[Flintstone]

Much as I would love a pair of noise cancelling ear plugs I can't quite bring myself to shell out the three hundred quid asking price (yet). I had a go at the self moulding ones (they ended up as blobs of silicone in the bottom of a mug of hot water ) so now I'm trying these Shotwaves at £12 a pair.

Initial impressions are good. They're soft silicone and quite comfortable so you can leave them in for long periods. They have a push/push mechanism that opens and closes a valve. In the open position they reduce noise by 12 dB and closed by 25 dB which £ for £ isn't bad. No, I don't know why the pair in the picture shows a NRR of 16 dB but that's Canadian, eh?

They're a lot less bulky than ear muffs and in fact could be worn as well as for a belt 'n braces approach.

I've posted the link to the (current) cheapest supplier I could find, I'm sure this will change with stock levels.



https://www.uttings.co.uk/p131734-allen-shotwave-ear-buds-black-red-ac2398/

[Boxkite]

In what situations would you use them (in GA)?

[JonnyS]

Under your non-ANR headset.

[RisePilot]

£12 for some plastic bits you stick in your ears; that's not value for money.

I'd suggest spending an extra £898 and get a pair of Bose A20's.

[Flintstone]

£12 for some plastic bits you stick in your ears; that's not value for money.

I'd suggest spending an extra £898 and get a pair of Bose A20's.

I have two pairs of Bose A20 but I keep tripping over the wires.

These are for use on noisy aprons, standing near running engines and being between the cafe staff and Paul Sengupta when they've run out of cake.

I'll also use them on the apron at work where APUs and engines are a nuisance and for when I'm out in the cun'ree with a bang stick.

[GAFlyer4Fun]

Could try these... https://www.ultimateear.com/

An audiologist will take a proper mould of your ear and Ultimate Ear make them from medical grade silicon. They give you the moulds in case you want to order more without the audiologist costs. The material densities used reduce noise without killing voice comms.


Discovered them from motorcycling. Mine are the Squidgy rated at 30dB. Very comfortable.

[GAFlyer4Fun]

Airliner pax flights to the Med are less tiring if I wear them to cut on the jet engine drone.

[Human Factor]

Could try these... https://www.ultimateear.com/

An audiologist will take a proper mould of your ear and Ultimate Ear make them from medical grade silicon. They give you the moulds in case you want to order more without the audiologist costs. The material densities used reduce noise without killing voice comms.


Discovered them from motorcycling. Mine are the Squidgy rated at 30dB. Very comfortable.

I use a set in a couple of domes and a non-ANR DC. Very good. Mine plug in to the audio in the manner of CEPs so I can turn the volume right down, even in the radials. They’re not cheap if you want the audio but I use them a lot.

[muffin]

When learned to fly the C150 had a loudspeaker in the roof and a fist mic. I don’t remember it ever being a problem to communicate , both with the instructor and ATC.

[Human Factor]

Shouting works. Coincidentally it’s exactly what my AME did to tell me I needed to do something about my hearing.

[RisePilot]

Airliner pax flights to the Med are less tiring if I wear them to cut on the jet engine drone.

Isn't that what loud music is for?

Headphones on max as soon as they finish the safety briefing. If the the person next to you is bothered, they should have planned ahead and brought some music too.

[Flintstone]

Shouting works. Coincidentally it’s exactly what my AME did to tell me I needed to do something about my hearing.

Exactly. Thing is, by the time you think your hearing might have been damaged it's too late. No feigny-ites, no comebacks.

I will get around to getting some electronic ones but I need to research a bit more. Ideally the same pair would cut out APU and jet noise on the ramp during walkrounds and the like but also be good for percussive noise on my days off.

Sidenote on the A20s. Reason I have two pairs is that we found them too quiet on the work machine which has a 53dB noise level in the cockpit at take-off. Even our muttered conversations over the intercom in the cruise were drifting back into the cabin. After a couple of....awkward moments we reverted to Telex 850s and now wear those over just one ear.

Each.

[rkgpilot]

Try the Alpine FlyFit or another model from the BTA shop. Cheap and very effective. The acoustic filters work perfectly for me.

https://www.tinnitus.org.uk/pages/shop/ ... -listening