Custom Electronic Ear Plugs.....

[Alantoo]

My hearing buggered especially one side high frequency through shooting and work

Like you, wanted to halt any further damage

I have over ear muffs for clays or range but then and solid moulded jobs useless whilst out stalking or a flight pond etc due to not hearing anything about you other than your breathing !

Last two years at Moy gamefair lad there doing the Cens.... I waited half hour first year still no sign Of getting a chat / info from the guy ... walked away.....
Last year he there again, walked past .. managed to get in spoke to him £299 and went for it ... screw it get it done...
Used them on walked up day and the enhanced hearing is ideal then the shot being attenuated is great.

4 x volume settings is good.

No complaints so far

Paul

How do you find the battery life in them Paul?

I had a pair of el cheapo active plugs* and even though the dog managed to chew one to bits after a few months I was already irritated by having to put new A312 batteries in every time I used them.

Alan

*Walkers Ultra Ear ITC from GSM Outdoors.

 

[sauer]

I bought pack of batteries

There is no on off switch so need to flip cover open and remove batteries with a small plastic stick with magnet on end .

A set lasted all of a day and another beaters day with odd beep ... so I’d reckons good day no bother but I always scary couple extra in the pouch .

It’s not that bad to change ....

If people at moaning g about changing betteried in them I guess it’s thru laziness as it’s not a major job

Paul

 

[Alantoo]

snip...
It’s not that bad to change ....

If people at moaning g about changing betteried in them I guess it’s thru laziness as it’s not a major job

Paul

No, not people, just me!

Alan

 

[sauer]

[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

I keep batteries stuck to the magnet sticks ... just flip open cover & click em in !

Why moaning about it ?



Paul

 

[Alantoo]

snip..
Why moaning about it ?
snip...
Paul

See my earlier comments above...not really moaning, just expressing a preference for easy recharging.

Alan

 

[caorach]

As a lay person some of the advice seems counterintuitive e.g. My assumption would be that an ear plug which has been custom made to fit my ear would be a better fit and seal than a standard mass made plug.

Imagine using a solid metal stopper in a bottle compared to a cork. The cork has the advantage that it is compressible and so expands to fill the voids around it while a solid metal stopper can't do this and has to be machined slightly smaller to fit the neck of the bottle, plus the neck of the bottle will never be perfectly round so there will always be some gaps. The cork pushes in, expands a little to fill the whole neck, and forms a good seal.

That's approximately how it works with foam earplugs over solid ones. In the end they can't make the solid ones bigger than your ear canal as you couldn't get them in, or if you rammed them in it would be pretty uncomfortable, and the material used is not very compressible probably for reasons of durability and hygiene. However with foam ones they are extremely compressible so you roll them between your fingers to compress them, pop them in your ear, and they expand to fill all the voids and to make a perfect fit. You either throw them away each time you use them, or use them until they start to get dirty and then bin them, so there is no long term problem with not using a hard and very robust material.

However, although I prefer foam tips, I wouldn't write off custom molded plugs as if you get a pair that do fit and are comfortable (and not all are successful in terms of fit despite a mold) and so you wear them all the time and fit them correctly then this will be a huge contributing factor in the reduction of the dose of noise to which you are exposed so having somewhat reduced protection fitted all the time is much better than having fantastic protection that is only fitted some of the time. Despite saying that the 3M/Peltor LEP-100 plugs are as easy to fit as a molded plug, you just "turn" it into your ear just like with a molded plug and you are done plus as your ear changes shape over time the foam simply conforms to the changes and once you pick a foam ear tip that suits you then you are good to go. Once more I will highlight - getting a comfortable foam ear tip that suits you is the key as the first one out of the box has a very low probability of being perfect for you. If you are interested in non-electronic foam plugs then get one of the trail packs from these people, last time I ordered postage to the UK was very reasonable and only took a fortnight, and give them all a try to see what suits your ears - note how many different sizes and variations in foam stiffness there is and the reason for this is that one size simply doesn't fit all:

Ear Plug Assortment Packs - Ear Plugs

Confused by all the choices? We can help! We have combined top selling products into several different trial packs, each designed to help you find the very best ear plugs for your application.

www.earplugstore.com

 

[BigPat]

Thanks Caorach.

