After my first trip across bits of Europe four years ago I got tinitus. I'd used a motocross helmet and goggles. These are generally much noisier than full face ones. It is the wind noise that does the damage.

The tinitus started about one week after I got back to London and was a constant high pitched whine. I didn't notice it during the day because of all the background noise but when it was quiet I could always hear it. It has almost gone today.

I therefore decided to do a bit of investigation for my next one. I did a bit of web searching and posted a note on Horizons Unlimited website about the problem of noisy helmets. This is the thread.

I bought mine from Hearing Protection Ltd in the UK. It’s sounds and feels weird when they take the mould. First, what looks like a mouse’s tampax is pushed into in each ear with the string dangling around my neck. Very sophisticated.

Secondly the quick setting rubber solution is syringed into one ear at a time. It looks like epoxy glue as there are two tubes, presumably the rubber solution and the hardener. It’s like standing in a tiny underground tunnel as the train approaches the station. You can feel and hear the whistle as the air rushes when the rubber advances down the tube. Then there’s a big squelching sound as the solution enters your ear and starts to fill it up.

Initially it’s cold but soon as the rubber and hardener start to react and set it gets a lot warmer. It’s actually rather pleasant. The other strange part is being totally deaf for ten minutes waiting for the rubber to cure.

I wear ear plugs whenever I'm going to ride for more than half an hour. They are comfortable, I wear them all day during this trip. The left one has a red filter and the right a blue one. I simply lick each one and stick it in.

They filter out much of the wind noise – see hearing Protections site for more details of how they work. Even with my helmet on I can still talk to and hear people talk to me with ease. I can also easily hear car horns, sirens etc as these frequencies are not filtered out.