Review: SurfEars
Summary: “Let Sound In, Keep Water Out” but this is very ear shape/size dependent. Replacement parts are overpriced when you loose a plug. Read on for more details…
In depth review: In Colorado the best river waves are formed by massive amounts of melting snow. After researching surfer’s ear, I decided this was the season to start wearing ear protection. I chose SurfEars because they seemed to be the latest and greatest thing on the market, and the promise to allow sound in while keeping water out seemed perfect.
The fit of SurfEars is customized by choosing one of two different sized “Fixation Wings” (which seat into your ear lobe), and one of three different sized “Sealing Gels” (which go directly into your ear canal). This gives most users the ability to find something close to a perfect fit.
SurfEars kept the majority of the water out of my ears and definitely let a lot of sound in. I found them fairly comfortable too, but they did take a little getting used to. The fit wasn’t perfect for me however. The angle that the Sealing Gels went into my ear canal was a little off, which sometimes caused them to get squished closed when I turned my head. The result was all sound being temporarily blocked until I messed with the plug.
About halfway though the season I lost one of the plugs. I’m still unsure how I lost it. I didn’t have a particularly bad fall or go for a gnarly swim. Perhaps I didn’t seat the plug correctly. Another thought I had was that a bit of hair could have gotten caught in the plug when I put them in. Later, when I swam the hair could have pulled the plug out of my ear. Unlike some other ear plugs, SurfEars do not have any sort of tether system. So once you lose a plug, there’s almost zero chance of finding it.
So I was left with a single ear plug and needed to get a replacement. I went to the SurfEars website and found they sell “Spare Parts”, which is great. Unfortunately the parts are way overpriced. The cost of buying a replacement is basically double the cost you’re charged when you buy a whole set.
The over priced parts isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it’s a bit of a conflict of interest. It is in MY best interest for the plugs to always stay in my ears and I never lose them. For SurfEars it’s in their best interest for me to lose a plug and buy a new one via replacement parts which will net them a larger profit. I would rather buy products from companies who’s interests are aligned with my own.
Overall I’m happy with my SurfEars and continue to wear them almost every time I surf (both in the ocean and in the rivers). They definitely have helped protect my ears from the cold water. Losing one set per year isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it would be nice if the parts were more reasonably priced.