I just looked at the Cens and frankly they seem to be a stupid price at £700!!!!

I did call them and ask what made their product double the price of the rest of the market? The guy told me it is because they are 'CE' marked......On that basis I think the Cens are definitely a NO.

 

[Alantoo]

Thanks Caorach.

I just looked at the Cens and frankly they seem to be a stupid price at £700!!!!

I did call them and ask what made their product double the price of the rest of the market? The guy told me it is because they are 'CE' marked......On that basis I think the Cens are definitely a NO.

Curious...I thought the CE mark was self certified to conform to EU regulations...but even if not the LEPs are also CE marked.

Alan

 

[BigPat]

I suspect he was actually referring to the certified Db reduction that Cens claim but got mixed up?

In any case, at £700 when the rest of market is £200 - £450 I think they have probably been eating too many wine gums!

 

[sauer]

I suspect he was actually referring to the certified Db reduction that Cens claim but got mixed up?

In any case, at £700 when the rest of market is £200 - £450 I think they have probably been eating too many wine gums!

My cens are base model with 4x volume settings and £299.


Your £700 must have been top of the line job with multiple programs / settings ?

Paul

 

[VSS]

As someone else has said - the best earplugs in the world are no good if they're hanging around your neck when you take the shot. I never used to be bothered with plugs except when zeroing, but now I'm using an unmoderated rifle I'm a bit more fussy. Hearing has always been good, however after forgetting the plugs just twice with the unmoderated 270 I now have a permanent ringing in my left ear.
So, whatever plugs you eventually decide to get, please use them! Any plugs is better than no plugs. I now put mine in as soon as I get out of my vehicle and they stay in all day. Nothing fancy or expensive, but better than none.

 

[rhhudson]

I always wonder whether the BBC are tongue in cheek when they give a Yellow Snow warning...though they are careful to say a "Yellow Warning for Snow"...it is only a matter of time before they slip up!

The LEPs do go up and down in price...mine were £253 inc VAT from Amazon in December 2017 but now they do them at £329.99 and they have been up to almost £400....shop around is the order of the day.

I bought the foam tips I use from the Earshot communications, they ordered them in especially...and they have been consistently good on the LEP price...

Alan

Sorry to jump in this thread,,,, but is there a list or guide as to what foam tips fit onto the LEPs?
I see a lot of reviews about people using skull screws??
I cant seem to fined anything about what is compatible.


And as for the initial post, take a look at the reviews for these on amazon.... theres hundreds mostly from shooters and very positive.

 

[Alantoo]

Sorry to jump in this thread,,,, but is there a list or guide as to what foam tips fit onto the LEPs?
I see a lot of reviews about people using skull screws??
I cant seem to fined anything about what is compatible.


And as for the initial post, take a look at the reviews for these on amazon.... theres hundreds mostly from shooters and very positive.

I gather all the communication type ear buds have a similar ribbed tube which the plugs fit over. The skull screws are the largest and highest rated for attenuation but were too big for me... I found their little brothers which are similar in construction but just a bit smaller were ideal 3M CCC-GRM-25 middle weight tips...the CENS ones fit and @Jim xyz on the other thread says he uses Canal Tips

Alan

 

[zambezi]

I currently use passive hearing protection of the Sonic design. Any learned opinion on the effectiveness of passive devices like this? Experientially they seem to work in that my hearing seems ok and certainly eliminates that immediate tinnitus spike that one experiences post bang when no protection is worn.

 

[tony rentokil]

so, i have a high pitch singing in the left ear,,,probably,,playing rock guitar,shooting etc etc, left ear only ,,can still hear most thing,,,ear test tomorrow,,
is there an aid to help me stop this constant noise,,,but still let me hear,as I do,
Tony,

 

[VSS]

so, i have a high pitch singing in the left ear,,,probably,,playing rock guitar,shooting etc etc, left ear only ,,can still hear most thing,,,ear test tomorrow,,
is there an aid to help me stop this constant noise,,,but still let me hear,as I do,
Tony,

If you find the answer to this problem, please could you share it with me? I am not enjoying the fact that I can no longer hear silence.

