ear protection!

I can't stand muff's. They feel suffocating. Earplugs for me.

I bought some cheap in-the-ear ear bud headphones, pulled the pad/cushion off of them and used some two part formable ear plug to custom fit the ear buds. It worked okay, and now the cheap ear buds are the real problem. They really don't keep out any noise but since ear buds don't like to stay in my ears it helps on that front. Now I use my ear muffs over the top, too. I have my phone/mp3s on one of the lowest volume settings.

unevolved wrote: I bought this giant pack of ear plugs from Amazon for $14 since I could never find some when I needed some. It's just like sharpies, you can never find any until you saturate your area until they're everywhere. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I7LH8Y/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I hate the bullet plugs, try and find the ones shaped like mushrooms, much more comfortable

ryanty22 wrote:

unevolved wrote: I bought this giant pack of ear plugs from Amazon for $14 since I could never find some when I needed some. It's just like sharpies, you can never find any until you saturate your area until they're everywhere. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I7LH8Y/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I hate the bullet plugs, try and find the ones shaped like mushrooms, much more comfortable

Must be a personal preference thing, I actually find the bullet ones quite comfortable.

bigev007 wrote: Thinking about it, I bet the neighbours make fun of me. The other guys at work would. Oh well. Good hearing, both eyes, all my fingers. Like to do what I can to keep it that way. Anybody else that safety anal at home?

I am the same way. I once chainsawed with 4 other people. I was the only one wearing hearing protection, safety glasses, gloves or steel toe shoes. I don't wear the special pants which some people think is crazy not to. I only wear a helmet when cutting down trees.

I fly an airplane for a living and I love firearms, I have many forms of ear protection. I didn't think about wearing them in the garage though for the insulation against the air compressor, impact etc.

pjbgravely wrote: I am the same way. I once chainsawed with 4 other people. I was the only one wearing hearing protection, safety glasses, gloves or steel toe shoes. I don't wear the special pants which some people think is crazy not to. I only wear a helmet when cutting down trees.

I won't buy a chainsaw for the yard because when I add in the cost of pants and shoes I can't justify the cost. And I won't buy a saw without the gear. So I use a bow saw. Which sucks. Especially now that I have 5-6 trees that fell onto other trees in the last storm.

pjbgravely wrote:

bigev007 wrote: Thinking about it, I bet the neighbours make fun of me. The other guys at work would. Oh well. Good hearing, both eyes, all my fingers. Like to do what I can to keep it that way. Anybody else that safety anal at home?

I am the same way. I once chainsawed with 4 other people. I was the only one wearing hearing protection, safety glasses, gloves or steel toe shoes. I don't wear the special pants which some people think is crazy not to. I only wear a helmet when cutting down trees.

I've become a lot more tight on home PPE since I started getting involved with the safety programs at work several years back. I usually wear ear plugs in the shop for metal work or yard tools, muffs when chainsawing, safety glasses any time there's a risk, even crawling under a dirty car, and gloves of some kind for nearly any work. I get more conscious of it every day.

Interestingly, Gulf Stream has a corporate policy that you get 2 sets of PPE. Whatever PPE you get to do your job at work, you get another set for home. When they wear out you bring them in for replacement. Their theory is that you probably do at home as a hobby the same things you do at work (welding, fabrication, etc.) and it makes financial sense for them in terms of lost work if you are working safely at home.

I've got some tinnitus in my left ear from 2 long days of 12ga skeet shooting with no ear protection but I still hear better than most people I know. These days the guns get muffs and a plug in the left ear since I shoot right handed.

I'd really like to try a set of the electronic muffs for hunting that amplify quiet noises but have a hard cutoff for shots. Anybody use those?

SkinnyG wrote: My Hideous Hardbody measured 102dB inside the cab at 60mph with the windows down and the stereo at a reasonable volume. I put A/C in that truck real soon so I could keep the windows up and the noise out. My Lethal Locost is 119dB at 60mph. All wind noise. I wear ear plugs ALWAYS with that car, and an Elmer-Fudd ear-flap hat on long trips as well.

I don't have AC in my daily driver, so it is windows down when it's hot out. I keep a pair of these Surefire Earpro plugs in the center console. I always wear them on the highway. Lets me turn the music up to match the wind noise without blasting my hearing. They are lousy earplugs for firearms (except maybe some shotguns), but great for car duty.

ultraclyde wrote: I'd really like to try a set of the electronic muffs for hunting that amplify quiet noises but have a hard cutoff for shots. Anybody use those?

I shot USPSA for years and always wore regular foam earplugs under a set of amplified muffs. It allowed me to converse with my fellow shooters while doing an excellent job protecting my hearing. They work very well, but the NRR on them is fairly low (typically) which is why I'd recommend wearing plugs as well.