A shout out to Celia for recommending these in previous posts.
I see people all the time in cold water come up from a roll then pull on the sides of their rubbery head gear and tilt their heads to get the water out of their ears. Me included, till now.
The vented ones let you hear fine, too. Nice to roll with no fuss now. $12 at the local paddle shop of dive shop.
Paul S.
Thanks, tho’
it was another p.netter who turned Jim and myself onto these, I think one of the surf guys. Then there is a subtle hint they might be decent for paddling when you go to a WW center and there is a whole rack of the things in every size sitting there…
Your ears will like you for this. And the red ones produce entertaining alarmed looks when people just see the red in the middle of your ear and think it’s bad.
i have been using them for about 3 years
…love em!!!
have not lost them yet (surprising in all the gear!!!)
should order up a second set as spares…NO one in RI carries them…so i went direct…not bad…
rob
Me too…
I got them too…largely at the recommendation of Celia.
I got the clear ones, largely because I did not want the looks to which Celia referred.
Was not sure which size to order (got the direct) so got both the large and mediums. I like the plugs, but still can figure out how they should fit.
I got the vented ones. Can hear fairly well with them when dry. After rolling though they seem to fill with water and then can’t hear well. Also feel like some water gets around them in the outer ear, but none in the inner. Maybe a function of fit…or maybe just how these plugs are??? Not sure.
In any event, I recommend them. You can get them directly from the maker online, and they are less expensive than I would have thought.
Matt
sometimes that feeling that they are
full of water is just a little bubble at the end of the vent…push inwards on your tragus (spelling)-the little triangle of cartilage in front of the ear opening- that will push a small bit of air out the vent and remove the bubble…
comfort- i got the fit set from the maker to see what size would be right…and then went towards the size that was a tiny (i mean TINY) bit bigger…no complaints…
def get the leash…that way you can take them out when you need to and not worry so much about trying to find a place to put them…just leave them hanging…
rob
Fit
Geez guys… really gotta find a way to meet sometime to paddle. Maybe halfway in Delaware or something. Hang onto a few of those boats you keep trying out Matt, and we can mount an expedition.
As to fit though - I don’t find any sense of leakage. We went with vented when we found out that is pretty much all that the dive shops carried, though we found that dive shops are less likely to have the ones leashed. Paddle shops do a better job of carrying that. Doc’s does have a fit chart - it has a blackout of all their sizes and you just need someone to place it over your ear and tell you which size fully covers the area of the inner opening. I think mine are small, or the first size of extra small - but they have 8 sizes. Jim got that fit chart from the scuba place near the Great Lakes where he got our first set of plugs.
The nice thing about the colored ones is that when they come out you can find 'em again. Those clear ones floating on the water will never be found again, and the leash has saved one more than once.