Warning! Radians Custom Molded Earplug Failure

[JCummings]

Warning! Today I tried the Radians Custom Molded Earplug Kit. I followed the instructions completely. After carefully mixing the two parts as directed I carefully pressed the mixture into my ear. After a 1 hour wait (not the 10 minutes recommended)the gooey mixture was exactly the same as when inserted - a gooey sticky mess. There was no hardening at all. Let me tell you trying to get that gooey mess out of your ear is VERY DIFFICULT! Nothing like when is has hardened as it is supposed to. In fact in is literally impossible to completely remove it. I tried for a couple hours and even tried washing out my ear with a syringe. I did get most if it out but there is still a sticky coating of the stuff in my ear canal which will have to just slowly come out through the normal clearing of ear wax. I STRONGLY recommend that if you want to try this product you MUST try a small portion of the contents as a test plug out side your ear first. I would never use this product again without proving that there really was the correct combination of plastic and hardener that would successfully work outside my ear first. This need to be put in the instructions on the package from the manufacturer. Do Not Trust this product to work. Verify!

 

[butchlambert]

Did you contact the vendor before posting this?

 

[JCummings]

Yes, I emailed them while this was happening. The have not contacted me yet.

 

[butchlambert]

Well according to your post it was yesterday. They probably don't work on weekends. You should at least give them time to get to work on a Monday.

 

[JCummings]

Give them time for what? All I'm doing is warning people that there is a risk of using this product without taking certain safety precautions.

 

[Preacher]

To give them time to resolve the problem is my best guess....

 

[lal357]

i tried them about a year ago with the same results wont do that again.

 

[apakesha]

I hope you did only one ear and not both.

 

[JCummings]

Yes, thank God I only did one ear.
Why would anyone want "to give them time to fix the problem" while not warning everyone about the risk?
That makes no sense at all. The solution is immediately available to everyone right now.
Before using this product in your ear take a small amount of the two parts, mix them, set aside and wait 10 minutes to see if it hardens.
If it does you're good to go.
If not DO NOT put the stuff in your ear!

 

[ChrisNZ]

I'm going to offer some advice here. To qualify this, I'll say firstly I'm a clinical audiologist with thirty two years experience and have taken tens of thousands of ear impressions.

My strong advice to anyone is to not even consider doing ear impressions on yourself or anyone else. There are major potential pitfalls including the possibility of writing off your hearing. An ear canal should be examined with an otoscope by someone with training before an impression is attempted. A small proportion of ear canals have a necked entrance and the impression will end up stuck. The chances of a good fit from amateurs taking impressions is low and the resultant effectiveness of plugs will be poor.

Chris-NZ

 

[butchlambert]

+1 ChrisNZ

 

[Erik Cortina]

My guess is your protest to the manufacturer will go in one ear and out the other. ;D

 

[Rustystud]

First, your ears and eyes are precious resources that you don't want to loose.

I have been shooting over 55 years and in early times I did not know what ear and eye protection were.

I have an 80% hearing loss in my right ear and 60% hearing loss in my left ear, mostly high frequency.

I wear both ear plugs made by an audiologist and headphones, because a great deal of the damage from shooting comes through the mastoid bone and not just the ear cannal.

I have a set of custom made ear plugs in all of my vehicles, shooting bags, shop, and shaving kit. I want be caught without them.

You might have laughed about the shaving kit, eh. I even take them on fishing trips. You have never shared a bed room with my brother. If his wife were to divorce him I would have to testify in her behalf that his snoring is cruel and unusual punishment.
Nat Lambeth

 

[NateHaler]

I hope you did only one ear and not both.

That reminds me of the time I saw a guy in a hotel bar where we were waiting for clients to meet us. The poor bloke had bandages on both ears.

I asked him what happened, and he said "I'm in sales, and I was running late this morning for a meeting. I yelled at my wife because I didn't have any pressed shirts, so she got mad and left for yoga and yelled at me to feed the cat before I left. I plugged in the iron next to the phone on the kitchen counter, and set up the ironing board. Then just as I was putting food in the cat's bowl, the phone rang. Not paying attention, I grabbed the iron, thinking it was the phone."

"Holy SH*T" I replied, "that must have hurt!! But how did you get the bandage on the other ear?"

He rolled his eyes and said "What do YOU think? Whoever it was called back!!"