Banz/brand name vs cheap noise protection earphones

amother

Thu, Mar 07 2024, 11:05 pm

I need baby earmuffs for an upcoming simcha and the price range is quite large. Amazon has a bunch of random brands for $10-15 and the Banz ones are $30. They all get high ratings. Does anyone have real life experience whether it really matters which one to get? Do we know how well any of them really protect babies from noise?

Also there are some with a fabric headband that wraps around the head and some with a plastic headband over the top. Which is better?

otsrock

Thu, Mar 07 2024, 11:08 pm

Why not reach out to the gemach in your area? When I borrowed from the baby bandz gemach, the one they gave me was new.

happy12

Thu, Mar 07 2024, 11:23 pm

Where do you live?
Earmuffsgemach has locations all over the world.
You give a deposit which you get back when you return them.

amother

Thu, Mar 07 2024, 11:26 pm

I have a local gemach but after using theirs about 10 times in my baby's first half year I'm thinking I should just buy my own already and not always be busy borrowing and returning.

amother

Cerulean

Thu, Mar 07 2024, 11:27 pm

I have a few of the baby banz and am very happy with them. DH tested them out and they worked very well, and BH my babies will keep them on without being uncomfortable

amother

Thu, Mar 07 2024, 11:29 pm

Like I went to a wedding last week. Returned the headphones maybe Monday? And now 3 days later I was starting to text the gemach again asking to borrow one next week Wednesday for a wedding I'm going to Thursday and can I keep it over the weekend because there's another simcha Monday.

As I'm typing the text I realized it's time to just order my own because this is getting ridiculous. Bh for simchas, I'm not such a hugely social person so I never realized just how useful these would be.

Amelia Bedelia

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 9:34 am

I personally think the generic brands work just as well but I can't vouch for the quality. The Baby Banz are great quality

happy12

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 11:32 am

I run a gemach and have many. I feel the babybanz are better than the Amazon basics. I only give out the Amazon ones if it is for an older toddler as they are more comfortable for an older child

amother

NeonGreen

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 11:59 am

I purchased the $10 headbanz from Amazon, works well.

Last edited by amother on Sat, Mar 09 2024, 9:29 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Chestnut

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 2:08 pm

Personally I wouldn’t go with generic, and I also don’t think earmuffs are a solution for regular high decibel exposure. The packaging should indicate by how many decibels they reduce the noise. I once had a decibel meter, you’d be shocked by the levels at the average simcha.

So while it might make sense to use them for an occasional family wedding, it’s not a first choice to bring a baby into such insanely loud music on a regular basis.

The poster above whose husband tried them out- did he try them out at a wedding? Because I’d expect that in that kind of noise environment you won’t find them to block out the noise the same way.
A baby can’t tell you what he’s hearing. I just don’t think I’d take the chance on repeated and sustained noise exposures like that.

amother

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 3:19 pm

Thanks. If I feel like things are getting too crazy then I try to take the baby out but I'm pretty sure they're ok with some noise reduction. As much as I believe loud simchas are dangerous, also plenty of people go to them and don't go deaf. So I think I'm doing better by using the earmuffs. We're not going to concerts every week, but I can't leave him with a sitter for every family or close friend simcha especially if it's not close and I need to add an hour or two driving time to the outing.

So really I'm just wondering if there is any way to research if there's a difference between the $10 and $30 ones. If there is, $20 isn't too much to spend on protecting my child. But if there isn't, I can think of other ways to spend money .