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Hearing Protection

8K views 43 replies 27 participants last post by  Jim Timber 
#1 ·
Was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on how much of a noise reduction rating one should look for in hearing protection. They will be used while riding on the tractor, general home maintenance (pole saw, weed wacker, ect) and for some wood working. I just got a router and hear they can be quite loud.

I have been looking to spend under $50 and want something with bluetooth or something one could plug something like this into Bluetooth Music Streaming 3.5mm Home Car Wireless Audio Receiver Adapter - Newegg.com

Thanks for your thoughts

Jonathan
 
#16 · (Edited)
I vote ANY noise reduction is better than none... That said, I wear harbor freight muffs and foam plugs...
That is number 1 as far as I'm concerned.:good2: :good2: :good2:

Tinnitus ain't fun, been having it for 45 years, dumb things when I was young, hand cannons with no hearing protection,
engines, etc, etc.
It all eventually gets ya, now it amounts to trying to stop further damage.
 
#3 ·
Hiya,

I have to wear hearing protection whenever I use any power tools or non cab tractor as I have hearing damage from playing in bands, shooting and riding Harley's with straights.

I have a pair of HF electronic muffs that let in sounds up to a point then they turn off the speakers and act like regular muffs. I think I paid 20 bucks for them, if that.
 
#4 ·
Hiya,

I have to wear hearing protection whenever I use any power tools or non cab tractor as I have hearing damage from playing in bands, shooting and riding Harley's with straights.
What? Huh? I can't hear you. :mocking:
 
#7 ·
Not sure if you are looking for in-ear or over-the-ear protection but if you like the in-ear style look into "Plugphones". 25 db protection, comes with bluetooth and not as bulky as over-the-ear style.
 
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#8 ·
I wouldn't be as concerned about using hearing protection on non-cab equipped tractors as I would using hearing protection on old cabbed tractors of the 60's & early 70's. As a magazine article I read back around 1985 said about that vintage of tractor, "It would have been quieter riding in the engine oil pan than sitting in the seat in the cab..."

The one exception to that statement was the miserable old green 2-cylinder tractors. A, B, R, 60, G, didn't make any difference what model/size, after about 15 minutes at full load you felt every cylinder fire about an inch behind your sinuses, your ears were ringing, after a half hour you might even have problems focusing your eyes, and you had a head ache that would last several hours after you quit running the tractor.


Even medium and heavy-duty trucks of that vintage were noisy, diesel, gas powered, really didn't make much difference.
 
#18 ·
I have one with the mesh face shild. Found the muffs attached to the helmet don't push against my head hard enough. They have an adjustment but it's all the way hard. So the hearing protection part is a little lacking. My set of regular Sihl ear muffs works better. However the lid & face shild have saved me more than once.
 
#10 ·
#12 ·
When I perused hearing protection for use shooting I noticed that most of the cheap up to medium priced sets pretty much had near the same db of noise reduction. You jump into some bucks when you get into higher db or even noise cancellation style muffs. I wanted to jump to a pair that had very soft leather ear cups and better db reduction and I couldn't afford them, at least after paying for my latest rifle!
I paid about $40 for electronic ones that can actually amplify ambient sound, but react in time to muffle gunshots. Lots of guys add foam plugs for extra quiet.
 
#14 ·
I just use my David Clark gun muffs.
 
#15 · (Edited)
I agree with coaltrain, except I use the FM on the headset. I can get a few FM stations where I live, but AM is not so hot. It's about the only time I listen to music. Also, the volume is limited to, I believe 82 decibels. I never have the volume more than half.

While on the subject, hearing protection is very important on equipment. I have a sound meter on my phone and have checked the sound level at WOT while mowing. It pegs the meter at 100dB. I never used hearing protection until the last few years and I pay a heavy price. Both ears ring constantly, which is extremely unpleasant. I hear a lot of people say that they won't use protection because they can't hear if there is a problem with the equipment. You can still hear the machine, even if a belt squeals, or something gets caught in pulley or other normal problems.

They also help keep your ears warm while moving snow.:thumbup1gif:

NRR: 22dB
 
#17 ·
I love my 3m work tunes earmuffs! I can usually get enough FM stations to keep me amused, and in the rare occasion that I get bored it also has a 3/8 input jack. The batteries last a long time. In fact the only time the batteries have died is when it accidentally gets switched on inside my tool bag.

If I'm going to be running something really loud (like a tractor with a straight pipe :good2:), I usually put foam ear plugs under my earmuffs.
 
#19 ·
31 Db is high end for normal ear mops (my kids when they were little) i used for shooting, about $35 from several manuf. Above that and the money starts to flow. When it's loud use foam plugs and mops like others have said.
 
