Mack's Ultra Soft Foam Earplugs, 50 Pair - 33dB Highest NRR, Comfortable Ear Plugs for Sleeping, Snoring, Travel, Concerts, Studying, Loud Noise, Work | Made in USA

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.

I've tried so many and these are my favorite. I have very small ears, but these are so squishy that they will work in anyone's ears. They do a wonderful job of blocking out noise. I wear these to fall asleep if my husband is watching tv in bed or snoring. I even use them to fall asleep if I have insomnia. They are wonderful. I recently tried another version by the same company and they were nowhere near as effective. Simply the best!

These are my favorite brand of ear plugs. I sleep with ear plugs every night being a light sleepern and these work great. They are good fir for my ears not to long that I have to cut them like other bands. This batch seems a little softer then normal but still very comfortable and keeps most noise out.

Every time I’ve tried another brand of earplugs to save money I regret it. These are the most comfortable I’ve found. They easily mold to the size you need and are great quality. I don’t have trouble with these falling out or hurting my ears like a lot of the ones I’ve tried (which is saying something considering I use them every night). They block enough noise that I can fall asleep through loud snoring but don’t block it out entirely. My only wish is that it came with a larger quantity for the price.

I bought these when we had some very noisy neighbors move in next door (loud conversations, doors slamming, dogs barking, loud music playing, etc.), and I kept getting woken up by the noise early in the morning. The first couple times I used these ear plugs, I wasn't impressed, but I kept working with them, and now I'm so thankful I have them. When they are sitting in the right spot in the ears, they work very well and block out just the right of amount of noise without keeping you from hearing absolutely everything (I like that I can still hear my alarm clock when it rings, for instance).After some experimenting, here are some tips I've found that help me when I'm using them:1. I have small ear canals, and I find I have to roll these to a fairly thin point so that I can slide them into my ears easily. Sometimes, I find it easier to roll the plug back and forth against my palm with a couple fingers. That seems to work better for me than just using my thumb and forefinger.2. Once the ear plugs are in place after rolling them, expect to hear some crackling as the foam expands to fill the ear canal. Also, don't expect the ear plug to block sound until that foam has expanded completely and the ear canal is closed off. This can take maybe a half a minute or a so.3. To test if both ear plugs are in place, after the foam has expanded in both ears and the crackling has completely stopped, try speaking or making a humming noise. If your own voice sounds a little like you're underwater, it's a good sign. As another check, I usually snap my fingers a couple times. If I feel the vibrations from the snap more than I hear the actual noise, then I know I'm good to go. If I still hear the snapping sound, then I know at least one of the plugs isn't sitting in quite the right place.4. For me personally, I've found that these work best when they are just deep enough to fill the entrance to the ear canal. Any deeper that that and, for me, they cause a faint ear ache, so work with them a little until you find what is most comfortable for you and what will work best for your own needs. If you accidentally press them in a little too far, I've found you can very carefully pull them out a bit until they're more comfortable, though you do have to be careful not to overdo that and pull them out too much.5. I don't know if this would be the case for everyone, but I've found that these ear plugs can shift a little if I go from sitting up to laying down, or from laying down to sitting up/standing up, presumably because my ear canals themselves shift a little with the movement. Sometimes, the ear plugs are in a good spot when I'm laying down, but then I sit up, and suddenly, they aren't blocking as much sound any more. The opposite is also true. I'm good when I'm sitting up, but then I lay down, and suddenly, the ear plugs aren't blocking sound the same way, and I have to readjust them. So, that's just something I've learned to watch for when I'm putting them in right before I go to sleep, or if I have to get up for a few minutes before heading back to bed.

I never write reviews but these have surprisingly helped me sleep better on a regular basis! Incredible, comfortable, effective.

These are insanely good, almost too good. I can’t express enough how well these work, they’re soft and can be put in the ear easily. I suffer from Hyperacusis and tinnitus so I wanted to try these out, they’re so comfortable and do such a good job and stopping sound. I actually cant wear them because they stop so much sound all I can hear is my tinnitus but I recognize how good these are and absolutely recommend as a first choice for earplugs