Hearing protection

[clearblk]

Wow, the eye protection post was pretty scary and then the topic turned to hearing protection. My daughter (6th grade at the time ) did a science project on hearing protection. We took a styrofoam display head (hollow in the center) and drilled out the ear canal with a 3/8 bit. She then placed a db meter inside. She used several types of foam ear plugs and a headphone type of protector. She played a preset volume of loud music in front of the head. All the protection worked as well as the label stated. She took and logged all readings with and without protection. If you have kids this is a simple project to do for a science fair. We should all heade the lesson.

 

[Webb Sledge]

That's cool, and I wonder what kind of protection worked the best?

 

[Steven]

If you use q-tips enough to clean out your ear canal..you won't have to worry about hearing much of anything.....so if i can add my 2 cents worth.....never use Q-Tips to clean out your ear canal.

 

[clearblk]

The headphone type worked the best. The pair we used were very pricey. I managed to borrow them from the nice people who work in our storehouse.

 

[PC]

It seems ridiculous that people will abuse their hearing so badly when good safety equipment is so readily available.

A really top quality set of earmuffs is only US$25. Do people think their hearing is worth less than 25 bucks? Even fully custom silicone earplugs, molded individually to your ears are around a hundred.

When I go shooting I wear foam plugs AND a set of muffs.

PC.

Peltor muffs at:
Amazon.com
Enviro Safety Products

 

[Steven]

now that's what I call double coverage!

 

[aeronca65t]

I like the soft, foam ear plugs that you can buy in a drug store. Cheap and effective. I have some hearing loss so I try to protect what's left.
I always wear ear plugs flying (no radios in any of our planes anyway) and in the race car, even with the helmet.
I use ear plugs for long rides in my StepVan or when top down in the Miata. When driving on the street, I wear them somewhat "loose" so that I can hear horns, etc. I feel less fatigued when I wear them.
For the lawn mower or body grinder, I have an old audio headset with the wire cut off.
Yesterday I was in The Big Apple and I saw a guy using a jack hammer without hearing protection. Nuts!

[ 04-09-2004: Message edited by: aeronca65t ]</p>

 

[Steven]

the soft rubbery earplugs used for firing handguns would be perfect. They allow you to hear most small scale stuff, but block the damage inflicting louder stuff.