I enjoy using earplugs when riding because it lowers the hissing noise of the wind whipping past my helmet and generally makes the experience much more enjoyable.  Not to mention I don't want to end up a mean deaf old person :-)

The only problem is finding an earplug that fits and works equally the same on the right ear as on the left ear.  Often times I use the traditional foamies which are cheap and readily available, but never quite fit exactly the way I would like.  For example, I accidentally pushed one too far into my ear canal because it was not sealing properly when I had my helmet on and I had to extract the thing with a pair of tweezers.  My other pet peeve is when my left ear is sealed properly, but my right ear isn't ... this tends to make everything in the right ear sound about 10 times louder than it probably is.

So the solution?  For me I had some pliable medical grade silicone injected into my ear canals for about 10 minutes (I chose the red color) which was then removed for curing and finishing.  I returned about 40 minutes later to see two ugly gobs of shiny plastic that evidently are replicas of the inside of my ear canals!  I guess I was expecting something more visually pleasing which may be why I have not seen these ear plugs as prevalent among the fashion forward, however I was eager too try them out none the less.

One can distinguish the right plug from the left plug by the small hole partially drilled into the body of the right side plug.  It takes a few times of inserting and removing to get used to the turning motion required, but once mastered I find these easier too use than foamies.  Once inserted they are perfect!  They create an excellent seal, are low profile and do not interfere with my helmet.

Do they work?  Yes, the do!  The ones I got are 29.8dB which I assume means that the surrounding noise gets reduced to 29.8dB.  I can continue to have conversations and I have worn them for extended periods of time as well.  I even slept with them on one night so I would not have to hear the snoring of my other MotoGP room mates.  They were very comfortable even for sleeping.

I purchased mine from the "Now Hear This" booth at Laguna Seca.  They do tons of custom applications besides standard ear plugs.  I saw they have custom bluetooth adapters, headphones, semi-custom applications and Etymotic stuff as well.

As for the price range it is hard to tell.  I saw other vendors selling what appears to be the same thing ranging from 20 dollars to 80 dollars.  Mine were around 60 dollars.  I didn't investigate the 20 dollar ones so there may be some fine print as to why they are only 20 dollars, but I think the 60 dollars I paid is a fair trade to protect my hearing, assuming I don't loose them in the near future!

Review by Kirk Hayes