Bandit Alley
GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => GENERAL MOTORCYCLE => Topic started by: tango59 on May 24, 2009, 06:43:16 PM
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I started losing my hearing in my late 20's and I'm 49 now. I only wore hearing protection when shooting. Never even considered it for anything else. I don't work in a real loud environment (just a bit noisey). Early this year my ears began ringing constantly and I noticed I was having more trouble hearing. Went to the Ear doc a couple of weeks ago and after several test was told I must get hearing aids as I have a profound loss above 2500hz. Unless you have a sudden complete hearing loss you don't even realize it's happening. Wear ear protection
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Ditto! I wore the little orange bullets for years. This spring I sprung for custom molded plugs. They cost me about $70 but they are more comfortable for long days. I wear them when doing yardwork, as well. Seems I drink more beer on those days....hhmmmm :beers: I encourage everyone I know to use some sort of protection, but you can only lead the horse to water. There was a good article in Mcyclist or one of the big ones last month that outlines the science.
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I'm gonna get the earmolds too. Audiologist recommended them for riding and shooting.
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I use Hearos every time I go out on my bike. I never mess with that. Learned that ages ago flying Pipers. Here's what I use:
(http://hearos.com/images/products/hearos-02525.jpg)
Very soft and comfortable, and most importantly, effective. I can wear them all day long. By the way, some of the brightly-colored plugs tend to color your ears. I wound up with green ears once. I always use this color.
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I had a set of molded plugs made up about 6 months ago. They are comfortable for all day rides but they aren't as effective at reducing noise as foam plugs. I've been using foam plugs for years and after using my new molded plugs on long trips the noise levels seemed marginally louder than with foamies.....was it my imagination? I just assumed that molded plugs provided a higher level of protection.
Yep.....I was wrong......an audiologist who was visiting our work place said that good quality foam plugs are better than molded silicon plugs at protecting your hearing. Still in doubt I did a bit of fact finding on the internet and he was correct!
So I guess wearing a molded ear plug is still better than nothing but before you go out and spend up on molded ear plugs the old foam plug offers more protection for less money.
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I bought a 100ct box of cheap foam plugs about a month ago and they are not worth squat. Bought some similar to the "Hearos" Vidrazor posted and they work great. No more rides without um. A couple of bucks for foam plugs vs 3k bucks for hearing aids. Damn did my math suck.
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The molded ones are not as effective, but mine are more comfortable than the orange bullet foamies I was using. I'm sure it's only a dB or two, but it is noticable. Just think how noticable the difference is between plugs and no plugs! I've used the hearos, too. They are great! I would suggest getting a bunch of different ones and decide what is best for the individual. The ones with the little stems used to insert them without rolling them first are good for shooting, but they got caught on the sides of my helmet when I put it on. The bottom line remains: wear something now or you WILL wear something later. Happy Trails! :motorsmile:
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Not all foam plus are equal. Not only are they rated different noise reduction levels, but even different brands with same level of noise reduction perform differently. One would seat better than another and the better seal one would be quieter, even though they both are rated the same.
Bought a huge pack of foam plugs from Home Depot over 10 years ago. They were green and hex shape (honeycomb). Not as comfortable, not as good in noise attenuation. I do not use them for riding. My family use them for lawn mower, leaf blower, and weed whackers. Still have half of them left !
The best ones were the yellow cylindrical ones, made by a big brand name that I forgot the name. Problem is that many copy cat start to make theirs looking like the real deal. Now I have to go try them all again to find the good ones.
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The best ones were the yellow cylindrical ones, made by a big brand name that I forgot the name. Problem is that many copy cat start to make theirs looking like the real deal. Now I have to go try them all again to find the good ones.
You mean the E-A-R Classic (NRR 31)?
(http://www.aearo.com/prod_images/390-1000.jpg)
They're OK, but there are others out there that are better. We have the Classics at work, as well as Pura-Fit 6880 (almost a Kawasaki Green, NRR 33) and Howard Leight Max (bright orange, NRR 33). I find either of the two latter ones to be more comfortable and better at their job. I can't handle wearing the Classic's for long periods, but can easily wear the others. Never experienced my ears turning colors with either either.
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The best ones were the yellow cylindrical ones, made by a big brand name that I forgot the name. Problem is that many copy cat start to make theirs looking like the real deal. Now I have to go try them all again to find the good ones.
You mean the E-A-R Classic (NRR 31)?
(http://www.aearo.com/prod_images/390-1000.jpg)
They're OK, but there are others out there that are better. We have the Classics at work, as well as Pura-Fit 6880 (almost a Kawasaki Green, NRR 33) and Howard Leight Max (bright orange, NRR 33). I find either of the two latter ones to be more comfortable and better at their job. I can't handle wearing the Classic's for long periods, but can easily wear the others. Never experienced my ears turning colors with either either.
Yeah! That's it. I never remember where I got them when I had them. I would buy a box and they seems to last forever and by the time I need a refill. I forget where I got them from. Most likely gun shop or sporting goods.
