Wearing Glasses and Headsets

[OffshoreHeli]

I know a lot has been written about headsets but has any wearer of glasses found a comfortable headset to wear, that does not break the ear seal. Or are ear plugs under the headset the only option. Your thoughts.

[Gomer Pylot]

You can use a headset that uses earplugs instead of domes. Clarity Aloft, Auricomm, and Lightspeed all manufacture these models. I have tried them all, and put the Lightspeed at the bottom of the list, with the other two pretty close together. They're comfortable, and have higher noise reduction numbers than domed headsets, even ANR/ENC models. They can also be worn with standard baseball caps, without removing the button on top. I'll never go back to heavy domed headsets.

[IAV82]

One of the best pair of sunglasses you can buy for flying are Serengeti and they make the arms of certain models extremely flat for just this reason. These with gel ear seals you will find are a great combination.

[slgrossman]

I believe I recall seeing a wedge made by Oregon Aero in their catalog. It slips over the arms and fits under the earcup.

-Stan-

[maxeemum]

Randolph-made for wearing under helmets or head sets-Mil spec

Max

:ok:

[John Eacott]

Google is a wonderful aid. (http://www.davidclark.com/HeadsetPgs/accessry.htm) Scroll down to "Other", and they have Model Number: 12500G-02, Stop Gap, Eyeglass Temple Cushion :ok:

http://www.flightshop.dk/images/davidclark_stopgap.jpg

Then it doesn't matter what glasses you are wearing ;)

[malabo]

For sunglasses try something close-fitting with straight arms like the Serengeti Vedi ($85 at Peepers). For eyeglasses spend some money on a decent titanium frame (with those springy hingeless arms). For a headset, get one that doesn't depend on any vise-like clamp, or wide sweaty plastic seal to suppress noise. I don't know of any good choices besides the Bose-X. The helicopter community is slowly migrating to Bose ANR (except those goofy North Sea guys with an affinity for Peltors).

malabo

[rick1128]

For sunglasses try something close-fitting with straight arms like the Serengeti Vedi ($85 at Peepers). For eyeglasses spend some money on a decent titanium frame (with those springy hingeless arms). For a headset, get one that doesn't depend on any vise-like clamp, or wide sweaty plastic seal to suppress noise. I don't know of any good choices besides the Bose-X. The helicopter community is slowly migrating to Bose ANR (except those goofy North Sea guys with an affinity for Peltors).
malabo

I have been using a Telex ANR with glasses with very good success. Am quite happy with them.

[jonnyloove]

:rolleyes: Drop me an private message if your require glasses. i have a suppy off british miltary aircrew glasses and aircrew sunglasses as well. They are not the most sexy or flatiring style but they are comfotable to wear with helmets and headsets. And are designed for the job you require. They will be brand new.:sad:

[OffshoreHeli]

Thank you for all your help gentlemen.

[Limpopo]

The helicopter community is slowly migrating to Bose ANR (except those goofy North Sea guys with an affinity for Peltors).


One company here (and maybe the other two as well) in the North Sea has done tests for nosie reduction in the cockpit and the Bose doesn't come out too well for noise reduction other than at low frequencies when the ANR is turned on. I know of at least one person who has stopped using his Bose and gone back to the Peltor provided by the company! The main problem with the Bose is that it has very poor passive noise reduction qualities for the turbine helicopter, although I suspect that it is very good in the piston world.

With regard to the topic header, I have tried wedges and found them very difficult to set up and noise still seems to get in through the ear pads. I use Serengeti sunglasses and position the arms so that they are just held by the top of the ear pads but do not completely break the seal. It is not ideal and I am still looking for a better way, but it does at least work.

The ear plugs sound interesting, and have tried some with my MP3 player but I would like to try some in the noisy environment of a twin-engined turbine helicopter like the Super Puma.

