Have you heard about the ear cam?

After twenty years or so of surfing, I was nearly deaf. My friends basically referred to me as “What” because my inevitable response to everything they said to me was, “What?”  I was around twenty-five.  It was then that I tried SurfEars. I had already like them but after being dragged underwater for hundred yards by some larger surf at a place called Tres Palmes, I loved them. I loved them because after popping up from a truly ruthless beating, the earplugs were in and I could still hear at the bar later that night. Basically, unheard of for me. Pun intended. 

I reached out to SurfEars and have been working with them ever since as an ambassador and blog contributor. Each year they improve their products and packaging, making it exciting to see where they take things next.  Then this year, they came out with something new and truly different. 

SurfEars has teamed up with a doctor Douglas Hetzler to create a portable and affordable mini camera that allows people to look inside their own ear by simply hooking the device up to their laptop. Why is this so important? Remember above when I said I couldn’t hear? Well, I went to the doctor to get some answers. He looked in my ear, told me my ear was 99 percent closed, used an incredible small vacuum to clean the space out and then sent me on my way. Oh yea, it cost like five hundred dollars and provided no long-term solution for me. 

The earplugs provide the cheapest and viable long term solution, short of surgery.  Knowing this, we took these products to an event that SurfEars was awesome enough to sponsor, The MexiLogFest. 

The MexiLogFest is one of a handful of premiere longboarding events held around the world. Within that are people from all over, as the word international implies, and many of them have ear problems. By bringing these products there, I was able to see first-hand how many different people are affected by hearing loss. I was also able to see just how simple and useful this product was. 

To me, this is an awesome sign for our future. There are companies that are invested in making our lives safer, easier and cheaper. They are recreating the way we are able to deal with the unique challenges of being a surfer in diverse climates. They are bringing usable and sustainable technology into our lives to make our existence a little bit better.  And that’s something worth hearing about. 

Words by John Angiulo