Originally Posted by
Ebbie 2003
The David Clark head sets are not "endlessly durable", it depends where you are located.
I live in the Caribbean and the temperature is 26-32C through the day/night - this I believe is the cause of problems with DC head sets - the plastic that molding around the jack plugs and the molding around the the "Y" on the cable "rots" (the only word I can use to describe it), they become soft and crumbly and great chunks fall off.
My jack plugs have insulative tape and a layer of speed tape around them now - and the "Y" junction has just started to crumble. I will post some photos at the weekend once I can retrieve the set from the plane.
To replace the offending parts - two options, one, send to DC (from where I am more than the cost of a new headset for there, back and the repair), two, get the cable US$70-75, watch a YouTube video on the fix and trust one's soldering.
The headset in question is seven years old and the crumbling and softening started about two years ago.
I agree with the comments if one is going commercial - buy what you plan to use, it will be cheaper in the long run and you will have a better experience with the radios.
do you keep your headset in a plane at all times? Is it hangared or out in the open? Don't mean to sound like a smartarse, but maybe that's part of the problem why they are falling apart? UV and heat damage.. I bring them home all the time, where they are kept cool and in the dark.. 3 years later my DC looks like the day it came out of the box