Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Cliff Keen Headgear

Draining my ear after every class sucked. But wearing headgear sucks a little less. I am not a big fan of wearing headgear to protect my ears, but found that it was essential to keep my training comfortable. After I tired of draining my ears, around 14 or 15 times, I decided to purchase some headgear. I looked online high and low and there were very few vendors who carried the headgear that I thought would be good for me. It is a specialty item which means that people do not usually carry it, including Walmart or Canadian Tire... ;)

I was looking at the Cliff Keen Tornado Headgear because of all the reviews I read. I checked out eastbay.com who had all the stuff I wanted, but the cross border duty rep and shipping was 35+ dollars. That was almost the cost of the headgear I wanted so it was not going to fly. Note to US companies and our glorious Canadian government; US/Canadian currency parity and the current state of cross border duties kills international consumer shopping.

Jonathan, a Purple belt at our club hooked me up with his gear temporarily until I could score my own. I was thankful, but wearing headgear felt like rolling in a fish bowl. It was worse than wearing my mouth piece for the first time after a few months of naked teeth. But for the good of my ears I continued.

So, I was set on the Cliff Keen Headgear and could not find a suitable vendor in Canada or the US until I went to the source. I went to http://cliffkeen.com and found my first choice; the black/black/black Tornado Headgear. Their online transaction did not work for Canadian shoppers, so I called. The sales lady was real nice, used to taking large orders from universities, schools, and other organizations, asked how many I would like to order. I said, "One black/black/black Tornado Headgear please". She laughed and took my payment info.

Three weeks later my gear arrived at the grand total of $46.00 Canadian; around $25 dollars less than the final cost of EastBay.com. I tried them on and was instantly happy with how they felt and these things were so well designed, I could actually hear very well. I returned Jonathan's gear and rolled with my new gear the day I received them. There was a world of difference with these things; comfortable, unobtrusive, and after my third roll, I was somewhat unaware I was wearing them at all.

I love my gear and am happy I put the ear needles away. I may continue to wear them even after my ear finally heals up. Thank you Cliff Keen!

Ous.