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Post by thebellcompany on Aug 21, 2017 12:36:44 GMT -5
Has anyone here ever thought of or tried to modify your earmuff type hearing protection? Typically these have a db reduction of around 30db. Which works I suppose but after taking a pair apart I noticed it's constructed of thin plastic and 2 pieces of ultra thin foam. I squished the foam together and it has about 1/2 the amount of density as a yellow scrubbing pad you'd use to wash your dishes with. I did sound tests with and without the foam and surprisingly the foam actually does reduce a small fraction of noise, but I conclude with the foam removed from the hearing protection the sound difference is negligible. My next test involved putting in some foam ear plugs with my ear muffs and that was definitely better. I then tried filling one ear muff side with silicone caulk. That did pretty well but I could still hear out of it. I also checked out a pair of electronic noise cancelling ear muffs and those weren't much improvement from the standard ear muffs. So.. HOW could I eliminate the outside world from my ears?? You thoughts?
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Post by subzero350 on Aug 22, 2017 0:03:59 GMT -5
I just bought a pair of NoiseBuster PA4000 earmuffs that have active noise cancelling (electronic). The reason for the purchase was because the new zero turn mower I got was giving me tinnitus. I tried wearing in-ear and over ear protection at the same time, but it just couldn't block out the low frequency "drone" noise the mower deck produced when engaged. The PA4000 muffs cancelled that low freq noise out very effectively once turned on (if left off, they act just like any other pair of passive over-the-ear muffs I've worn).
Expensive, but worth it. No more tinnitus symptoms.
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Post by nfalls116 on Aug 22, 2017 6:30:38 GMT -5
Ear plugs and ear muffs?
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Post by thebellcompany on Aug 22, 2017 7:36:07 GMT -5
Ear plugs worn with ear muffs give a db reduction rating somewhere around 45 db. I'd like to reduce the incoming sound by 60+ db if that's even possible
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Post by Woody Williams on Aug 22, 2017 7:58:36 GMT -5
My problem is I have severe hearing loss already. I have electronic muffs that shut off at 80 DB. That's good BUT my hearing aids boost DBs at least 30 DBs so I'm almost back where I started.
On the range I take my hearing aids out and put on my muffs.
Same thing for hunting with a firearm.
Archery hunting I go with my hearing aids only..
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Post by Jamie Brooks 1John5:13 on Aug 22, 2017 8:52:25 GMT -5
I did buy a pair of electronic muffs too. I think about $150, and they do work, but I forget about them most of the time.
I was getting a lot of static in one ear. They quickly sent me another pair.
I have a lot of trouble know which way a sound is coming from and these help for me.
Silicone is gas permeable, so I guess it makes sense that sound waves could travel through it to some degree.
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Post by Boilermaker on Aug 23, 2017 12:07:31 GMT -5
I have a pair of walker razer XV earbud / headset. I love them. They come with 3 different ear plug sizes. I can comfortably run a weedeater, pushmower or leaf blower with excellent hearing protection. If bluetooth is your thing you can listen to music while you work as well or listen for phone calls by hooking it into your phone. They also have a sound enhancing feature for sitting in the woods, I heard toms gobbling while wearing them this past spring that i never could hear with them off (i suffer from substantial hearing loss / constant ringing in my left hear from never using hearing protection for 10 years). They are expensive, but they are definitely worth it. They also have a range setting to deal with any echo while target / sport shooting that will hold the sound off for a half second or so longer. edit, here's a link: www.gsmoutdoors.com/shopping/Razor-XV-P842.aspx |
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Post by dsawyer72 on Aug 23, 2017 20:36:32 GMT -5
I also have the Walker Razor bluetooth earbuds, and they have a place; but in my case they are more helpful for range then hunting. I took them to the field side by side with electronic earmuffs when hunting deer last year, and the ear muffs (Howard Leight, about $45) did much better in bringing in far away noises. I was pretty disappointed in them. However, I soon realized they have a purpose. At the range, they offer better noise reduction then most muffs. Also, while driving around my land when I think I have a chance of seeing something I want to shoot (beaver); but not a good one; I'll take them. I hate dealing with how to store muffs, where the Razors are unobtrusive. I find I've been using the Razors more then the muffs this past year; but will switch back to electronic muffs for deer season.
