Loop earplugs?
 

I'm currently flying domestic and have a comfortable in-ear headset which I pretty much always wear for the entire flight. I'm about to go back to international fliying, where few pilots want to wear headsets for the entire flilght across the ocean. That's understandable, but I still want to protect my hearing. (Don't want my slight tinitus to get any worse!)

So, I've been looking for something that I could wear that would protect my hearing but would still allow me to converse normally with the other pilot. (When they don't wont to wear their headset.) I've tried all kinds of earplugs, but most make it diffcult to converse in a normal tone of voice.

Googling around, I found these: https://us.loopearplugs.com/pages/earplugs-for-
flying

They have 3 basic models, "Quiet," which cuts out the most noise, "Experience," which seems geared towards musicians and concert-goers, and "Engage," which is geared towards conversation. Engage seems like it might be the best option - not as much noise reduction, and optimized for voice frequencies to facilicate conversation. They seem to have tons of good reviews on Amazon and elsewhere.

But in all my googling I haven't found much about flight crews using them. Has anyone here tried them?

never used those, but I use these for shooting and they work well. Never thought of using them for flying but it might work well. https://goaxil.com/products/xcor?rfs...02990406805etk

I wouldn’t buy anything expensive for now at least till you’ve got an idea what works for you.
Above 10,000” I put my earplugs in.
For years I’ve used the neon green silicone shooters plugs from Walmart and now I’m using cheapo Chinese from the Wish app that have a little loop on them.
If you fly with one of those whisperers well too bad so sad.

Yeah, the main thing I'm looking for is something with as little "occlusion effect" as possible. That's the effect when talking while wearing earplugs where you hear your own voice loudly inside your head. I find that pretty annoying. It's really prevelant in most foam and silicone earplugs. I've tried some silicone shooting earplugs, as well as these plugs that are designed for musicians / concert-goers: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...e?ie=UTF8&th=1 They're supposed to let music thorugh with full fidelity (not muffling, like foam plugs), but still protect you from loud volumes. But none have been great.

I have Apple AirPods Pro, which are great when deadheading, watching movies, listening to podcasts, etc. But not the best for normal converstation, and I don't really want something that requires battery power, as they're not likely to last all the way across the ocean, plus it's just one more device I need to charge.

That's what attracted me to the Loop Engage earplugs; they're supposed to minimize the occlusion effect, facilitating normal conversation. In the reviews, some people say it really does the job, while others say they're still bothered by the occlusion effect. I guess it's an individual thing and the only way to know is to try them myself.

I wear a headset any time I'm in the seat, regardless of altitude, including oceanic legs. Presently I use one of hte bose in-ear headsets, just put in the ear that's away from the other guy; no problem taling or hearing. What are you flying internationally that's so loud it requires hearing protection?

I spent a lot of time rumbling around with four-engine radial airplanes, and anything else seems whisper-quiet.

Those loop earplugs look like gimicky fashion accessories.

I also prefer to wear a headset the entire time, but I think I'm in the minority on the widebody fleets. I've also removed the inboard plug of my in-ear headset, but that does leave that ear unprotected. The airplane is not loud (about 75 db), but exposure over extended periods of time can still cause damage, e.g., my tinitus.

I looked into a different model of those. Does it take 85db before the ANR goes active?

Or is it in a "passive" mode, just giving sound reduction via the ear plug but amplifying voice/convo?

To the OP, I tried the "Engage" model of the loops when I was on the Airbus. Could hear the speaker, but was still hard to have a conversation.

Thanks, good to know. Hard to have a conversation because it blocked too much noise, or because of the occlusion effect (sound of your voice in your head)? Did you have the Engage Plus with the little "Mute" thingy attached, or just the regular Engage?

Id say I felt both, but that's just my experience.

I tried just the regular engage.

These are about $9 on Amazon, have only about 12db of noise attenuation, which is just enough to take the edge off the sound level in flight and still allow me to hear to the other pilot and the audio speaker to heat ATC. Flat frequency attenuation so sounds still present pretty naturally, just a little softer. Added benefit of not looking like some sort of fashion accessory. Cheap enough that I don't lose sleep if I misplace them.

https://www.hearos.com/collections/m...with-free-case

Does your employer not provide you with free ear plugs in your crew lounge?

Thanks! I have seen those discussed elsewhere. Definitely worth a try at that price!