Nerf Dart Ear Plugs
What?!
Why would you ruin perfectly good darts by making them into ear plugs, you ask?
Good question. I was on the phone with my Nephew recently and asked him what he wanted for his birthday. At the time I was in an area that doesn't have great cell phone reception and it sounded like he said "earplugs." That struck me as a little odd, but OK whatever, we all need some quite time every now and then.
Turned out he said "Nerf guns."
Oh. OK.
That sounds a bit more like my Nephew!
So... Since I'm "that Uncle," today we test his sense of humor!
Tools and Materials
Required tools:
Your hands
Nice to have tools:
- Don't use super glue, it will melt the foam.
Materials:
1) Nerf Darts*
- The blue and orange ones work best. If you have Nerf guns you probably have a couple damaged darts which will be perfect for this (wash them first).
- I haven't tried this with the red darts but I think those are a little larger diameter and might not hold the ear plug well.
2) Ear plugs*
- I had the 3M ear plugs on hand and they match the dart tip color really well!
*Note: My posts may contain affiliate links to products I use and feel comfortable sharing. Which means when you click the marked product links in my post nothing changes on your end, and I earn a small % on qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!*
Darting Around
Assembly is stefandtly easy!
1) Remove the tip of the dart by gently twisting it. You'll feel it start to break free from the foam.
2) Remove the cord from one of the earplugs by pulling slowly but firmly on the cord while holding near the tip of the earplug.
3) Feed the cord of the earplugs through the body of the darts.
4) Reinsert the earplug cord into the earplug body. Note that the part of the cord that goes into the earplug is slightly thicker.
5) Press the earplugs into the foam body. I found they held snug and did not need any glue. If yours fit loose you can add a little bit of hot glue to secure the earplug into the foam dart.
All Done!
Test Fire!
What's that? Sorry, can't hear you?! Speak up!
As expected, they work great as ear plugs but lousy as darts.
Also as expected, my Nephew was not as impressed with them as I was. His parents on the other hand I think might "borrow" them for further testing!
That's it for this one, thanks for reading. I had fun making and sharing this one! If you liked it too please consider pointing your Nerf gun at the Instructables contests and shooting me a vote in the Instructables Toys Contest!
And no, when I first started Makerneer I did not imagine I'd make earplugs! However, the odd projects turn out to be the most fun sometimes!
BTW, is it "earplug" or "ear plug" with a space? Both seem to be correct according to the Google.
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