RadiansCustom Molded Earplugs, Blue, 2 Count (Pack of 1)

Extremely comfortable, fairly low-pressure, and best of all- they absolutely will NOT fall out while you sleep.As a nurse, I have been working 12 hour night shifts for the last 7 years, and sleeping during the day with a 2 little kids and a wife who likes to vacuum is a bit a challenge. Noises like gardeners and lawnmowers, trash trucks and loud (apartment) neighbors have been constant problems that I have mostly learned to ignore.Over the years I have tried many different solutions including other brands of disposable earplugs, fans, and static brown noise. Frankly, usually a combination of several things helps me sleep. However, I always seem to wake up from either noise or uncomfortable changes when one or both of the ear plugs fall out.I stumbled upon this cost-effective solution and overall, I am pretty pleased with these earplugs.Pros: light, soft and comfortable. They don't move around once they're in and I can't think of any activities where they might accidentally fall out. Since they are custom-molded they of course fit like a dream and work well. Bottom line: these earplugs are better than anything I've used and they are 10 times cheaper than custom earplugs made at the audiologist office. I am not ready to invest $150 bucks or more on something that I am likely to misplace, and these custom earplugs are fantastic. Get some, and if you get a good fit you won't be disappointed.Now for the cons. These are somewhat minor, and here is how I overcame these issues. Once these ear plugs dry they are stiff and not pliable or spongy. So, if you don't get a good fit with the initial mold, they probably won't work very well, and I imagine they won't be very comfortable either. The comfort of these ear plugs result from an accurate custom fit, but if you want something soft and squishy these might not be a good product for you. When molding them for the first time just note that it takes a little bit of work to get a deep fit when working them into your ear. I used almost all the material and found that it was a bit too much once it had set. It made the outside surface of the earplug stick out over some more of the sensitive parts of my outer-ear, and when I was side sleeping on my pillow it became sore after a few hours, and I had to roll over. This by no means is a deal breaker though, because for me this is WAY less irritating then regular earplugs, which extend much further past the outer ear, which eventually causes them to loosen and dislodge. I would suggest that you either use less of the included putty material for each ear (especially if you have smallish ears), or you could do use more material, but clean up to extra material after it hardens. My goal was to have as much of my ear covered as possible for better sound blocking. I really filled nearly half of my outer ear- just like the photos on the packaging show. However, the finished surface was not as flat as the advertised picture and so after letting it cure for another day or two I pulled out an exacto knife and sliced off some of the outer surface for a more flat, uniform look. This was an immediate improvement in comfort and it looks a lot more even and gives the plug a more finished and professional appearance. I had some 150 grit sand paper laying around and so I ran them back a forth on the paper to even out the surface and they look and feel perfect now. You can see my results in the pics I uploaded.Before you try and mold these to your ears for the first time I also recommend watching a video (you can Google how-to videos on YouTube and you'll get a great idea of how to do it, or a trip to the official website will work too). You will probably get a better, more comfortable, and more effective fit if you know what you're doing first. In fact, after making several pairs over the last couple of years, I might suggest that you buy 2 kits and makes several pairs, because some attempts might turn out significantly better than others. Also, a little research shows that the putty has a shelf-life of a year after packaging and the product comes with a card with a date of production. I ordered mine on Amazon and it had a packaging date three weeks old. Basically, brand new.Final thoughts: If you take your time and watch an instructional video before proceeding you will probably end up with a better result. Also, do yourself a favor and really clean your ear well before starting this process. If you're like me that means you might want to use an ear hair trimmer get rid of anything that might impede a good fit. This review might be a bit overkill for a product as simple as earplugs, but as a day-time sleeper, I felt like I might be able to help fellow night-shift workers get better rest.

I followed the directions precisely and ended up with some descent plugs that wrapped around my Shure SE215 in-ear-monitors. For live band stuff, they handled 100-120 dB pretty good, as I'm often near one of the speakers on stage. Also, the Radian's website has a downloadable pdf brochure that shows how many decibels are blocked for 5 different frequencies.So, I started by wiping out my ears with rubbing alcohol to get them totally clean. Washed both hands good. Wore nitrile gloves (NOT latex gloves, as the instructions say latex gloves can slow down or prevent the mixed parts from setting). Used a plastic knife to divide the blue and white parts in half. I did each mixture at different times, not at the same time. Instructions say to mix the blue and white parts for 15 to 30 seconds, but I ended up going 45-60 seconds to be sure they were mixed very well. For my averaged-sized ears, I used maybe 3/4, or 4/5 of the material per ear. Threw away the remainder. Used some saran wrap to wrap around each memory foam ear tip (Shure/Comply P-series) and tested putting that in my ear first. Once that was good, I put the mixture in my ear next, into the upper part of the bowl away from the ear canal. This is because I wanted to keep using my memory foam Shure/Comply P-Series eartips and just fill the area around the eartips and slightly over the bodies of the SE215's with the Radians material. When I pushed the SE215's into the ear bowl, this squished the material out around the SE215's, which I then squished around to cover the body of the SE215. Tried to make sure the edges of the material came to the edge of the ear bowl. The SE215's audio cables can be detached from each body, so I also scraped off material when I accidentally covered the connection area for the audio cables. Did all of this while the material was in my ear and setting. Did this within about 1 minute of putting both the material and earbud together in my ear. Waited 10-15 minutes for setting per ear. Took out a given ear's material and earbud and left to fully set for 3 hours (per ear). After the material was fully set, I then just pulled off the saran wrap that was around the eartips. It tore off very easy. Used small scissors to trim off the earplug material touching the foam eartips - some tried to get into my ear canal beside the foam eartip and needed to be trimmed off. Included pictures show the results. Not the greatest-looking, but very functional. You do have to pull your ears different directions to get the plug/IEM's seated. The sound blockage was very impressive to me.

Good:-Easy to make-Custom fit-Comfortable for most of the day-Block out nearly all noiseBad:-One ear didn't set right-Not aesthetically pleasing-Sound will leak if you turn your head or move your ears too muchI got a pair of these as I was going to work in a very noisy factory environment, and I got to try them out on the plane ride over as well. Simply put: they work. They block out nearly all ambient noises (especially high pitched ones) and they will help you keep your sanity when working next to industrial equipment for prolonged hours.Making these plugs was very easy. You get two dabs of material. Take half each per ear, mix them together then push it into your ear and form the shape. The material cured in less than 10 minutes. I did notice that the material in my right ear was causing a lot of crackling noises and tingling while it was curing, and that ear piece does not sit as snug as the other one. Still it works just fine in normal use, if I tilt my head to that side it loosens up and lets some noise in.The material cures to a dull plastic. It's semi rigid and comfortable, though I wouldn't try sleeping on the side of your head with these in. The material is hard enough to be uncomfortable if you put force on it.Overall these will serve. I wore them all day in 12+ hour shifts, and they were only starting to get uncomfortable towards the end of the day.