Ear Protection from Lawnmowing/yard work

Outdoors, one or the other.
Indoors, it depends on what the people in the other lanes are shooting.

Normally, just the amplified/suppressing muffs. That holds me just fine up to my .45. The .357 is a little hot, but I'm not putting 300 rounds through it like I do the 9mm's and .45.
If someone shows up with a Desert Eagle, or a large-caliber revolver, then I step out and add plugs under the muffs.

 

From an OSHA standpoint...anything over 85db is required to wear ear protection. I wear earplugs EVERY day where I work. We get tested yearly for changes in our hearing. I already have a hearing aide in my left ear (not from work or noise).

I use foam expandable earplugs. My employer carries a lot of different types. I wear the 3M E-A-Rsoft yellow neons. They're soft and comfortable for my little ear canals.

 

The in ear foam ones are the best I've found. Add to this the over the ears (Muff Style) ones and your ears will be perfectly safe.



These are the exact ones I use.

 

respectively disagree

 

I use the 3M in ear disposables from Lowes. I work in a moulding shop so a planer running or a 5 head moulder running get loud. It's loud enough I can only stand a couple minutes without earplugs before I get a headache. I don't mind wearing earplugs at all. I like my hearing. OP ignore anyone who says you do not need earplugs. Never hurts.

 

I always have a pack of these tucked away all over my house, thriftytip you can put these into those mesh laundry bags and wash them, then air dry. I use these when i go shooting and using my 2 cycle string trimmers. There is also this type of ear protection which are just ear plugs on a plastic head band. they look like the old school headphones except with ear plugs.
Yea always wear ear protection, long exposure to loud noises eventually leads to deafness of certain frequency ranges. It sucks even to be hard of hearing, people have to keep repeating things to you and it leads to communication issues.

 

I have a metal pin in each ear that replaces the stapes (small bone). $40,000 in surgeries to fix otoschlerosis, under $4000 out of pocket. It's hereditary, you cant cause it through loud noises. My hearing was down to -65. When the day came to give in and get hearing aids, I was LUCKY to get the news that surgery would fix it. I got most my hearing back, But its still -20 or so, it cant all come back.

Accumilative exposure to loud noises cannot be repaired, you wont get to simply fix hearing loss from high noise.

You wont know the hearing loss. Then one day 10 -20 years later you finally realize it crept away so slowly you never noticed it. You wont notice it go, you wont get it back. Your little hairs things in the ears will be toast gone and non repairable.

If the worst you do is mow the lawn for 30 minutes, most people will be fine. I suspect some people aren't as resilient as others. I just ask if you have any doubt, try some muffs or plugs. Seems like nothing at 20, but by 40, you could regret the minor sins of the past.

ps , lost a girlfriend, she would NOT GO UNHEARD!! also became a comedy expert on " heard the wrong thing... like hearing the word "factor".... "fucked who???"

sorry for yet again another long post. Hope it helps though.

 

I only double up for magnum calibers (300 win mag +)

PPE is mandatory.


I recently suffered some loss after a flashbang went off in a room i was in. Even with my peltors on, it still fucked me up.

 

It's amazing how quickly it can happen.
Probably 25% (or more) of my loss was due to ONE afternoon in the desert when my buddy forgot to bring the Peltors for his son. I let him use mine, and figured a piece of tissue wadded up would be good enough.

The first shot with the .45 revealed otherwise.
I excused myself back to the truck when we were shooting anything more than the 9mm or .38. My ear (I've been totally deaf in my right ear since '74) rang for weeks, and in the last 10 years, the ringing has become increasingly worse.

For those who don't think hearing protection is a big deal, check this out...
http://www.ata.org/sites/ata.org/files/media/ATA_Tinnitus_Tea_Kettle_Tone.mp3

That noise is in my head 24/7.
Along with that, if my wife "clinks" two plates together stacking them anywhere within about 4 feet of my left side, it is painful. Same thing if a soda/beer can is opened in the same distance. I have grown used to opening cans on my right side, so it is tolerable in my left (working) ear.