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Post by thebellcompany on Sept 3, 2017 17:32:08 GMT -5
Update: the silicone I tried in the ear muffs did not work. My next thought was: high density foam. I had a pair of thick insoles I cut to fit inside the earmuffs, put 2 layers per muff. Went out shooting some clay yesterday and wow what a difference! With ear plugs and these muffs the noise was negligible. More experiments to come.
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Post by moose1am on Sept 10, 2017 11:42:45 GMT -5
You guys with the Walker Razor Bluetooth earbugs please be aware that the wires coming out of the head ban are easily pulled out and can make them stop working. I researched them as I love listening to music with my Samsung level headset with ear buds. I have two sets of the Samsung Levels and both broke where the hard and soft plastic parts join on the thing that looks like a horseshoe and fits around the back of the neck.
I use the Howard Leigh ear muffs for shooting at the rifle range and they work nicely. And they also amplify sounds so you can talk to people and hear the range officers commands at the shooting range. They shut off for loud notices. But they don't have the Bluetooth so I can't listen to Pandora on my smartphone with them.
Those of you guys that have the Walker Razor XV please let us know how they hold up over time. I've like to have them if they have redesigned them to keep the wires from tearing out or breaking. Do the earbuds and wires retrack back into the headset?
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Post by Boilermaker on Sept 11, 2017 7:24:12 GMT -5
You guys with the Walker Razor Bluetooth earbugs please be aware that the wires coming out of the head ban are easily pulled out and can make them stop working. I researched them as I love listening to music with my Samsung level headset with ear buds. I have two sets of the Samsung Levels and both broke where the hard and soft plastic parts join on the thing that looks like a horseshoe and fits around the back of the neck. I use the Howard Leigh ear muffs for shooting at the rifle range and they work nicely. And they also amplify sounds so you can talk to people and hear the range officers commands at the shooting range. They shut off for loud notices. But they don't have the Bluetooth so I can't listen to Pandora on my smartphone with them. Those of you guys that have the Walker Razor XV please let us know how they hold up over time. I've like to have them if they have redesigned them to keep the wires from tearing out or breaking. Do the earbuds and wires retrack back into the headset? Yes, the retract back into the headset, I can see where there might be an issue in the future with the retracting springs going bad...but so far so good. I use mine twice a week for the last two mowing seasons plus deer and turkey season and haven't had any issues yet. My only problem so far has been getting the wife to remember to plug them into the charger when she's done borrowing them to clean the house...  |
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Post by moose1am on Sept 14, 2017 13:15:47 GMT -5
I wear my Level head set from Samsung everywhere I go. My truck's radio or the antenna went south years ago so the only way I can listen to the radio is to wear a radio headset that I got from Sony. I wore the ear padding out and didn't wear the radio headset for the last four or five years. But then I got a smartphone and discovered Pandora. I listen to Pandora on my Samsung Level Head set all the time now. The only thing is that it's not going to protect my hearing from loud noises. So the Walker RAzor XV was on my wish list.
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Post by dsawyer72 on Sept 14, 2017 20:49:35 GMT -5
So far my Walker Razor Bluetooth's have held up fine. They retract fine. And when I pull them out I normally pull them out to the max stop and that hasn't affected their performance.
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Post by gillgrabber on Sept 30, 2017 18:08:07 GMT -5
Another vote for using both ear plugs AND muffs. I've been a police officer for 35 years, was a firearms instructor for 30 of those years, and also spent 20 years on our regional SWAT team. I've shot a LOT of different guns including handguns, shotguns, submachine guns, AR Rifles, and sniper rifles. I've also been hunting my entire life. I've always worn protection and started doubling up wit plugs and muffs early in my career. It paid off as I'm now 57 and still have good hearing (though my wife doesn't think so). One of the best purchases I made was getting some custom molded ear plugs which I use regularly with some good electronic muffs so I can still hear the range commands and speak with students without having to take them off. I don't know what the actual decibel reduction is but it's worked for me. |
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