Review on Lightspeed Zulu Aviation Headset HELICOPTER by Ken Wilson

I bought this Zulu Aviation Headset about 5 years ago. They got a very proud, gentle, fairly light assignment for the first four years - about 200 hours of flight time on a leased plane. Each time they followed me home to keep in my flight bag. I took a sabbatical from flying last year and only recently pulled my flight bag out of the closet (which is in my air-conditioned home) to find that the plastic on the headset and controls had become sticky. At first I thought I did something wrong. Then I went to some aviation forums and found that this is quite common with Lightspeed Aviation products. The "soft-touch" plastic used by Lightspeed Aviation contains a highly unstable phthalate (plasticizer). The phthalate is gradually washed out of the plastic. If you try to wipe off the stickiness with alcohol, it will go away, but will come back after a few days as more phthalate is washed out. I'm very sorry. These headphones cost almost a thousand dollars. I expect the plastic to be of higher quality. I will never buy a Lightspeed Aviation product again. Instead, I'll go with a much more durable brand like David Clarke. When I contacted them, Lightspeed did nothing as the headset was a few years old. In fact, the rep had a rather scathing comment: I should be "glad you've worked for several years; Most headsets never last that long." Really? Maybe in your world, Lightspeed. Not mine. Just stay away, instead you want to invest your money in a more reputable brand that stands behind their product over the long term.