Recreational audiology advocate, Garry Gordon, MS, continues to spread his message of hearing protection abroad.

From left are Garry Gordon, president of EAR Inc, Boulder, Colo; Andrew Gordon; former President George Bush; Barbara Gordon, and Holly Gordon.

Garry Gordon, MS, believes conditions abroad—but especially in Europe—have never been better for providers and manufacturers to make sizable gains with hearing products intended for recreational and industrial users, individuals keen on preventing loss of hearing.

There is plenty of positive potential for such products because the recreational and industrial categories currently represent no more than 5% to 10% of the typical audiologist’s practice, Gordon indicates.

“The types of hearing protection in recreational audiology include custom earmolds, electronic earplugs, ear monitors, filtered earplugs, and radio communications,” says Gordon, a longtime pioneering champion of this niche. “At the high end are devices that are like little hearing aids in your ear, and they let you hear sounds —conversations—but the minute, say, a gun goes off at a competitive shooting event, in a split second you’re protected.”

Hearing protection is, however, a small-ticket item. A quality pair of noise blockers that fits over the ears like a headphone can cost as little as $50 American, Gordon points out.

Still, there is money to be made owing to the abundance of possible users, he hastens to add—volume sales, in other words. In the recreational market alone, there are rock concert-goers, motorcyclists, and automobile racing enthusiasts (in the cars, the pits and the stands). Over on the industrial side are the many people engaged in manufacturing, agriculture, public safety, and the military.

“With the right audience and the right products, there is such an unbelievable window of opportunity here,” he says, explaining that hearing professionals can use the occasion of fitting a recreational or industrial user with a noise attenuator as entree to a relationship long before he needs an actual hearing aid. “Attend events, conferences, and trade shows to market these products, gauge the needs of the recreational and industrial fields, and expand your customer base.”

Gordon is president of EAR Inc, a Boulder, Colo, provider of earmolds and hearing-protection products. He says one of the factors that helped his company break into the European market was a move to work with several high-profile Olympic athletes.

“When we were at events, cameras showed the stars from all these different countries in action, many of them wearing our products,” he tells. “When those pictures were published in magazines, consumers started asking how they could go about getting those same products. We were ready with the answer.”—R. Smith