Hearing protection

[Slowpoke Slim]

When outside mowing or using saws or blowers I wear a pair of 3M muffs with AM FM radio. The tractor has a cab so it is really quiet. Been noticing that to much coffee has been making my ears ring and am replacing 2 cups a day with non-caffeinated tea.

I'm not sure, but it sounds like you're drinking your coffee wrong.

You know you're not supposed to pour it into your ear, right?

:laughing:

I've been "mostly deaf" for over 20 years. Lost my hearing in the service. Human speech is about the most difficult thing to decipher. Some frequencies I can hear ok, and some are completely gone. And in any machine background noise, or noisy places like restaurants, sports bars, etc, I'm pretty much deaf. I do like the quietness of my cab tractor, especially when brush hogging.

 

[EddieWalker]

For most everything, I use squishy foam ear plugs. I buy them in a big bag from Lowes or Home Depot and keep the bag in my truck. I always have a pair in my front pocket, my jacket pockets and in a bowl in my workshop. For really loud things like grinding metal or target practice, I wear those squishy ones AND the plastic covered ear muff style ones. For just operating the tractor, I just wear the squishy ones.

 

[mcfarmall]

I keep my ear canals clean with my truck key or a small screwdriver and Q-Tips after the shower. When I'm in any high noise environment I use the tapered corded orange roll-up earplugs that I get free from work. Due to my immaculately clean canals, I can reuse them over and over until they won't expand anymore then get a new pair. "Safety begins at work and continues at home" is my motto.

 

[downsizingnow48]

I use the 3M 105 ear muffs. Have 5 of them, one in the tractor, 2 in the shop, 2 in the garage. If I am working somewhere I locate a pair nearby. Never any excuse not to put them on. After decades of loud noise at a time when nobody was concerned about hearing loss, I try to protect what little hearing remains.

 

[JimRB]

I have a 100 pair box of Howard Leight Laser Lite ear plugs on the fridge. I usually have a few fresh pairs in the car and truck. Maybe some used but clean ones in the garage toolbox. Ear muffs in the basement shop. The Lase Lites have been the most comfortable for me. I have found them at Walgreens in small quantities. Helpful when camping with a few hundred bicyclists. There always seems to be snorers or inconsiderate people who get up at 4:00 AM and start talking in load voices. I prefer to get up after the frost has melted off my rain fly. I prefer ear plugs for chainsaw, tractor, weedwacker, and lawn work. Muffs are ok in the conditioned shop.

 

[Oaktree]

When outside mowing or using saws or blowers I wear a pair of 3M muffs with AM FM radio.

Seems to me you're just trading one loud source for another. I personally find a radio in headphones distracting when I'm operating power tools/equipment.
I've had good luck with Tasco Golden Eagle earmuffs. They may not block as much sound as some others, but they have a metal headband which has stood up well. Seems most of them have plastic ones...I'm lucky to get 6 months out of those before they break. Maybe I just have a big head.
Don't like the foam in-ear ones...not very comfortable and always feel like they're going to fall out. Do keep a few around for emergencies.

 

[newbury]

Seems to me you're just trading one loud source for another. I personally find a radio in headphones distracting when I'm operating power tools/equipment.<snip>

As I wrote before I usually put earbuds in my ear protection muffs to listen to radio etc. My muffs lower the ambient noise so I only need a moderate volume on the buds.

 

[Doofy]

I don't listen to loud music anymore, even with headphones or muffs on. I enjoy the soft music to lessen the drone of the engine or motor. I think it just makes the work more enjoyable. For just putzing around in the yard without a need for hearing protection, the wife got me bone conduction headphones that are Bluetooth and that leave your ears open for normal sounds and hearing. They work great for folks with hearing aids too.

 

[Gcorron]

My mother, and her father went deaf. It could be congenital but long ago I decided if I could do something about it, I would. 45 years ago, no one in the construction industry issued ear plugs, or much of any other safety equipment for that matter. I used to go buy my own. It was always the foam type plugs in those days because they were less noticeable and got me a lot less unwanted 'attention' as a young apprentice.

In the intervening years, I have had about every type hearing protection you can imagine. I can endorse any type that you like, they all help. I have several types of muffs that I will wear when it's cool, but I just don't like sweating into my ear cups in the summer!!

Realistically, the foam type plugs will reduce much more noise than the muffs, IF they are installed correctly. You don't just shove them in your ears. I now use the orange ones that I buy from Amazon, keep 2 cans around in each shop, but I do wear them out before discarding, yeah, I'm cheap.......what of it??

For an 8 hour time weighted average, plugs work best and I find them much more comfortable over long periods as well. I don't like the radio ear muffs, by the time I turn the radio up enough to hear it clearly, I may as well just listen to the equipment!

I always use hearing protection for shooting (not hunting, you may need your ears!) and still use the plugs. 45 years after entering construction I still have pretty phenomenal hearing.

But High Frequency hearing is pretty much gone for all of us around the time you strike your 40's. The TV news had a story on a few years ago about a noise generated in some stores to keep the teenagers from lounging about. I could not hear it at all, my son came in from another room and asked what that terrible screech was!!! Go figure.

Protect your ears, someone may say something important one day!

George

 

[void777]

I'm with Doofy 3m am-fm radio.