This is a review that is comparing these green "Flents Contour Ear Plugs - Soft Comfort!" to the purple ones, which are called "Flents Quiet Time Soft Comfort Ear Plugs." At the bottom I pasted a general review that doesn't compare the two so it isn't nearly as specific if you'd prefer to just read that. ------------------------------------------------------------- I like these green contour ear plugs way more than the purple ones. I have been using both for years and I now have a strong preference for the green ones. Why I like the green ones more: #1 - They are WAY more comfortable!! The #1 reason I switched. #2 - They are easier to put in place.* #3 - They stay in place better. #4 - They work better at blocking noise, but only b/c I can place them in my ear better. #5 - They are bright green! If I wear them during the day this is helpful. People can see them much easier than the purple ones and know that I can't hear them. ------------------------------------------------------------- *They are easier to put in place in my ear now that I have had some practice. When I first started using ear plugs I had a lot of difficulty placing them until I watched a youtube video and actually read the directions that comes with the Flent ear plugs (sadly). When I first started using ear plugs the purple ones were way easier to place because they are so much harder and thus stiffer. These green ones will bend if you don't place them correctly which was why I couldn't use so many other ear plugs at first. Now that I know how to insert them the green ones are easier for me because they are soft enough to really shove in. That being said, for me the green ones work better than the purple ones because I can reliably insert them correctly!! The purple ones are hard enough that if i don't take the time to place them carefully they will push themselves part way out of my ear. In that situation the stiffness of the purple ones is what allows them to propel themselves out of my ear if i don't hold my finger there for a very long time. I may have to reinsert the purple ones once or twice before I put them in correctly. In the end, I can insert the purple ones correctly if put forth the time and effort, which wasn't always true for other brands. The green ones are not nearly as stiff so if I place them perfectly I don't even have to keep my finger on my ear to make it stay in place. All in all, the green ones are simply easier and faster to place, for me personally, which means they work better. Lastly, the purple ones made my ears sore! The green ones are more comfortable and my ears are not sore anymore. I do wear them all night, every night. I'm a college student and at times I will sleep for 12 hours with the green ones in and once I take them out it doesn't feel like I had anything in my ear. That is why they beat the purple ones for me. Hands down. ------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------- A general review that applies to both the purple and these green ear plugs: I love these ear plugs! They work very well. I sleep with them every night. I do have trouble putting in ear plugs just right and something about how these are made makes it so I can easily put them in right. I think it's that, compared to other ear plugs, these are easier to roll up and continue to stay rolled up until I have them in place in my ear. They are the only ones that I can sleep in because when I put other brands in my ears incorrectly they stick out and eventually catch on the pillow and come out during the night. I can put these in correctly so they don't stick out and stay in place all night. I don't hear any snoring from the other side of the bed and I sleep peacefully :) I feel I sleep better with them in even if there is no loud noise around me because I don't hear any noise from the apartment building I live in or the nearby roads and parking lot. I wish I started using these a long time ago. Worth every penny! Read more
I have purchased this 3 times in the past 10 years. They are soft and moldable to your ears, every time. I have never had one come out in my sleep. They stay in place extremely well. My husband snores and my neighbors have dogs that bark at everything and all that goes away. There seems to be different colors for the same product, but I have only purchased the lime green ones. I have found that if you pinch them, put them in place, wait 5 minutes then push them in a little more, they work even better. I use each plug about 1-3 months when they get dirty or dry out. They are great for tuning out people on planes!!! Read more
Because my ears have very narrow ear canals, and one of them takes a 90 degree bend and goes straight up, I am particular about my ear plugs. Because I use earplugs for active motor sports, shooting, and chainsaw work in Hawaii, over the ear protection isn't always practical. I recently purchased 5 different brands of earplugs and put them to the test. Here's what I found, sorted for most to least favorite. Mack's Ultra Soft - My personal favorite, and at $0.17/pair, also the least expensive. They share the same small diameter of the Hearos Ultimate Softness, but are a bit more firm and a few millimeters longer. So, for me, they did a better job of subjective sound dampening, and were a bit easier to grip and pull back out. My tests are mostly in warm weather. In very cold weather, these could be too firm for some users. The Mack's and Hearos Ultimate Softness both shared the same smaller diameter. Hearos Ultimate Softness - These were the softest, most comfortable plugs I tested. At $0.18/pair they were the second cheapest, and also my second favorite. My daughter doesn't like earplugs, as they really bother her ears, but she was at least able to tolerate these. I think most people would be pretty happy with these, however, they were not my favorite for two reasons. First reason is that they seemed to stop slightly less high-pitched sound than the other plugs. All the plugs are rated at 33 db, but that's because that is all they are allowed to be rated. Subjectively, these were at the lower end of sound blocking, but still adequate for most tasks. My only other "complaint" is that these seemed to take the longest to spring back to shape and fill the ear because they are very soft, and they are somewhat shorter than the Macks. This makes them feel a bit like they might fall out for the first minute or two, and their 2-3 millimeter shorter length makes them every so slightly more difficult to grip and remove. Both minor complaints, and these are very good plugs. Hearos Xtreme Protection - As the name implies, subjectively, these blocked the most sound of all the ones I tested. They have the same larger diameter as the 3M plugs, but are easily twice as soft/half as firm. They gave a very full feeling to the ears, but were not uncomfortable. At $0.39/pair, they were the most expensive plugs tested. They were the most effective and were quite comfortable, but the Mack's were 95% as good, and less than half the cost. These went into my shooting kit and would be my third selection, for use when max protection for a shorter wear period is ideal. Flents Quiet Contour. These plugs have a bell shape. I did not find that the shape made any improvement to sound dampening. These were on par with the Mack's for noise suppression. The downside of the wide end is that there is more material in your outer ear, which could be uncomfortable for some, and also perhaps less aesthetically appealing. However, if you're in charge of safety compliance, that extra bit makes it much easier to visually see that someone is wearing hearing protection, and it did leave more to grip for removing the plugs. At $0.30/pair, these were the second most expensive, and I do not recommend. 3M 1100 - These are what was issued to me for my 22 years of military service, and the benchmark from which I was judging. About the only positive thing I'll say about them is that they came individually packaged by pairs, so you can carry or store them in dirty or wet environment easily, but these were absolutely the least comfortable of the ones I tested. I paid $ 0.27/pair for them which puts them in the middle of the pack price wise. For me, they are much too firm, and also have the largest diameter of the group. In very cold weather, they would be nearly solid. They quickly made my ears sore/itchy. As much as I usually love 3M products, I do not recommend these. For those who care about such things, I tested these several ways. I wore each pair for about an hour just to get subjective feel for long term comfort. The exception was the 3M, which I could not leave in the entire hour because they were uncomfortable. Then to test for noise reduction, I put one brand in one ear and a different brand in the other ear and work for half an hour, then switch ears. During the test, I listened to speech, music, traffic noise, etc, and noted which plugs seemed to be most effective. Read more
