Let's talk earplugs

[Chemguy]

I really don't mind that the woods seem loud at night. In fact, I like it. But often I can't get out into the woods and instead head to the back yard. That's when every car without a muffler or the biggest baddest Harley in existence seems to be out for a late night/wee hours spin. I swear, they must have me under surveillance.

I've tried the Multimax Earplugs sold by Arrowhead, and they do a very good job with some frequencies (like natural sounds) but not with the lower frequencies. What earplugs have you tried, and found to work well?

[Afterparty]

Yellow twist foam ones work great

[tennistime99]

Custom fitted ear plugs are great for noise reduction. Foam plugs work as well. Noise cancelling headphones ($) make everything go away. 😴

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[TrailSlug]

Yellow twist foam ones work great

Same. I love these and they are cheap and work very very well. I use these mowing as well.

[Trail Runner]

I don't know what the brand is but I use the earplugs I got when I was in the Army 25+ years ago. They're rubber (or rubber-like), orange and have 3 phlanges. They're good enough to use when standing within 50' of a firing tank so they should work well for loud city noises.

[Chemguy]

The noise -cancelling ones are wonderful. I use them when working from home at night. That might be part of the problem....my expectations. I do turn my head to the side when sleeping in a hammock, though, and that wouldn't be too comfortable.

I'll start working through some of the low-end plugs first, maybe working up to the artillery-grade. In fact, that gives me the idea to look at sites that sell gun safety equipment. This isn't going to be a quick process, but I'll post what I find.

Any other ideas?

[somniferous]

Low frequencies are very hard to stop, so they will always get through ear plugs, especially those made of foam. The harder silicon ones are a bit better, but will still only go down so far. Very low frequencies can travel through cement walls so a bit of foam will do nothing.

There is also the problem of bone conduction, picking up sound through your skeleton. This will happen below about 100 Hz and is the reason why ear plugs can only really drop outside noise 20-30dB.


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[Trees company]

I work in an heavy repair shop and we are required to wear hearing protection . The company supplies us with a wide variety , some of my personal favorites are spark plugs from moldex and skull screws From 3M.These also have some of the highest decibel reduction of any soft foam types . I am not crazy about the plastic flange type they cause discomfort in my ears.

[hairsmith]

When I camp in the Hammock it tends to be on a motorcycle trip. I wear ear plugs when riding the bike,(my bilkes have mufflers and are very quiet, its about wind noise) and many times when camping in more public locations I need a good nights sleep not listing to how some blow hard wants to solve world problems at the wile running a generator in his RV.
I have tried most of the well known designs, and have become most happy with the simple foamies. It become as much about comfort as it about quiet. I have had them in for 14-16 hours 8-900 mile day's and then after a few hours setting around camp put them back in for a good nights rest.
Inserting them correctly is a large part of the comfort and also how quiet they are. I have rather small ear canals so the foam ones work much better than the 3-pettle types.

[FJRpilot]

its about wind noise)
Inserting them correctly is a large part of the comfort and also how quiet they are. I have rather small ear canals so the foam ones work much better than the 3-pettle types.

I couldn't agree with you more on all the points you've made. Hearing damage is a cumulative thing. It's not about how loud, it's about how much you listen to.

I use a white noise machine at home and when I travel to drown out the little noises my brain like to focus on. Even faint noises will wake me right up. The foamies everyone is pointing to is my choice as well both in a hammock as well as on the bike.


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