Pura Fit and Howard Leight Max have the same shape and size?
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>>Never experienced my ears turning colors with either either.<<
I guess it depends on who makes 'em. The barrel types actually have the best noise reduction capability, but it comes at the price of additional pressure against your ear canal. For me I find them torturous, even over a small period of time. I suppose it doesn't bother everyone like that. The decibel difference of the Hearoes is only about 2 decibels so it's no big deal. I prefer the softer foam of the Hearoes, I can wear them all day.
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Pura Fit and Howard Leight Max have the same shape and size?
These two are shaped more like the Hearos. I've never tried the Hearos, but from the looks of them, they look like they're made out of a similar type of softer foam like the Pura Fit and Max plugs, so I would expect them to be as comfortable.
(http://www.moldex.com/images/interior/main/main_pura-fit.jpg)
http://www.moldex.com/hearing-protection/foam-earplugs/pura-fit.php
(http://www.howardleight.com/images/media/0000/0001/max.jpg)
http://www.howardleight.com/segment/index/1
In addition to looking at gun shops & sporting goods stores, you could try a workwear/safety equipment store where construction/industrial workers go to buy safety shoes, reflective vests, etc.
The decibel difference of the Hearoes is only about 2 decibels so it's no big deal.
I disagree, but then I admit I'm a little anal on this subject. It comes from my own negligence in my youth and paying the price now with tinitus.
The way the decibel scale works, 2dB can matter. On the decibel scale, the smallest audible sound (near total silence) is 0 dB. A sound 10 times more powerful is 10 dB. A sound 100 times more powerful than near total silence is 20 dB. A sound 1,000 times more powerful than near total silence is 30 dB, and so on, up the scale. Exposure to sound levels of 85dB or more will cause permanent hearing loss, so you want to use the protection that will get you to a level below that. I don't know what dB level we are exposed to riding along, especially considering all the variables (exhaust systems, helmets, windscreens, riding positions, city or country rides, etc.), but consider an "average" lawn mower is is 90dB and a rock concert or jet engine at take-off is 120dB. We're probably in between somewhere, so the extra 2dB could be the difference.
FWIW, Hearos as shown in the previos pic is NRR 32, which is only 1dB lower than the highest rated ones on the market, and Hearos makes an Extreme model (that are blue) that has the NRR 33 rating.
(http://hearos.com/images/products/hearos-02427-big.jpg)
I prefer the softer foam of the Hearoes, I can wear them all day.
There's the main thing though... the NRR rating is pointless if you won't wear the plugs because they're uncomfortable! :clap:
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Well, from my own studies of decibels, an acoustic (as opposed to electronic) rise of 6 decibels is perceived as twice as loud. Oddly an acoustic drop of 3 decibels is considered half as loud. About 115-120 decibels is the threshold of pain, YMMV. As you'll see below, such numbers can be different, depending on source.
From this chart, bikes are averaged at around 100 decibels: http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html I would say a sportbike can rise by ~6 decibels (acoustic) more on avarage, depending on the "enthusiasm" of the ride(r). We don't know if that figure is for the bike itself or if they're taking the bike's environment (riding at speed, wind noise, etc.) into consideration.
What you have to look at is the larger picture, however. Going from, say, the 100 decibel figure to 70 versus 68 decibels is not going to be that big a deal. The more the better, but at the target levels you wind up at it's not going to hurt the overall effectiveness of the earplug.
My 2 decibel figure was off the top of my head, incidentally. You seem to have found a smaller rated difference which would make for yet less of a big deal in the difference.
The REAL big deal is to make sure that one should wear even the shittiest earplug! :bandit:
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When it comes to hearing, perception isn't quite the saem as reality.
In my student days I spent a lot of time in the recording studio, so I know whereof I speak. In reality, a 3 db change is twice as loud, but you need a 6 db change -- or more -- to get the perception of being twice as loud. Strange but true.
Then you get into the whole frequency shifting thing, where some high pitched noises are perceived as noisier than bass rumblings, even if they're quieter, just because they're annoying.
In any case I'm having my hearing checked in two weeks (doing it at the same time as my infant daughter) so I'l see how bad my hearing is.
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Unfortunately audiology tests only test for your ability to understand speech. Contrary to what you might think, they don't really tell how well you hear. Most audiology test measure hearing sensitivity between 250 Hz. to ~8kHz, with their peak concern between 1-4k. Hardware itself may test out to 12k, but they'll only test that far out only if you ask and they're in the mood to do so..
Ironically enough, hearing loss occurs from the outer edges of human hearing "inwards" towards this audiology goal. Typically high frequency loss occurs first, followed by low frequency loss. It's a non-linear process too, where you can wind up with "spectral holes" throughout your hearing. When those "holes" penetrate audiology frequency range, then they'll tell you that you have a hearing problem.
