Ear defenders after ear surgery

[Dan1988]

This is a bit (extremely) niche but does anyone on here have experience with ear defenders after ear surgery/mastoidectomy?

I use Peltor Sporttac, great protection but always end up with sweaty ears after a days decoying and not the most practical to stalk in at the best of times.

I'm considering some CENS or similar in ear defenders but not sure if it's feasible after the surgery I've had (mastoidectomy) as I fel these would be more hygienic than over ear defenders.

Not he kind of thing there's a great deal of literature on so hoping someone on SD may have some real world experience.

Already use a mod but don't have the best hearing in the world so use ear defenders too to keep what I've got! Also do a lot of shotgun shooting where ear defenders (in my view) are a must.

 

[caorach]

I'm going to guess in view of the surgery that some sort of "in ear" type system is going to be best for you.

I am a fan of the type of in ear protection that uses foam "ear tips" as they can give much better levels of protection. The moulded ear defenders are relatively solid and so tend to leave voids and not make such a good seal whereas foam ear tips expand once you put them in your ear and so give a much better seal and much better levels of protection. This is reflected in the figures as I think CENS are about the only moulded manufacturer to have done certified testing and they give a SNR number around 25dB whereas foam tipped ear defenders will be giving numbers around 36dB.

The one thing that is important about the foam tipped ear defenders is that they are most certainly not a case of "one size fits all" and so you will need to try a range of the foam tips until you get something that works. The ones I use are the Peltors and mine shipped with the "Skull Screw" ear tips which are HUGE and there is no way on earth I could use them and I absolutely hate the "christmas tree" type of ear tip. I use the Peltor LEP-100 units but Peltor now do a much less expensive version (EEP-100 might be the name) which is pretty much functionally the same. Again I can't highlight enough that it is important to test different ear tips until you get something that works for you as the ones in the box are highly unlikely to be the perfect fit for you.

If you don't want to go the electronic route then in ear foam plugs are the way to go and, again, getting one that fits you is the absolute key and if you can then I'd recommend getting one of the "sample" packs from the earplug superstore and trying them all until you get your perfect match. Order one, or several depending on your taste, of their sample packs and give them a try:

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

 

[Dan1988]

That's very helpful thank you

I'll have a look at the Peltor in ear defenders, I'm on my second pair of Sporttac now and have found them brilliant only giving up the ghost when they've been stored in a leaking shed.

 

[fizzbangwhallop]

After years of trying to get decent protection from many pairs of earmuffs, I’ve been using the EEP100’s for nearly 3 years(?) now for shotgun work but with the CENS Minos tips as I didn’t get a good fit with the ones that came with it.

Have to say that I’m still using the first pair of tips as they stay pretty clean and can be washed… one of the foam pads did detach from its core but I just superglued it back on, that was a year ago and it‘s been finger rolled for insertion many times since.

As an alternative to the Peltors it would be worth looking at the ISOtunes range which includes in-ear options and, most importantly, show good sound attenuation.

I still wear muffs for moderated rifles and a few months ago I bought a pair of their Basic electronic muffs and contacted them with regard to upgrading to the gel cushions…..have to say that I was very impressed by their excellent customer service!

ISOtunes® | Bluetooth Hearing Protection | Wireless Ear Defenders

ISOtunes® are professional noise isolating earbuds and the new standard in workshop hearing protection. Click to learn more about our unique headphones and earbuds!

isotunes.co.uk

cheers
fizz