Disposable Ear Plug question

Speedo66 said:
They’re good for motorcycle riding, too.

The wind rushing by your ears is loud enough to slowly erode your hearing over time, even in a full face helmet.

I generally get two or three rides out of a pair before I look at them and think “I ain’t putting that in my ears”.

For shooting I double them up with muffs every time.
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Haven't worn a helmet in 22 years here in a no helmet state and 66 years total riding. Cant see it hurt my hearing for that reason. Loud sharp noises like gunshots and lawn equipment will do damage. Take it from a 85 year old.
 
For sanitary reasons, just throw them away or buy muffs. If you plug and muff with magnum rifles shoot one less shot and buy new plugs.

Sorry after 30+ years of working in a paper mill I would never dream of wearing plugs for more than a workday.
 
I buy the EAR brand yellow foamies in the 200-pair box, about $32 on Amazon last time I bought a box. Wear them every night while I sleep.
(Either my wife or I snore; we can't seem to agree on who it is.)

I also ride a motorcycle every day. For riding back and forth to work, I use the oranqe-ones-on-a-blue-plastic-string (Howard Leight).
For longer rides, the orange ones are uncomfortable after a few hours, so I use the yellow EAR ones.

At the range, I use either of the above, plus muffs.
I spent 30+ years between military aviation and airlines, plus the same amount of time shooting, and my whole life riding motorcycles.

Just turned 66 with no appreciable hearing loss.
 
dogtown tom said:
Seriously, the disposable foam earplugs are great if its all you can afford. But when you hit your sixties you may wish you had spent a few $$ more on better ear pro.

Hearing impairment is no joke.
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The orange or blue domed cylindrical disposable plugs have a NRR of 33. Hard to get better than that. The original E-A-R yellow foamy earplugs are NRR 29 which is better than some custom molded plugs that cost as much as a box of foamies.
 
I do have hearing loss. I wore the old Lee Sonic ear valves while shooting smallbore position rifles in a concrete basement. Then attended a few rock concerts, shot trap at a time when few wore ear protection, and hunted at every opportunity for many years. I hate the single use concept and have been known to use the same plugs two or three times before properly discarding, but foamies are better than nothing and improve the protection that muffs provide, whether passive or electronic.

The cerumen produced in the ear canal isn't likely to be harmful, but it is likely to adhere to grit and harmful stuff from a pocket or other surface. They never were intended to be washed, and I wouldn't trust their performance thereafter. As for bore cleaning, I may have to try that sometime.
 
you might be a candidate for the ear bud plastic ones that attach with a string, that are designed for multiple uses. I wear the foam ones when I ride a motorcycle, and I'll take them out and put them in my pocket if I stop at a store or whatever and put them back in after, but - the box I got 3 or 4 years ago is mostly still full and cost $10 I think, so - what are you really saving yourself? on putting them in correctly, they can be inserted too far, and taking them out after a few hours if you put them in too far hurts pretty good.
 
Frankly you can clean and reuse them a couple of times, but they're so cheap and you are better off just using new disposable foam plugs each time. You're also much better off using plugs and muffs. As many of you know I'm a 30 year safety professional and encourage everyone to use as much hearing protection as you can (high NRR, plugs + muffs, suppressors) when shooting.
 
Hours and hours of high hp, open station tractors have taken their toll.
Rolling foam plugs with grubby, greasy, fingers is nasty. You don't want to shove that nastiness inside your head.

Noise canceling electronic muffs or buds/plugs/pods.....are the future of hearing protection friends.
$40 will buy a pair of Howard Leight noise canceling muffs. Not only do they block noise....they amplify conversation. You can HEAR your shooting buddies, or the range officer or whatever....
:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
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The E.A.R. brand "Grande" foamies are great. We had a large twist type dispenser at the back of our warehouse leading out to the flightline when I was AF. I would get a pair and use them. At the end of the day I would put them in my BDU pocket. Get another pair the next day, and so on and so on. When my wife would wash and dry my uniform the pocket would be full of bright yellow and CLEAN ear plugs that worked perfectly fine for my range trips.
 
dogtown tom said:
And guess what..........ear plugs with any rating AND ear muffs are still better than plug alone.
Funny how that works.
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Not really.

Ear plugs with an NRR of 22 plus muffs with an NRR of 22 only gets you to an NRR of 27. You can get ear plugs with an NRR of 29 or even 33.

DeepSouth said:
Maybe I’m mistaken but I think the point is good plugs get you into the “safe” range. So why add another layer if no damage is occurring?

Again, I could be mistaken.
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.
High pressure impulses eventually deteriorate hearing, so some damage is always being done.
 
To me it seems silly to wash disposable foam ear plugs. They degrade and to be honest I am at the point in my life where I am trying my best to protect what I have left of my hearing. They are cheap enough to use and toss at the end of the day.
 
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