I have a few pair of these, at one point they’d include one pair with a box of HL Foamies the rhubarb n custard ones and I managed to acquire a few pairs. I also have a few pairs of the 3M corded ones which I just remove the cord. I find silicone one so much nicer than the foam. I also have a few pairs of custom moulded ones from work. They’re called noise breakers made by emtec in Shropshire but my ear shape has changed so they’re no longer as effective. https://www.3m.co.uk/3M/en_GB/compa...539+8720546+8725628+8744019+3291224988&rt=rud https://www.noisebreaker.com/
As a Police rider we had to have audiometric tests every year because the wind noise, the radio and the use of 2 tones/sirens caused some hearing loss with quite a few riders, especially back in the days of open faced helmets. I always cheated, because being so tall I could see when the switch was being thrown to activate the different tones, so the reality is I am not 100% sure whether I have suffered hearing loss or not (I suspect I have). However, we all had to wear earplugs and the firm paid a lot of money for custom made. Very few of us got on with the custom jobbies and for the past 30+ years I have just stuck with the cheap foam kiddies which work very well and I still wear them to this day. I even wear them in bed. I sleep really badly if I don't have my plugs in, but I also found that on the odd occasion where I have ridden without ear plugs, it has also affected my concentration as well. I guess it all comes down to what you get used to.
Must confess I ride with headphones in, listening to music via my i-Pod. Can't be very good for my ears, especially as you need to have them turned up loud to drown out the wind/exhaust noise. Something magical about knocking it down a couple of gears and giving it a big handful whilst Rick Parfitt hammers out the opening riff to Caroline. One day I'll grow up!
Having had tinnitus from an early age I’ve had a lifetime exposed to high noise levels. Motor mechanic in the 80’s where the use of a large hammer wasn’t uncommon, territorial army at the shooting ranges, spent the last 25 years as a sound engineer working mostly at concerts, not to mention motorcycling for over 35 years. Hearing protection has been my friend, even having tinnitus damage limitation is extremely important, I wear -17dB custom moulded attenuators from Specsavers on the bike and -15dB custom moulds by ACS at work.
Initially I only wore them on long trips, now I use them every time. The sound of the air moving through the helmet made my head ache bad, stopped after I started to use the ear plugs. After trying many different shapes & sizes, I prefer these:
