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As I always ride in a MX style helmet, regardless of whether I am on a dirt bike, adventure bike or even a road bike, the buffeting noise from the wind can be quite loud and over a period of time quite annoying. Even using a traditional visor style helmet the user is no doubt subjected to similar buffeting noise, this being the case with most helmets, barring maybe those at the higher end of the price range.
It had been bought to my attention in the past that, not only is this wind noise annoying, it can be seriously detrimental to your hearing. With this in mind I tried using the foam disposable style ear plugs with limited success. I found them to be some what cumbersome and down right uncomfortable. Half the time they would come out whilst putting my helmet on.
Just recently, I met Scott and his partner Jade from Audio Sculpt, they specialise in custom hearing protection and communication systems. Scott, being a fellow motorcyclist and also a Helicopter pilot for the Army is well aware of the need for good hearing protection coupled with communication systems, hence his expertise in the field.
I was invited by the couple to try out their custom made ear plugs, initially they offered to give me a set for free to try but I didn’t feel comfortable taking something for free that I intended to review subjectively on OBT. So once we agreed on a price, it was a matter of setting up a time and place to have them fitted.
Scott arrived at the allotted time carrying his bag of tricks and after I decided what colour plugs I wanted we got straight into it.
I will admit they are whacky looking things!
Step 1
They supply you with an endless supply of cotton tips so that you can dig out all the potatoes that have been growing in there over the years. When you think you have polished your ears to perfection they will take a look inside with an otoscope to check out your work and to inspect for any other bad stuff that may affect the fitting of your new plugs.
Step 2
A super slippery lubricating lotion is coated on the inside of your ear to make sure the silicone doesn’t get stuck. Then a foam block is placed deep inside your ear canal, so that the silicone won’t keep going all the way through and tickle your brain.Step 3
The feather Weight silicone is mixed up with your choice of one or two colours.
Then placed into a silicone syringe, squeezed into your ear canal, and moulded around the shape of the outside of your ear.
Once your new moulds have fully cured in about 6-8mins the silicone impression is removed.
The earplug then is trimmed, shaped, buffed and polished to turn the raw impression into a perfectly fitting set of hearing protection. Each plug is then sealed with a special Clear-Seal Silicone coating to provide a longer lasting, cleaner and more precise fitting ear protector. It is during this stage that they can furnish your plugs with any of the funky electronic devices that you may have wanted to incorporate, like Bluetooth or ipod connectivity. Details are available on their website regarding all the goodies that can be connected to your custom plugs.
When Scott came back to me with the ear plugs a day later, I was trained to properly insert, remove, and care for my new custom moulded earplugs. He checked the fit, to make sure that the plugs perform exactly as they advertised and send me on my merry way with a storage pouch, printed use and care instructions.
Once I got them home, I was keen to see how they performed, so what better bike to test them on than the 1200cc Harley Davidson powered Buell, as it is loud enough to wake the dead.
I am pleased to report they work a treat! Once I fitted them, putting my helmet on without them falling out was simple. The proof was out on the road though, not only did it cut down all but a minimal amount of wind noise regardless of what speed I did but they also seemed to fix the annoying rattle in the Buell’s top end! Even though they block out the wind noise amazingly you can still hear the sweet note of your bike.
Scott uses his plugs while flying choppers and I can think of a myriad of other applications you could use them for, like whipper Snipping, grinding, shooting as a matter of fact any industrial application you’d care to think off
The standard Plugs retail for $70 and are available through Scott and Jade via their website. http://www.audiosculpt.com.au/
If you are serious about hearing protection I suggest you give the Audio Sculpt plugs a go.
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