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#20 ·
I worked in the oil industry for 37 years as a mechanic and I used foam type ear plugs for 30+ years. I worked on Reciprocating engines but mainly gas Turbines with noise levels around 110 DB. I got use to listening to the equipment with ear plugs so I could walk into a machinery module and tell if there was something wrong, but I could not if I was wearing ear muffs or had no hearing protection. I always wore my ear plugs properly that is pushed well into the ear as per the manufacturers instructions, I am amazed at the number of people who do not know how to install foam ear plugs properly. Just before I retired I had a hearing test the results were normal for my age. So I aim to protect my hearing, I use good quality ear muff when ever I use my 1025r or any other noisy equipment. Ear plugs or ear muffs do work.
Just some things to think about. Double Hearing Protection that is using earplugs and ear muffs only reduces the noise by about 5% over correctly worn Single Hearing Protection. Wearing glasses with the legs going under the ear muffs reduces there efficiency.
 
#25 ·
I worked in the oil industry for 37 years as a mechanic and I used foam type ear plugs for 30+ years.
Good post! When I was an equipment operator for the state we had ear plugs available to us but I can't stand to have anything in my ears (plug type). But I think the damage was already done before that from running a chainsaw almost everyday for years without using any protection - yeah....no chaps, helmet, etc. I have tinnitus pretty bad now but I think it is also an effect from the RA as I only noticed it since getting sick. Now I can't stand to run anything (even small equipment) without ear protection - or even be around loud people.
 
#24 ·
I use BOSE over the ear noise canceling headphones with my little size of a lip balm container Walkman that I keep in my shirt pocket. Get some good music, 4 gigs worth, and you are all set for hours. They are also great for flying, which is why I bought them in the first place. It only took me about 3 years to save up enough money as they are not cheap, around three hundred bucks or so but they are well worth it in my opinion. You can still make out noises as they are designed for that, but after 52 years of playing music and standing by the Drummer my hearing has suffered big time.. There are times I cannot hear my wife at all! She says its selective hearing. :dunno:. Maybe she's right, I can hear people in a restaurant 8 tables over but can't hear a word from her. I told her it was from hearing the same frequency for 42 years! She didn't buy it! :nunu: Like stated; any hearing protection is better than none. It was also mentioned about using the protection properly,, You are so correct in that statement. Most do not know how to insert those foam plugs, really they will not come out the other ear if you insert them to far! It doesn't matter what the wife says, they won't!

One more warning if you ever get the BOSE protection, do not download any Liberance Pie-anna music you will fall asleep and that could be very dangerous. It even has this warning on all his CD's :lol:
 
#33 ·
My wife has the noise canceling headphones.

She puts them on and can't hear a thing i say....:hide:

When I sing, everyone else wears ear muffs! :laugh:
 
#34 ·
rtgt, don't be fooled, she can hear ya, she's playing possum... :danger:
 
#35 ·
Haha, finally get to put my profession to use. As an industrial hygienist, we typically use 85 dBA as a target noise level to remain below for an 8hr or less exposure time. It gets complicated, but statistically this is a point at which the general population would not experience hearing damage. So based on average tractor noise levels around 100dBA, a NRR of 22 dB minimum would be recommended (100-85+7). The +7 has to be factored in with most situations.
 
#36 ·
At work and around my shop I wear banded ear plugs so that I can pop them in and out easily and they are always around my neck so they are they when I need them.
When mowing and riding the tractor in endless circles all day I wear a set of AM/FM muffs similar to above as I'd go crazy without some music.
 
#38 ·
I believe the OSHA standard for "dangerous" noise levels is "anything above 85 db". So if your tractor, mower, etc is running at say, 90db and your hearing protection knocks that down to 70db, you can listen to music at 3 to 5 db above the ambient level and still be below the 85 db level.

The 3M Worktunes are rated at 22 db.
 
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#40 ·
I too use the 3M work tunes and live 'em. Tractor/chainsaw, etc. radio and input jack work great


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#41 ·
In addition to hearing protection I always wear safety glasses when mowing. It has happened many times - mowing to the left of a tree with the chute pointed at the trunk - mower picks of some small debris of some kind, hits the tree, and flies back at me.
 
#42 ·
I use these plug style ones Robot Check. They're reusable, comfortable and have good NRR at 24 when closed, they come in solid versions too without the caps which are actually the ones I'm using more now.

Not that I dislike the foam ones, but constantly using a new pair just seems a waste to me and lots of times while I'm working I wear safety eyewear and or sweat so muff style protection isn't as comfortable or effective.
 
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