Who makes the best ear protection?

[Sean Rainaldi]

I was using those cheap ear plugs last week when planning, they drive me nuts, irritate my ears, sometimes hurt, and don’t block out much sound at all. I’m looking for a good headphone type – which brand blocks out the most sound?

[glenn bradley]

I used to use plugs as they generally keep more sound out than muffs. I ended up with Peltor muffs which work well with my Rx shop glasses and respirator. I have these (http://www.grizzly.com/products/Deluxe-Personal-Hearing-Protector-Optime-101/H4978) (-27db) because they are available locally but, would have gotten these (http://www.grizzly.com/products/Twin-Cup-Design-Hearing-Protector-Optime-III/H4979) (-29db) if I had known about them.

[Kevin Arceneaux]

Peltor is my recommendation

[Thomas Bank]

Another pleased Peltor user - H10A to be exact.

[Chuck Tringo]

another happy peltor user

[Tom Esh]

Another vote for the big Peltor muffs - the one with the red stripe. Only thing about muffs is they can get a bit warm in the summer, so I tend to use them only for the louder tasks like planing and routing.
For everything it's these:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=53610&cat=1,42207
Despite their flimsy looks, they work amazingly well. (Note they're not plugs. The fit is more like a good set of earphones.)

[Andy Howard]

The absolute best muffs are either the Peltor H10A, or the LEIGHTNING L3. They both have NRR of 30.

http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/product/Bilsom-Leightning-L3-Earmuffs-hearing-protection.html

or

http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/product/peltor-earmuffs-h10a.html

I personally use a pair of Peltor's with a radio in them, and then add plugs underneath them for even more protection when I use the louder tools (planer, router, etc).

I have a feeling that you are using poor ear plugs, or not inserting them properly if you are having that many problems with them.

I prefer the Howard Leight Laser Lite plugs. Very comfortable, and work extremely well. I buy a box of 200 pairs at a time.

http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/product/Howard-Leight-Laser-Lite-Earplug-Uncorded.html

You can get all this stuff other places, im not pushing envirosafety, but they are a good shop.

Andy

[Chris Padilla]

http://www.ontargetsportsonline.com/Shooting_Accs/Eye_Ear/Howard_Leight/HowardLeight.asp

I've used the Howard Leight Leightning 31 for several years now and even ended up getting my wife and daughter their own muffs. Then the inlaws discovered them and wanted their own so they have a couple pairs now.

Very comfortable...I often forget I have them on as I wonder why I can't hear my wife yelling at me.... ;)

[Sue Wise]

If you want an ear plug type, I have tried about every brand and type for riding my motorcycle.

I use these both on the bike and in the shop:
http://www.earplugsonline.com/

Very comfortable and works great.

-Sue

[Rod Sheridan]

I'll second Sue's choice of an ear plug, it's the model I use when riding.

As for ear muffs, I use Peltor............Rod

[Carlos Alden]

I have a pair of these:
http://www.woodcraft.com/images/products/832898_230.jpg

http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=832898&FamilyID=5488

The Zem is great. Very lightweight and is practically non-existent when I take them off and leave them around my neck. You can easily hear normal speech and sounds when they're on, but they effectively block high db noise.

Carlos

[Rob Diz]

Another vote for the Peltors

[Ellen Benkin]

I've found the best place to get hearing protection is a gun store. Much higher quality than the local borg.

[Chris Barnett]

Bought the Peltor H10A for less than $17 from Amazon; put in cart and maybe they will reduce :) again.

[Matt Meiser]

I have a set of muffs from Peltor but this week while at a very loud manufacturing facility I've been using a pair of Bilsom Thunder T3's that they provided. They are nice because you can hear someone talking but quieted the noise of the equipment. They are also quite comfortable. Amazon actually carries them, but they told me to bring them home since hygeine rules prevent their reuse.

[Matt Woessner]

You can also check out Mettam Safety. They have a ton of types of not only hearing protection but everything safety.

[Lloyd James]

Hi, I just wanted to add something about Pillow soft earplugs made by
Mack's. I have never been able to wear any type of ear plugs, including the soft sponge type and the rubbery one that looks like minature discs,
since I have narrow ear canals. My wife brought Macks plugs and they are like playdough and actually conform to your ear channel.
They work under water for swimming too. I even use their kid's size.

[Dick Sylvan]

I like these Peltor's;

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0041171228289a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=Peltor&Ntk=Products&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1

[Chris Padilla]

I have a set of muffs from Peltor but this week while at a very loud manufacturing facility I've been using a pair of Bilsom Thunder T3's that they provided. They are nice because you can hear someone talking but quieted the noise of the equipment. They are also quite comfortable. Amazon actually carries them, but they told me to bring them home since hygeine rules prevent their reuse.

The link I posted also has that earmuff on the page.

[John Schreiber]

I've got a pair of these http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=58699&cat=1,42207 from Lee Valley and I like them plenty. I can plug my phone/mp3 player into them and use them to listen to podcasts or answer the phone.

I wear eye glasses and I wonder what effect that has on hearing protection. The temple going under the pad must let some sound in. Is that a real factor? I've tried in the ear plugs and haven't found them either more effective or comfortable.

[Bob Johnson2]

I don't know about the best ones, but after trying many of them, from single use plugs to full headsets, I settled on these. The work well if you wear glasses.

http://www.labsafety.com/search/leight/6003/

I ended up most comfortable with the QE2's.

[Jason Whitaker]

If you have a sportsmans shop near by, the are likely to have some great ear protection. I do not recall the brand off hand, but I use the ones from my shooting days and they work extremely well and are very comfortable. I can even converse with them on yet the muffle out anything loud. Will look up brand when I have a chance

[Ken Milhinch]

Peltor for me.

[Howard Acheson]

Let me suggest you go to the following location. It is a thread that has the best info I have seen on the subject of hearing protection. In addition, it refers to an article that contains actual test data on hearing protection devices. There's a lot a very poor and misleading info on this subject

www.woodmagazine.com (http://www.woodmagazine.com), click on Forums, go to the General Woodworking, and do a serach on "Hearing Protection"

[Sean Rainaldi]

Wow I only expected a couple of responses thanks so much for all the great info. I’m going to post a related question about respirators.

[Gordon LaVere]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/3208220186_4192376f90.jpg?
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3132/3207374863_19d29b1ae3.jpg?



I've used these for years for any thing loud Gun shooting, auto races, and wood working.

Certified NRR of 27dB


About $30.00