Tools of the trade

A long, long time ago in a small venue far, far away (well, Edinburgh), I went to see a Guns n' Roses tribute band.  While they were actually pretty damn good – and there can't be many singers who sound like Axl – the venue's PA wasn't the most pleasant sounding and the stage volume was quite significant.  When my hearing took several days to go back to normal, that scared me.  I first discovered "proper" earplugs, as opposed to rolled up toilet paper, when I started stints in a large machinist's workshop, and I was converted immediately.  Ever since then, I've been protective of my hearing: at pokey gigs, large concerts, long train journeys, drag racing… – and motorbiking.

Aside from my huge ear defenders that I wear when using power tools, I've tried many different kinds of earplugs over the years, and I've never got on well with most of them.  The best of the bunch in my opinion are these four.

The oldest, and most used, are the transparent(ish) ones that I ought to replace.  They aren't really any better than little foam things except that you can wash them, but they're very comfortable and quite good when the wind is rushing past your open ears.  The most accurately fitting are of course my custom moulded red ones that I commissioned at a motorbike show; they're the most expensive, and the most sound deadening, but annoyingly, not the most comfortable!  I think the rubbery, siliconey stuff is just a bit too firm.

The yellow ones are the best of the cheapy foam types I've tried, but they are still rubbish because they don't stay in very well.  On a recommendation from a colleague, I bought a few pairs of the blue ones, which are called Clear Ears.  They are apparently also good for swimming in, because they absorb water and are soft and pliable.  They look prosaic but I tried them today while riding to the office and back, and actually, I was pleasantly surprised.  I'm not sure yet if they will work on long motorway jaunts with Fidra going at top speed, but at more modest speeds like today with loads of surface water and spray, they are reasonably effective.  They are also definitely pressure-compatible with the earphones inside my helmet and they stayed put!