I sing aloud for tunes. It also entertains the neighbors. They had never heard of Buckcherry before....they were impressed I knew all the words! 'Brooklyn!'
To protect my snowblower, I wear nothing that will interfere with me being able to hear every little noise that bugger makes as it churns out the snow.There are many times I've read on this site about folks not hearing a disastrous condition in development due to 'hearing protection'.
I wear a hat and hood to keep my ears warm.

 

Yes to hearing protection, no to music.

 

There are many times I've read on this site about folks not hearing a disastrous condition in development due to 'hearing protection'.

Once you damage your hearing, How you going to hear those destructive noises anyway?

 

A helmet liner, a pair of sound muff protectors, topped with a visor beanie ... like the following.

Not only head, which is a must, but anything to keep warm in winter is all about layers.

N-FERNO BY ERGODYNE Winter Liner, Universal, Hook-and-Loop Adjustment Type, Black, Covers Head, Mouth - 55JF10|6878 - Grainger

Uline Earmuffs - Lime S-20706LIME - Uline

Decky Beanies GI Jeep Caps Hats Visor Ski Thick Warm Winter Skully Unisex | eBay

 

i use ear protection. the same ones i use for my chainsaw.

no to music. ear protection just muffles the sound but you can still perhaps hear strange noises coming from blower or an approaching car/truck/plow etc.

Its best also to have reflective clothing, light , and be constantly aware of your surroundings.

 

Good advise. I installed some cheap strobe lights on my riding snowblower for when I am up by the highway blowing. I also added tail lights and marker lights and even replaced the headlight bulbs with leds.

 

I use earmuffs with 28-32db noise attenuation whenever I operate any small engine equipment. That includes pressure washers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, snowblowers, lawnmowers. I can't slow down or stop the deterioration of my eyesight, but I can prevent hearing damage.

 

It took me a good 60 years to train myself to wear hearing and eye protection every time I should be. I almost waited to long.

Even back in the early 70s during my time working on KC130s, hearing and eye protections weren't stressed at all. It should have been mandatory. We and VA are now paying the price for that.

 

I could get hit by the snow plow if I don't hear it coming.I don't wear ear protection for that reason.

 

You can use a lower decibel attenuation pair that would still protect your hearing but allow you to still hear more.

 

A toque (beanie) and parka hood.

 

The Honda HSS1332AATD's GX390 is rated at 73dB and may be a bit less at the operator's position. I have not felt the need for hearing protection using it, but I do use muffs with the mowers, zeroturn, pressure washer, generators and wood chipper. The GX25 on my Mantis tiller is likewise so quiet that I don't need muffs, at least so far. I have three types of muffs: standard shooting-type muffs, noise-cancelling muffs with audio input, and wolf-ears with audio input and stereo microphones.

 

wolf-ears with audio input and stereo microphones.

my Navy 9AN (commonly known as "Mickey Mouse Ears") from back in the day.

I am feeling millennial again and I have no idea what wolf-ears and Mickey Mouse ears are.

 

I like these 3M PELTOR Optime 105 Earmuffs H10A, Over-the-Head

 

working as a auto mechanic, driving loud hot rods, race boats, drag bikes and playing in a country rock band my ears were abused, now i can't wear enough protection plugs and muffs while running anything for me

 

At the risk of sounding gloomy, you can't protect what you already lost.

 

No, but you can help protect what's left.

 

My standard kit is a red watch cap and my Navy 9AN (commonly known as "Mickey Mouse Ears") from back in the day. Embarasses my wife which makes it all the more fun.

 

Were you on a carrier ?

 

I enjoy mortifying the wife also. Great fun...until they get even.

 

I just insert my moulded ear plugs. And then just pull my wool hat down.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

I didn't know wolf ears were such a thing. Thanks.

 

They are really incredible out in the woods. You can hear birds moving their feet on branches 50 feet away, or mice scurrying. Squirrels sound like moose crashing through the leaves. And the stereo surround sound lets you immediately focus your vision on a sound.

 

I have a set of custom-molded earplugs, originally obtained for skeet shooting, that I wear whenever working with any loud sources. This includes engines, yard equipment like weed whackers, pressure washers, basically anything. I'm hyper-careful about protecting my ears from sustained exposure to high volume sound.

I have a set of sound protective muffs that I use occasionally, but you can't be mindless about it. I discovered that on my loader-backhoe they actually allow a resonance to build up that is louder than not wearing anything at all! So I always wear the custom earplugs on that machine. The muffs do work fine on the Ariens snowblower so I'll do that once in a while to give my ear canals a break. The custom plugs go way into the ear canal - you sort of "screw" them into the ear because they follow the profile of your ears EXACTLY - and provide well over 30dB of isolation, but prolonged wearing gets a little tiresome.

That said, the custom molded earplugs are really the best answer for anything up to about three hours of continuous use. They are low profile (flush with your outer ears) yet provide the best isolation possible. Sounds actually get louder when I open my mouth because the sound can travel up my eustachian tubes, something you normally can't notice. They're that good.

 

I have a set of Echo ear muffs that I wear with any of the 2 stroke equipment. The Toro/Suzuki is LOUD!!

 

I have shooting ear protection that has has speakers and a mic.. I listen to podcasts or music over it. i can also hear any sound that's low enough to not hurt my ears, such as impending doom or whatever. You don't want hearing damage. You aren't immune to it. Once you damage your hearing and the tinnitus kicks in its too late. My grandfather had it really bad from wwii so I've always been pretty careful about my hearing. I find it astonishing that people don't take precautions.

 

Most people never even think about their hearing until it is to late and the damage has already been done.

We never wore hearing protection at the rifle range while in boot camp or around our aircraft either (KC-130s). Hunting, shooting, heavy equipment, mowing, chainsaws, garden equipment, garage work and every other loud noise just didn't register as being dangerous.

Hearing loss creeps up on us slowly as we age and by the time you notice the decline it's to late and time for hearing aids, if you are lucky.

 

I already have hearing aids, and when it picks up loud noises, it brings down the sound quite a bit. On top of that I will wear my bomber hat with the flaps down. I will them put a hoodie up over that, so that cuts the sound quite a bit for me. Maybe not as well as proper hearing protection would though.

 

I was stupid as a young man for not protecting my hearing and vision. I tuned my chainsaws by how much my eardrums vibrated. Dumb, dumb.

 

 

I have early stage ALS, and my coordination is affected. With that being said, I can still blow snow on level surfaces using the blower as a motorized walker!
...and the reason for posting here, is that I also use my skiing helmet that has ear warming flaps in case I happen to fall. The ear flaps do a good job at deadening the sound of the motor. Not as good as dedicated ear protection, but not bad.

 

I'm impressed that you are kicking that snows butt still. I enjoy the radio while blowing snow rather than listening to the drone of the engine. I can still hear what the engine is doing though. The cold and the engine drone almost puts me to sleep so radio keeps me awake.