bigoltool
Registered
Ear Plugs, some people swear by them (myself included), and some just abhor the thought of them. Having worked the bulk of my life in relatively loud industrial environments I came to understand and appreciate the value of well-fitting hearing protection at an early age and that includes any time I am on the bike or even my lawn tractor. I have tried pretty much every disposable foam ear plug ever made and for years had settled on and used the Howard Leight MAX disposable plugs. They are inexpensive, Comfortable and offer the best NRR (Noise Reduction Ratio) available for this type of protection at 33db.
I had been aware of the Surefire Sonic Defenders® for a while now and having used a number of their ultra high quality flashlights in the past I decided to give these a try. After looking over their entire product range I settled on the EP4 variant. These have a small “Filter” in them that can be opened and closed to allow you to hear conversational levels better while still maintaining a measure of attenuation. These are rated at 24db NRR with the filters closed and 12db with the filters open. The entire range has an outer ear piece that rotates into the various contours of your outer ear to properly and comfortably lock them in position in use.
I’ve been riding with these for around a month now and my results have been very interesting. The comparison to my old go-to MAX foam plugs is not what I was expecting frankly. First of all the comfort factor is not as disparate as I had imagined. The EP4’s are actually very comfortable in use, the only issue I had was when donning or removing my Helmet (Arai Defiant). The little plastic filters have a slightly sharp edge on them that if you drag your helmet over them moves the ear plug slightly and can dig into your ear slightly if you’re not careful. This time of year I ride with a Balaclava in the cool mornings so that helps my helmet slip past them without issue.
The second thing I was expecting was slightly more noise. As the ~9db NRR difference between these and my Foam plugs had me expecting a bit more noise. The surprising thing is that these actually do a bit better job of quelling the frequencies related to engine and road noise and the only area I noticed the difference in noise attenuation is with wind rush. With the foam plugs you don’t notice the wind rush at all but I am now more aware of the road and engine noises with them. Go figure?
The manufacturer says these should last about 6 months of normal use so the ~$13 I spent on them is not too steep; especially when you consider that the foam plugs are technically designed to be single use disposable. I am now thinking about trying either the EP5, which does away with the filters entirely and offers an extra 2db (26db) of attenuation, or the Ep10 which uses a replaceable memory foam ear piece and also does away with the filter to give you 30db, which is pretty close to the foam plugs total NRR.
EarPro Products
http://www.surefire.com/media/wysiwyg/main_site_pdfs/EP4_Sonic_Defenders_Plus.pdf
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013A0C0Y/?tag=hayabusamazon-20
I had been aware of the Surefire Sonic Defenders® for a while now and having used a number of their ultra high quality flashlights in the past I decided to give these a try. After looking over their entire product range I settled on the EP4 variant. These have a small “Filter” in them that can be opened and closed to allow you to hear conversational levels better while still maintaining a measure of attenuation. These are rated at 24db NRR with the filters closed and 12db with the filters open. The entire range has an outer ear piece that rotates into the various contours of your outer ear to properly and comfortably lock them in position in use.
I’ve been riding with these for around a month now and my results have been very interesting. The comparison to my old go-to MAX foam plugs is not what I was expecting frankly. First of all the comfort factor is not as disparate as I had imagined. The EP4’s are actually very comfortable in use, the only issue I had was when donning or removing my Helmet (Arai Defiant). The little plastic filters have a slightly sharp edge on them that if you drag your helmet over them moves the ear plug slightly and can dig into your ear slightly if you’re not careful. This time of year I ride with a Balaclava in the cool mornings so that helps my helmet slip past them without issue.
The second thing I was expecting was slightly more noise. As the ~9db NRR difference between these and my Foam plugs had me expecting a bit more noise. The surprising thing is that these actually do a bit better job of quelling the frequencies related to engine and road noise and the only area I noticed the difference in noise attenuation is with wind rush. With the foam plugs you don’t notice the wind rush at all but I am now more aware of the road and engine noises with them. Go figure?
The manufacturer says these should last about 6 months of normal use so the ~$13 I spent on them is not too steep; especially when you consider that the foam plugs are technically designed to be single use disposable. I am now thinking about trying either the EP5, which does away with the filters entirely and offers an extra 2db (26db) of attenuation, or the Ep10 which uses a replaceable memory foam ear piece and also does away with the filter to give you 30db, which is pretty close to the foam plugs total NRR.
EarPro Products
http://www.surefire.com/media/wysiwyg/main_site_pdfs/EP4_Sonic_Defenders_Plus.pdf
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0013A0C0Y/?tag=hayabusamazon-20
