Are you guys aware of the danger of hearing loss?
There are many people who just ignore the danger by exposing themselves to loud noises in field of construction, music, traffic, engine noise.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/health/hearing-loss.html

The number of people with hearing loss increase every day.

WHAT???

Sorry, I couldn't help myself

Having three different sets of high dollar hearing aids, none of which work worth a damn, let me be the first (or most recent) to warn everyone of the dangers of loud noises around you. In my day no one thought of that, I started shooting at the ripe old age of five, my dad never thought about it. Later I drove B&W cars 140+ mph with the drivers window down, now they say that the wind beating on my left ear did it no good whatsoever. I'm not into it, but loud music, no matter what type, can not be good. And I personally think that those little bitty earphones/earbuds, with the volume cranked up, are among the worse. Unless you want to do as I do, and say "huh?" a lot, watch out for those loud sounds. I now carry a pack of foam earplugs with me all the time, just in case I should find myself in a loud place. Once your hearing is gone, it is GONE, as if forever...

I've had 5 surgeries to my right ear, 3 to my left. YES, I'm aware!! Though I drive with the window down, the music is rarely "bumping" loudly. I wear 32db rated ear plugs while shooting,and while mowing the lawn. I try and wear the noise-cancelling earphones on planes. My years on the ambulance probably didn't help much. According to my latest hearing test, I do have the beginnings of hearing loss in 1 ear (at 28 years old), but that's not totally unexpected (given my surgical history). I just do what I can to keep it to a minimum!

Being a person, that can't stand loud sounds, i will barely go out to anyhing where i'm exposed to loud sounds and i like earplug... When i used to have a mp3 player, i would have the sound level, so low, that other people simply couldn't hear it, when they borrowed a earplug to listen what i'm listening.



Guess mine are still working well...

HUNH?? SPEAK UP, I CAN'T HEAR YOU,,,TOO MANY YEARS AROUND RADARS, RADIOS, NAVAL GUNFIRE, SMALL ARMS FIRE, ENGINE ROOMS, ETC. THE ONE ADVANTAGE TO MY ZERO ABILITY IN THE 4000MHZ RANGE IS; I CAN'T HEAR MY WIFE WHEN SHE MUMBLES.

THE REAL PROBLEM IS THAT IT CAN NEVER BE RESTORED!!!!

SO PROTECT WHAT YOU STILL HAVE!!!!

Wildman:
I too have a hearing loss due to 20+ years of motorcycle racing. However, not being able to hear my wife mumbling is not always a bad thing!!
kmat

I said it was a POSITIVE aspect!!!!!! Was I mumblng?????

I have a compact John Deere tractor (3320), and I'm happy to report that I leave a hearing protector (looks like headphones) hanging off my steering wheel in order to remind me to put it on everytime I use it.

I need to get one for my wife to use when she runs the little tiny JD riding lawn mower though. Thanks for the reminder on that!

Ken

Huh? See I told you.

kmat

I have had my hearing checked after years of shooting plus working in a vibration test lab. I always figured I was going to come up "bad" but it turns out that I have better than average for my age

My big problem is that in an even slightly noisy environment, I "loose" what people are saying - I can hear them, but unless they speak clearly and fairly loud, the background noise will kill all meaning

I guess that fact that in my early teens, someone told me about hearing loss problems, and I started wearing ear plugs - heck, I used to go to concerts wearing earplugs - I feel I get the best that way - I could feel the bass, hear the music at a reasonable level, and the crowd noise was muted to "background" - even the idiots who whistle

Where/when to begin? Chainsaws, my .22 rifle, mowing lawns, all during the summers of my youth. Then I joined the Navy and was introduced to the Government .45 pistol, M-1 Garand and Thompson SMG. I had tinnitus by age 23. First tour was flying in the Navy, lots of jets and turbine noise just added to the problem. I stopped having my hearing checked when I left the Navy; it's bad and not getting better.