 

[Alantoo]

I currently use passive hearing protection of the Sonic design. Any learned opinion on the effectiveness of passive devices like this? Experientially they seem to work in that my hearing seems ok and certainly eliminates that immediate tinnitus spike that one experiences post bang when no protection is worn.

Not learned...but the SNR rating will give you a guide as to their relative effectiveness protection wise. The ability to hear conversation level sounds is better than with solid plugs but it is obviously even easier with the active electronic type. Which then give the added amplified ambient sounds to actually improve you ability to hear the faint movement/wing beat sounds.

Alan

so, i have a high pitch singing in the left ear,,,probably,,playing rock guitar,shooting etc etc, left ear only ,,can still hear most thing,,,ear test tomorrow,,
is there an aid to help me stop this constant noise,,,but still let me hear,as I do,
Tony,

Mine is just a hissing sound also left ear...which happened thanks to trying to help someone use my quad sticks at a DSC1 shooting test...stupidly taking the muffs off to hear what his problem was and the guy behind me went bang with an unmoderated cannon. It is the reason I started researching electronic plugs so I could wear them all the time. Mine comes and goes...well sometimes I am more aware of it than others...I often turn the volume up higher in the left plug than the right one...

Let us know what the result of the test is...I presume there is no cure just coping strategies. Though I did read somewhere that some ear damage could repair with time.

Alan

Alan

 

[BigPat]

My cens are base model with 4x volume settings and £299.


Your £700 must have been top of the line job with multiple programs / settings ?

Paul

Are your ones the custom moulded ones?

The ones I priced up are the custom moulded electronic versions.

 

[caorach]

I currently use passive hearing protection of the Sonic design. Any learned opinion on the effectiveness of passive devices like this?

This is far from learned but it is opinion.

Based on the link you included the following chart appears to show the attenuation of the Sonic plugs as quoted by the manufacturer and also as measured in a test, the details of the test are not clear but it produced significantly lower (i.e. worse) figures than those from the maker:

Fig. 6. Mean binaural attenuation values of (1) participant-fitted...

Download scientific diagram | Mean binaural attenuation values of (1) participant-fitted plugs (Sonic II Earplug, Combat Arms Earplug) determined in this study by subtracting plugged ear threshold from open ear thresholds for warble tones for 11 participants (solid lines) and (2) mean...

www.researchgate.net

Now there is no SNR value quoted and it is impossible to just make up an accurate one but I'd bet that even using the manufacturers figures it can't be much more than 20dB and possibly less.

For comparison this is the datasheet for some 3M 1100 foam earplugs that I would occasionally use, they produce an SNR of 37dB

https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/439909O/3m-1100-series-roll-down-ear-plugs-datasheet.pdf

Or this is the datasheet for the LEP-100 active plugs that Alan and myself have been talking about, they can be fitted with different ear tips and so there are a number of figures given for them but even with the very worst performing eartips on them the SNR is 32dB and with the ear tips that both Alan and myself are currently using (the CCC-GRM-25 not shown on this data sheet but tested and documented elsewhere by 3M) we are seeing an SNR of 36dB

https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1120278O/3m-peltor-lep-100-brochure-eu-industrial.pdf

First of all anything is better than nothing so you are much better wearing your Sonic plugs than not wearing them. However, my personal opinion is that if it were me I'd be looking for something else as there are much better solutions out there. I personally would prefer not to use an unmoderated centrefire with only around 20dB of hearing protection.

 

[zambezi]

First of all anything is better than nothing so you are much better wearing your Sonic plugs than not wearing them. However, my personal opinion is that if it were me I'd be looking for something else as there are much better solutions out there. I personally would prefer not to use an unmoderated centrefire with only around 20dB of hearing protection.

Caorach I really appreciate that detailed response. I do fire all my rifles with moderators fitted, so the 20db protection afforded by the passive protectors is just another layer of protection. However, there will be occasions in the future where I may be standing near unmoderated rifles, so point taken. I will save up for the LEP100.