Radians Custom Molded Earplugs, Blue

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.

Been using these for several years now. Originally bought them for shooting and was quite happy from the start. They work well and sit flush with your ear, so they don't get in the way of a rifle stock like earmuffs may. They work better and are more comfortable then the disposable ear plugs in my opinion. I also started taking these with me on group vacations for sleeping and they've proved to keep out the noise while remaining comfortable. Finally I bought another set to mold custom earpieces for a set of expensive bluetooth in the ear headphones I had purchased. The headphones sounded horrible unless I would shove them uncomfortably deep into my ears. Made some custom earpieces and now they sound great, are super comfortable, and stay put while working out. Only negative I've noticed is that for maximum noise suppression I need to buy new ones occasionally (maybe once every other year) otherwise they no longer seal as well. I suspect this is a result of my ears ever so slightly changing as I age.

Good: -Easy to make -Custom fit -Comfortable for most of the day -Block out nearly all noise Bad: -One ear didn't set right -Not aesthetically pleasing -Sound will leak if you turn your head or move your ears too much I 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.

I use earplugs every night to sleep in. Until now I have used the Mack's swimmer's earplugs because they are soft and mold over the ear rather than go inside. I have extremely narrow and sensitive ear canals so normal foam earplugs are not an option for me. I have really enjoyed using the moldable silicone kind but they are not budget friendly so I found the Radians brand. Very economical pricing! When I received my unfolded earplugs the date was almost a year old which worried me. I tried mixing them up anyway and was pleased to find they set up just fine. The bubbling in my ear tickled and it was hard not to laugh and move my jaw since this could have affected the mold. I actually let them set up for 25 minutes in my ear Just in case. Afterwards I left them on the nightstand overnight to make sure they were completely done setting. Since I have small ears I could have actually made two pair from the material given and will make sure to do so next time I need to buy another set. These earplugs blocked the smaller noises but still allowed me to hear my alarm clock which was exactly what I wanted them to do. I am a side sleeper so it took a few nights to get used to the slightly harder earplugs but it's not an issue now. I'll be buying more when needed but they seem like they will last at least a few months of daily us.a

Bought these to try and make a couple of earplugs for my young son, to keep water out of his ears. But before I try anything on him, I wanted to see how hard it was to make these on me, to know if he was going to be able to make it through the process. What I found was even more disconcerting. I made the earplugs one at a time, and the first one seemed to go fine. A little difficult to pull out at the end, but that just means it was a nice tight fit. However, once I completed the second and pulled it out, I noticed a number of large cracks where the ear canal part of the plug branched off from the main body of the plug. Now I wonder how long this plug is going to stay together. (I mean this one specific plug, not the plugs in general. The other one looks pretty good.) It seems to be a byproduct of the bubbles during the setting reaction (You can hear them while the earplug is setting). For questions, I followed the instructions exactly, even better in fact. I had a good mixture, no streaks. Everything pushed in well, and I actually let it set for 15 minutes instead of the 10 in the instructions. I didn't talk, didn't chew, and as soon as I pulled it out, you could see the cracks. I guess that's $12 down the drain, since I don't suspect these are returnable, and I hesitate to use them now, since I'm worried it may break off in my ear and get stuck. At least this was on me, and not on my son...

Pros: I used this product to make a custom earbud using Bose MIE2i headset, and so far I'm not disappointed. The headset makes the snare drum sound like it's in the room, and the custom earplug makes me forget I'm wearing earbuds. I used 1/2 of the product to create the earplugs with headphones (1/4 in each ear) and it worked great. I just stuffed the earpiece into my ear while following the rest of the directions on the package. I let the mold sit for 15 minutes just for good measure. I then used an exacto blade to carve out the channels for audio. I'm thinking about re-making the left ear because I wasn't spot on in the ear canal like I was on the right ear(only slightly askew), but I don't think I can tell. Sound is still excellent. I have two more tries if I decide later that it's not quite right. Obviously this ruins the noise reduction, and I doubt that the 1/2 remaining would be enough material to get the advertised 26dB reduction. If I decide that the left ear isn't perfect, I might just use the remaining material to make another set. I'm sure it would be better if I didn't use it all. Cons: None that I can think of right now. Directions were good and I had no problems following them. Some users complained that some remained in their ear but I don't see how that's possible. Unless maybe they pushed really hard during installation and then immediately tried removing them before curing? The earplugs become quite solid, so I don't understand how you could mess this up... but some people out there manage. Note: I had a friend buy these and he only pressed lightly on the ear and didn't think he got the full noise reduction. He's using them to block out some of the noise from a motorcycle and decided to order another pair to try again, but this time press a bit harder. Just use common sense. Don't push it too hard but don't be too afraid not to get it in your ear canal. Just let it cure and you shouldn't have an issue removing the entire thing anyways. At no point was I thinking my ear was in any danger, even when I was stuffing my earbuds into them.

These two putties are easily dividable and are very easily mixed when you are ready to mold your plugs. They are very soft and mix easily and thoroughly in less than a minute. There is more than enough to do my small ears and I ended up throwing away a bunch. In hindsight, I may have even been able to make two separate pairs. The putty goes in and feels like it's not doing much for the first few minutes. Then it begins crackling and making all sorts of wet noises as the chemical reaction takes place. After ten minutes I couldn't stand the crackling any more so I gently pulled them out of my ears. I was satisfied that the molding process was very easy. however, my plug didn't look like the picture in that it didn't have nearly as long of a protrusion into my ear canal. After several hours of final curing, I tried the plugs on. They went in easily but didn't feel all that snug. The directions say to let them warm up to your body to fully expand. Even after a few minutes, I didn't find that the noise reduction was what I expected. I may buy another set to give them a second shot. But overall, I'm only feeling OK with the results. I'm not sure these would provide enough protection for shooting. But they would definitely be comfortable as they are custom molded.

Great, comfy earplugs

I deliberately used this product for something other than its intended purpose. Instead of earplugs, I used it to make custom molds for in-ear headphones so they fit tightly, block most surrounding noise, and play noticeably louder. I used half of the compound per ear and used the rest as a practice run. The headphones were inserted first, then the mold. I only filled the outer ear fold, not the ear canal. I had to drill additional holes in the mold to match the headphone vents (likely for bass without them the sound was hollow and lacked weight). Thin excess parts were trimmed with nail scissors. Painting the molds black didn’t work well, so I wouldn’t recommend doing that. The molded extensions were then superglued to the headphones. They’ve been in daily use for about two months with no issues.

It helps me a lot for my work area where noise is almost 85DB. It worth the investment. Preparation of ear plugs is not difficult.

Exelentes, comodos no se salen, no molestan para nada

Have to be quick to mix to get a smooth surface. They work really well, best I have come across. Good value😃

Looks like blue tack🤣 I was expecting it to harden up like really hard plastic but it is more of a soft silicone type. Works well tho. Everyone at worksite keeps asking me why I have blue tack in my ears.