Hearing Protection

[2305NE]

Gotta agree with all the other posters...USE HEARING PROTECTION. I didn't when I was younger and have ~70% of normal hearing now when there is no background noise. With background noise such as wind or in a car going down the highway, my hearing is only ~24% of normal. It is amazing what I can't hear. Had some company over the other night and they commented on all the locusts 'singing'. I couldn't hear them and haven't heard them for several years. I can see various song birds singing when I see them, but cannot hear them. Finally got a hearing aid a few years ago and that does help, especially for hearing turkeys gobble in the spring. I now wear foam plugs whenever I am around any equipment and use both foam plugs and muffs when shooting.

PLEASE guys, protect your hearing!

 

[ragkar]

On a previous post of this thread I made the mistake of making some calculations based upon guess at sound levels. so today I went out and got some real world numbers.

When measured at my ear location while mowing, my Honda HCV160 self propelled lawn mower creates a measured 89db of noise.

Peltor's digital headset has an advertised earcup attenuation of 26db.

A comfortable sound level of rock n'roll (while mowing) in the Peltor headset is a measured 66db.

89db minus 26 db is 63db of mower noise inside the ear cups.

63db engine noise plus 66db rock n'roll noise equals 67.7db total noise.
That's less than a vacuum cleaner at ten feet.

By the way, I don't normally listen to rock n'roll and I did finish mowing.

 

[cisco]

Reason I responded to this thread is attached. Saw a neighbor's kid bushhogging with one of these things (or just a garden variety boom box - too far away to tell) attached to the ROPS of his tractor. Gotta be a bit noisy, playing a boom box (advertisement cites 200 watts of amplification) just above one's head at sufficient volume to hear such over the tractor noise. Now, I don't believe the level of protection cited on the package for plugs or muffs --- if used under "real world" conditions (the original EAR stuff, widely distributed, was on subjects sitting quietly in a sound proofed booth, not sweating, talking - jaw movement can displace earplugs - and the like, over the course of a workday). Hence, the NIOSH correction factors listed in a prior post.
But, whatever one uses must be better than no hearing protection at all, plus a boom box playing above the ambient level sufficiently to satisfy a bored adolescent.

 

[SideHillBill]

Like many who grew up before ear protection was appreciated, I have significant hearing loss. I always wear foam protectors to save what hearing I have left.

The two main objections to wearing hearing protection are:
1. It's a nuisance to put them on/in. Well, same with hearing aids.
2. There's a cost involved. My last set of hearing aids cost $3,000.

Please wear hearing protection. It's really very important.

 

[Steve C]

if I am going to be using the tractor for more than 10 minutes I put on my Milwaukee ear muffs and if I can't find them because I am old and forgot where I last put them I use the foam ear pluggs. There is no good reason not to.

 

[thatguy]

When on my jd4320, I wear the baffle kind that are attached with a string. They work well

that is what I wear but I like the silicone versions ones.. I tried the rubber ones and they were a little hard on the ear skin..

brian

 

[foggy1111]

I have tinnitus from not protecting my ears in time gone by. There is ALWAYS a "teapot" boiling sound.....according to my ears. In time gone by....it was said hearing loss from shooting was only "temporary"....even the Army did not furnish hearing protection at the rifle range. What a buncha BULL Very frustrating at times. I have paid over $6000. for a pair of hearing aids....and I am not very happy with the performance of them. I wear foam plugs allot and various over the head muffs - when I remember. I sure don't want my hearing to get worse.

I use wireless amplified muffs to watch TV shows (if I want to actually hear what is being said in a movie for example).

I bought a set of Peltor electronic, amplified muffs when they came out.....and used these for many years especially at rifle ranges and when shooting prairie dogs, etc....as well as for other noisy situations. However I recently ruined them while grinding stumps. I just did an internet search and bought a set of Howard Lights electronic muffs which I received the other day. Gotta say.....these seem better....and only $50.00 I may buy another set after wearing these a bit more.

PROTECT YOUR HEARING.....hearing loss is NOT reversible.

 

[srjones]

While we're on the subject....

Hearing protection with FM radio and Bluetooth - Head, hearing and sight protection

Oh, if I could only afford it...but give it a few years and hopefully the price will come down.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

For a few years now, I've been wearing noise reduction headphones. My first pair was the first generation Peltor Worktunes. Funny, they didn't work nearly as well after passing through the under side of a bush hog So, next was a set of the digital tuned Peltors. MUCH better! And then a vendor I buy from gave me a pair of the Husquvarna digital tuned headphones. They seem to FIT better, which in turn provides a better seal to my size 2 big head. End result? Quieter. I swap back and forth from time to time as they'll get uncomfortable after a few days of continuous wearing.

I've already suffered a significant loss of hearing from (a) loud stereos, (b) exposure to weapons fire while in the military, and (c) 6 decades of being around loud tractors. I'm hoping to "cut my losses" so to speak. But....No need to wear a hearing aid just yet. Lack of good hearing has added YEARS to my marriage!

 

[mjncad]

I have paid over $6000. for a pair of hearing aids....and I am not very happy with the performance of them.

I wish the hearing aid industry wasn't such a rip-off. There is no reason a pair of hearing aids should cost $6,000. To me the biggest expense should be the custom fit housing, and it shouldn't be that high. After all I can get a gold crown from my not cheap dentist for a grand. As for the electronics, there shouldn't be anything magic about that too, especially when one can buy a smart-phone for under $500 that does far more than hearing aids do.