You can skip the step of wearing silicone earplugs by getting a pair of IEMs (Etymotics HF5 and Shure E2C are two good models which cost around $100). They serve as both earplugs and earphones, and block noise much better than noise-cancelling headphones.
I have the E2C's and I was quite happy with them except that they get uncomfortable to me after a couple of hours. I have now bought the Bose QuietComfort 15's. I haven't yet used them on a flight but I can wear them during the day for a long time with only slightly warm ears so I think they might work better for me.
I've not tried the E2C's, but I've made earphones out of earplugs. They block much serious noise, and then I listen to a loop of equalized pink noise to mask the rest.
Not really - active noise canceling headphones are better at blocking low sounds, like plane engines noise. IEMs block well human speach and other high sounds.
Actually, IEMs not only block human speech, but they also do a better job of canceling low sounds than active circuity. This is from personal experience, but also from everything I've read about them. Take this example: http://www.earphonesolutions.com/coofsoiseaan.html - scroll down and you'll see that for low frequencies, Shure E2Cs provided a 28dB reduction vs 17dB with the Bose QuietComfort in their tests.
After a while, your ears get all hot, and the in-ear headphones tend to hurt after a while -- also, you can't judge the true absolute volume level well so close to your eardrums, and in-ear phones are more dangerous to your hearing than regular ones.
After a while, your ears get all hot, and the in-ear headphones tend to hurt after a while
I haven't experienced this. I wear IEMs every day, and have worn them on 14-hour flights. Perhaps it depends on the person. In any case I don't see why they would be hotter (or hurt more) than silicone earplugs.
in-ear phones are more dangerous to your hearing than regular ones
Citation? Given that they block more noise than other earphones, logic would dictate that you don't need to play them as loud to achieve the same clarity. I find that I keep the volume on my iPhone very low when I use IEMs, as opposed to near-maximum when using the supplied earphones or headphones.
