and don't get jarred around, those being the Moldex Pura-Fit 6800. They're super soft, can be found in bags on ebay for not that much, and are 5x better then the custom molded ear pieces I wear when using radios.

 

But, that's my results with them, I'm sure they'll work for some and not for others.

[Cy Peake]

Just got the new plugs today and had to pull them out with needle-nose pliers so I guess I do jam them in farther than most.  The plan is to try them for a session but I think I'm probably going back to the soft orange units.

[Jeff Wasilko]

Just got the new plugs today and had to pull them out with needle-nose pliers

 

Wish we had video of that!