Thread: earplugs for travelling

I turn 50 in January (strewth!). Upon considerable reflection this year, one thing that has stood out most is that fact - one can only lead the horse to water.

Above all other attempts at wisdom, this stands out the most.

One does as they can, doing their best to Be Good.

Either the Bose or Sony:
Bose QuietComfort 35 II vs. Sony WH-1000xM3: Face-Off | Tom's Guide

You need to go try them on and choose the one that fits most comfortably. A wrong choice gets very painful on a long flight. Over ear is way better than in ear.

I detest plane noise and I've tried, owned, lost and even worn out, various plugs and noise cancelling muffs (including Bose and Sennheiser) but interestingly none of them beat the outright sound reduction of the basic Peltor 10H series muffs in combination with ear plugs which is the same combination I use when chainsaw milling. To start with you never run out of batteries. On the negative side when I wear this combination and there is very little or no noise around it can become somewhat disturbing. An audiologist once told me that it's probably because as you start hearing your own (even shallow) breathing and internal blood flow conducted through the bones in your body.

In fact for about 6 months when I was flying at least twice a month I used the Peltors and ear plugs on shorter flights (4 hours). One of the ways the Peltors achieve such good sound reduction is because they apply a relatively high side pressure to make a good seal around the ear but over time this becomes uncomfortable and a break from wearing them is needed so they are unsuitable for longer flights. I used to get some funny looks wearing them but it didn't worry me.

As others have said one of the most important things about noise cancelling muffs is comfort and to be comfortable they have to suit your head shape. The most comfortable muffs I owned were an early ~2000 model by Jabra. Unfortunately that model went out of production and I never found the more recent model as comfortable. I found the next most comfortable were Sennheiser's. At one stage I had two sets both lost by my son on his travels.

Anyway I gave up flying about 5 years ago and don't need to worry about it now. Occasionally SWMB threatens me with a trip but so far I have escaped these threats.

My favourite noise cancelling ear muff experience happened in SFO, circa late 1990's>
Summer holidays so packed to the gunnels, screaming kids running around, babies crying, overflowing rubbish bins, long queues for the dunnies, food vendors, bars, etc. I had a 2 hour wait for my ongoing flight and no lounge access so went to the gate waiting area which was one of those multiple gate places, also packed, no spare seats so people all over the floor. About 5 minutes after I arrived at the gate lounge a kid started rattling the long handle on a closed door that had a sign on it, EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY - ALARM WILL SOUND IF OPENED, and of course he opened it and the alarm went off. It was very loud and all the people near the door immediately moved away from the area round the door vacating a bunch of seats. It took around 20 minutes for someone to come and check the door and cancel the alarm. By then most people had moved well away from the door. I put on my noise cancelling muffs and lay down across 3 seats and had a snooze in front of several hundred people looking at me from the other side of the gate lounge.

I almost forgot. A Formula One race in Phoenix. It was in down town and a lot of tall buildings. The cars did not have turbos and were unbelievably loud. The tall buildings seemed to amplify the noise. Even with Peltor muffs and ear plugs the noise was almost unbearable. During practice I was walking around with full ear protection. I discovered that if I opened my mouth in the noisy environment, my fillings would hurt.

I have Bose QC 35 ear muffs as well as the Bose QC 20 mentioned earlier. In all, I have several pairs of earmuffs, including Peltors rated at 33db and SensGard at 31 db.

The earmuffs certainly block sound, but this always relies on the fit. A little loose, and they allow in the noise. I doubt either would be my choice for snoozing in on a plane.

The QC 35 possibly perform best at noise reduction, and are the most comfortable for music, however little QC20s are just amazing for the combination of noise reduction, ability to play music, plus they are also the least intrusive ... and the ones I sleep with on a plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Has anyone tried
Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones - ALDI Australia
$69