rather than using the ones the flying school supplies
That's the best idea WilliamOK. IMO your headset is an extremely personal item. I
never let anyone borrow or use mine. That way the head band/earcups
et al are not being distorted by another users' different head size/shape, I don't have to worry about who had what disease that I may pick up from the mic and I
know no one else will look after my headset the way I do -it's an expensive piece of kit!
I don't want an expensive pair, but I do want the best quality that I can get (understandably)
Absolutely understandable. However, for a number of reasons I would recommend you look just a little higher up the food-chain. IMO cheap headsets are cheap because they are, well,
cheap. Poor materials and build quality, poor support and worst, poor noise retention.
As an example I had to scrimp & save for ages back around the early 1980's (when headsets were becoming common in GA aircraft) to buy my 1st headset -a DC-H10-40. From memory, I paid somewhere over $600 for it then in NZ. That was a
lot of hours lost! I had that headset for over 20 years myself, only gave it away when I traded up to a 10-60, which I still have.
Coming up to 30 years in industry now, I still have no appreciable hearing loss, despite all of that time in GA, much of it in BN2A which many consider one of the noisiest airframes -I put that down to a good headset, properly looked after.
I reckon the price of the headset should be the
final determining factor in your decision -not the 1st. Look for decent materials and build, look for support, parts and backup, but above all look at the noise retention. Without your hearing you won't retain a medical. Get the other things right 1st, then worry about which of
the best you can afford or are willing to save for. I did, and for sure I have no regrets!
That new DC X-11 is looking pretty damn good just now!