But even if you can't hear Jack from 250 down and/or 8k up (which, incidentally, is just slightly wider than AM radio bandwidth), they'll tell you your hearing's just fine. :roll:
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I started wearing ear plugs about 4years ago,now I can't ride without them.To me it just makes riding more enjoyable when you cut out all that wind noise in the helmet.I just use the orange foam plugs and it seems after a while you just get used to wearing them and the ears don't hurt after hours of riding with them.Ive even guilty of just wearing them around the house when the kids are a little juiced up on sugar,plus the old excuse "sorry honey I didn't hear you tell me to ________ (you feel in blank...cut grass,take out trash,wash car)I was wearing my ear plugs :grin:
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I, myself have never used earplugs when riding. Tight fitting helmet works good for me. Might try using them soon, though, to see how they work out.
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I got the test results, and things are in general pretty good.
They tested tone in addition to speech, and speech over static -- hard to do speech over general conversational drone.
Overall things are pretty good, although I have a 3-6 dB drop in my left ear around 1K, and in my right ear around 4K -- but those are the low points of a wide V.
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Sorry, say that again I'm a bit hard of hearing.
Alright no need to yell at me.
Yes I suffer from hearing lose, but it may not from loud motorcycles me thinks.
Worked in rock and roll for too many years, sound production.
Therefore loud bikes don't bother me I can hardly hear them.
Aye whats that ya say :duh:
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>>Worked in rock and roll for too many years, sound production. Therefore loud bikes don't bother me I can hardly hear them.<<
Continuous exposure to high sound pressure levels will continue to degrade your hearing, whether you're sensitive to it or not. So unless you want to lose your hearing altogether, it's time to ride with plugs.
I wear plugs whenever I go to concerts also, as well as nightclubs, and even movies (some theaters are painfully loud). Once your hearing is damaged (and mine has), it becomes that much more important to protect it.
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I used to work in a recording studio and go to way too many concerts -- which is why I wanted the hearing test.
But the above guy is right -- hearing damage is cumulative.
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Sorry, say that again I'm a bit hard of hearing.
Alright no need to yell at me.
Yes I suffer from hearing lose, but it may not from loud motorcycles me thinks.
Worked in rock and roll for too many years, sound production.
Therefore loud bikes don't bother me I can hardly hear them.
Aye whats that ya say :duh:
Sorry guys to much tongue in cheek me thinks. My hearing is less than perfect, but still good enough for most of the time, allthough I do have troubles in loud shopping malls when the minister refuses to look at me when speaking. Sometimes very frustrating having to say pardon to ever second sentence.
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I thought that was just selective hearing loss... pretty common after a few years of wedded bliss. :bandit:
Last time I had a hearing test @ work, the audiologist said my greatest hearing loss was "in the nagging frequency." :grin:
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Last time I had a hearing test @ work, the audiologist said my greatest hearing loss was "in the nagging frequency." :grin:
:thumb:
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Found a generic Hearos at Walgreen's ($5 for a pack of 20) work great. % bucks now or 3500 bucks later :duh:
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I wear hearing protection while riding unless I am only going a short distance and no freeway riding. At speed the wind noise is painful. I guess having a big head lets lots of air into the helmet.
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you only get one set of ears. protect 'em! find something that you can wear, and wear 'em!
my so snores, so cheapy orange ones for night, but they hurt when I'm awake.
swimmers flesh tone silicone work great for riding. use 'em always. the "clear" ones seem to get stuck in my ear.
i should say that i already have mild tinnitus, but that just means i'm never alone!
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Does anybody know if in ear earbuds work as well? (Skullcandy, etc)
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Does anybody know if in ear earbuds work as well? (Skullcandy, etc)
I use JVC ear buds from Walmart, cost $20.00.
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My 2 cents...
Having worked my whole life since college in steel plants, I am aware of some of the implications of loud sounds and hearing loss. And the implications of hearing, being based on a logarithmic scale, having an engineering degree.
Yep, you never get "used" or immune to loud noise. If it is loud enough to cause hearing damage, that damage happens every time exposed to it. (Kind of like friends come and go, but enemies accumulate? :grin:, or something like that, but I digress).
The sound level, as well as the amount of time time exposed (Time Weighted Average), is what counts. IIRC, over 80dB constant for 8 hours, potential for hearing loss. And 80dB is about when you need to raise your voice above normal speech to be heard. (Is the sound in your helmet louder than your normal speech? Or would you have to raise your voice to be heard?) Again, IIRC, 90dB you are limited to 4 hours exposure (or maybe 2?), and I am guessing here. THe point is, the louder the sound, the shorter period of time before permanent loss occurs. I believe OSHA web site has more information, too, if you want to look.
Enough babbling for now...
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Oh, and one more thing. The foam plugs need to be rolled up TIGHT (like after picking a booger :grin:) then inserted into the ear canal QUICKLY before they start to expand. Or they don't do squat. And sometimes it helps to pull out the outer ear from behind your head with the opposite hand to straighten the ear canal to aid insertion. My apologies for being long winded with these posts, but it is a simple thing to prevent hearing loss. And if anyone has back issues, Motorcycle Consumer News did a column or two awhile back that had good info.