Whitewater Freestyle

Kayakers are constantly faced with dirty moving water entering their ears. Some people seem not to have any ear problems and may not have had an ear infection since they were kids. For the rest of us however…

Anyone can go get ear plugs made from your local ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) specialist for usually about $40 (+$10 for shipping and the actual appointment). Its quite simple really.

1. Look up your local ENT and schedule an appointment
2. Go in for the appointment. They will mix some puddy together and put it in your ear. This will harden to create the wax prototype. It is about 1 hour for the entire appointment. They then send this in and…
3. One to two weeks later you have your custom molded ear plugs at your doorstep.

I used to have mega ear problems before I started to use these custom ear plugs and now cannot remember the last time I had an ear infection. These things save lots of pain and for $40-$50, you cannot beat it. Additionally, they stay in your ear even during almost all beatdowns (hint: avoid getting stuck at the base of larger waterfalls or you might loose one).

Before these I used several other brands (Doc’s Pro Plugs, Rite-Aid stuff, silicone puddy) and none of these worked as well as the custom ones have. The silicone puddy stuff works in a pinch, but it is slow to put in your ears and doesn’t always achieve the best seal.

In summary: if you have ear problems from kayaking, check this out for sure. It is a fairly cheap way to get the best protection for your ears. Super solid.

Cheers,

-Adam Johnson