[NickLappos]

Limpopo has it right, IMHO. The ANR systems reduce the apparent noise, but only below 1000Hz, so that much of the real noise is not electronically attenuated. The higher frequencies can only be blocked in the conventional way by a good sealing earcup. If the Bose does not have that good earcup, it will not protect as well as one that does.

Limpopo, do you know where there is any data? (Great gray green greasy, as Rudyard told it...)

[Gomer Pylot]

There is a limit to how fast electronic noise cancelling can work, and it can't work fast enough to be effective above 10,000 Hz, which is where much of the turbine noise is. It works very well for low-frequency noise, such as rotor slap, but not for turbine and transmission whine. Every headset is required (at least in the US) to give an overall NRR (noise reduction rating) and also a reduction number at selected frequencies. ENC headsets have a fairly good NRR, but if you look at the rating at higher frequencies, it isn't as good, and it always assumes a perfect seal. The in-the-ear sets I've used have better numbers, at all frequencies, than any ENC headset, both the overall NRR and at every frequency tested. In effect, you get the NRR of the earplug used. I usually adapt Howard Leight earplugs, which give a NRR of 33, which is the highest NRR available for any device. I don't have to worry about glasses breaking a seal, or about the pain caused by the earseals pressing on the glasses, and the glasses pressing on my head. The difference in comfort after a long day in the cockpit is amazing - I don't feel as fatigued, and I don't get headaches. Noise can definitely contribute to fatigue, especially after long duration.

[No Foehn]

So how does the noise reduction of earplug headsets compare with helmets such as the Alpha Eagle (with or without ANR)? If you don't need eyesight correction, the tinted visor does away with the need for sunglasses altogether.

[Gomer Pylot]

The earplug headsets give better noise reduction than any dome-type headset or any helmet. That said, you can use earplugs underneath headsets or helmets, and get the noise reduction, but not the comfort.

Another possibility is using Brimz sunglasses, which attach to the brim of your baseball cap, and don't touch your head at all. They can be flipped up or down easily and quickly.

[heloguy412]

I'm trying to find sunglasses that wont break the seal around the headset earcups when you wear them while flying. There has to be a trick out there for this. I wear the standard David Clark green headset. Any suggestions other than get a helmet with a visor. Have one already, but I like to wear the headset too.

[Gomer Pylot]

As I said in thislong-dead thread, 5 years ago, Brimz sunglasses (http://www.brimzsports.com/) don't break the seal, and they're the only ones I know of that don't. That said, I have a pair of Serengeti S-Flex Sangro (http://www.cheappilotstuff.com/serengeti-sflex-sangro--espresso-metal-framedrivers-lenses6997.html) glasses that have very thin temple pieces, and don't break the seal much at all, and are very light and comfortable. Serengeti has several models of S-Flex frames.

[Aerobot]

I had to solve this problem when I was a pilot/reporter for a TV news station, listening to five radios and my cue from the anchor. What worked best for me are Brimz. They don't have any arms at all to go under your headset - they just attach to the brim of your ballcap. Swing them up and they go flat against the visor, swing them down when you need the shade, and they don't do anything to mess with the seal of your headset.

I've still got a set on my uniform cap, because I'm too lazy to fish a set of sunglasses out of my flightsuit pocket.

[Flying Bull]

Hi,
Carouse-Lenses fit nicely
CARUSO Piloten Modular Line (http://www.carusofreeland.com/en/3/2/pilots.html)
and you can attach correction-glasses...

Greetings Flying Bull

[fwjc]

I have prescription glasses and also prescription sunglasses. I take my headsets to the opticians to try to be sure they're comfortable and to sure that they seal. I use Peltor, standard Davy Clark and a Davy Clark that I've modded with a Headsets Inc ANR kit. I don't have any problems with the ANR or seal on any of these. I do find Lynx headsets a bit uncomfortable after a while, but use them so infrequently that I don't worry about fixing it. The secret is in trying glasses with the headsets from the outset.

[TheVelvetGlove]

"Universal Muff":8 ...... sorry- I saw that on the package and it had me chuckling.