Best Ear Protectors?
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All ear protection should have an Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) numberl. The higher the NRR the better noise attenuation.
The " best" ear protection is the one that is comfortable, easy to wear, and easy to clean.
What you are wearing something to protect your hearing and you don't clean it. ?...yuk...imho.
The " best" ear protection is the one that is comfortable, easy to wear, and easy to clean.
What you are wearing something to protect your hearing and you don't clean it. ?...yuk...imho.
I have the Stihl ones similar to the Echo's pictured above. I have never cleaned them. I put them on, use the string trimmer, then hang them back upNeiltsubota said:
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Any hearing protection that you actually use is good enough for most lawn care gear. This includes a wad of cotton ball stuffed into your ear. If I was doing something especially noisy or with lots of high frequencies (shrieky) I would even use foam ear plugs and headphone types. I have lots of them sitting around here. Mostly one of my sons use them.
I should be deaf from abusing my hearing. I attended LOTS of rock concerts back in the day. Including several Dead concerts with huge walls of Fender Twins chained together. I also got my pilots license when I was seventeen and spent a lot of time at airports. If an old turbojet 707 took off I did cover my ears. I had a share of a Cessna 182 for about four years and I remember reading a review of that model wherein the "noise level" was described as "Skull Crushing!" I had to chuckle. And I have been fooling around with small engines since I was seven or eight. I used to travel too and airliners are fairly noisy inside. I also worked in a noisy machine shop during college and if you would have donned hearing protection back then you would been laughed off the shop floor. Come to think of it we didn't really have enough eye protection either. They had a visit from OSHA and were required to install some belt covers.
Yet I recently volunteered for a research project at Washington U here where they were trying to improve the software for cochlear implants. They gave me a super hearing test. (Like listening to computer distorted speech and backwards speech while inside a functional mRI scanner to see what parts of the brain light up) The regular part of the hearing test disclosed that my hearing is almost perfectly normal. I have a slight drop in sensitivity at 3000Hertz on the left. I was amazed.
Sometimes when my younger son is helping me in the yard he offers me a hearing protector if I am using something noisy. I almost always say no.
That said on a recent trip to Harbor Fright I picked up these for a whopping $14. At that price I just could not leave them.
I had put a pair of $12 non active ones in my basket , to give to my son , since he is my right hand and always helps me with heavy lifting. Then I saw these active ones for two dollars more. Surprisingly they work VERY well. These kind of things were like $400 when they first came out.
https://www.harborfreight.com/noise-canceling-electronic-ear-muffs-92851.html
I should be deaf from abusing my hearing. I attended LOTS of rock concerts back in the day. Including several Dead concerts with huge walls of Fender Twins chained together. I also got my pilots license when I was seventeen and spent a lot of time at airports. If an old turbojet 707 took off I did cover my ears. I had a share of a Cessna 182 for about four years and I remember reading a review of that model wherein the "noise level" was described as "Skull Crushing!" I had to chuckle. And I have been fooling around with small engines since I was seven or eight. I used to travel too and airliners are fairly noisy inside. I also worked in a noisy machine shop during college and if you would have donned hearing protection back then you would been laughed off the shop floor. Come to think of it we didn't really have enough eye protection either. They had a visit from OSHA and were required to install some belt covers.
Yet I recently volunteered for a research project at Washington U here where they were trying to improve the software for cochlear implants. They gave me a super hearing test. (Like listening to computer distorted speech and backwards speech while inside a functional mRI scanner to see what parts of the brain light up) The regular part of the hearing test disclosed that my hearing is almost perfectly normal. I have a slight drop in sensitivity at 3000Hertz on the left. I was amazed.
Sometimes when my younger son is helping me in the yard he offers me a hearing protector if I am using something noisy. I almost always say no.
That said on a recent trip to Harbor Fright I picked up these for a whopping $14. At that price I just could not leave them.
I had put a pair of $12 non active ones in my basket , to give to my son , since he is my right hand and always helps me with heavy lifting. Then I saw these active ones for two dollars more. Surprisingly they work VERY well. These kind of things were like $400 when they first came out.
https://www.harborfreight.com/noise-canceling-electronic-ear-muffs-92851.html
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Ditto.Green said:
I have two pairs. One pair for lawn one and the other for the shooting range. I've used them almost daily for the last three years and have been very pleased.
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I saw the Stihl ones at my local dealer, but I bought the Echo ones instead. I wished I would have tried those on they had them on display. I guess I have a big head for the Echo ones are a little tight and do not have much room to grow. Are the Stihl's very adjustable?pennstater2005 said:I have the Stihl ones similar to the Echo's pictured above. I have never cleaned them. I put them on, use the string trimmer, then hang them back upNeiltsubota said:
They're pretty adjustable and fit my giant head! They're probably five years old so not sure if that same style is still available.Sam23 said:I saw the Stihl ones at my local dealer, but I bought the Echo ones instead. I wished I would have tried those on they had them on display. I guess I have a big head for the Echo ones are a little tight and do not have much room to grow. Are the Stihl's very adjustable?pennstater2005 said:I have the Stihl ones similar to the Echo's pictured above. I have never cleaned them. I put them on, use the string trimmer, then hang them back upNeiltsubota said:
They're pretty adjustable and fit my giant head! They're probably five years old so not sure if that same style is still available.Sam23 said:I saw the Stihl ones at my local dealer, but I bought the Echo ones instead. I wished I would have tried those on they had them on display. I guess I have a big head for the Echo ones are a little tight and do not have much room to grow. Are the Stihl's very adjustable?pennstater2005 said:I have the Stihl ones similar to the Echo's pictured above. I have never cleaned them. I put them on, use the string trimmer, then hang them back upNeiltsubota said:
For Christmas I received a set of the 3M WorkTunes. I must say that I really enjoy them for cutting the grass, string trimming, and blowing all while listening to music. In fact I usually keep them on so I can listen to music even after I finish with the power equipment.
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I have the 3M Worktunes also. I know they are for hearing PROTECTION but I wish the volume was much higher. That defeats the purpose of hearing protection but I just want loud music with good bass vs a lawnmower or trimmer engine.
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I can't be the only one who wears their earbuds playing music while putting on muffs to have your own personal jam going on whilst doing yard work. I have a cheap set of muffs that work great, and I get a real reduction in the annoying noise of the mower and trimmer, and enjoy Metallica at the same time.
@Colonel K0rn, Ryan Knorr recently put up a video about this. Or maybe you saw it already.
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I've got Skull Candy and Anker bluetooth earbuds. Both use the little silicone deals that seal pretty well in your ear to cancel out sounds. I wear them alone when I run the string trimmer and use regular ear muffs over them while mowing or running the backpack blower and listen to music at the same time. I do have some hearing damage from years of not wearing hearing protection plus tinnitus (constant ringing in my ears) so I'm doing all I can to avoid more hearing loss. IMO any ear muffs that are comfortable and fit well will reduce power equipment noise more than enough to prevent hearing damage. The key here is actually finding some you like and will wear them.
I do have a set of Peltor electronic muffs for the shooting range and really like them. They are expensive and not really practical for lawn work so they are for shooting only. It's nice to be able to hear conversations between shots.
I do have a set of Peltor electronic muffs for the shooting range and really like them. They are expensive and not really practical for lawn work so they are for shooting only. It's nice to be able to hear conversations between shots.
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Are they hard to get out once you put them in? @dfw_pilot and @Waredfw_pilot said:Over the ear protection is too hot for me. I get foam earplugs for free at work, so guess what I use?
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