Quote:
Originally Posted by vatdevil
Huh? what? I can't hear you! Seriously, I wear ear plugs so as not to damage my hearing on long drives. Radio would be useless with 3 inch mufflers.
|
I wear earmuff type hearing protectors when I am on long drives. People think it is about the noise from the sidepipes, but mine are quiet and unobtrusive. It is, however, about the constant "chuffing" in my ears from the wind as the car moves through the air. I have a noise induced hearing loss from driving tractors and hunting with shotguns as a young man, so I am interested in keeping what hearing I do have left, but there is another benefit to wearing some sort of hearing protection while driving....less general fatigue. The ear has a muscle in it that tenses up and disassociates the three bones that transmit the vibrations from the eardrum to the inner ear. Like all muscles, they have only one action, to shorten, and when the brain senses a sound of sufficient intensity that it might cause damage that stapedius muscle tenses up to dampen the intensity of sound transmitted. However, like all muscles, it can only hold in a state of contraction for a limited amount of time and so it quickly fatigues and stretches out, releasing its tension and allowing the alignment of those three bones to become more solid. The loud sounds are then again transmitted to the inner ear, so avoiding that constant tensioning and releasing of the stapedius muscle will leave you less fatigued in general, particularly at the end of a day-long drive. You would be surprised how much better you will feel at the end of a long ride if you will wear hearing protection...try it, you'll see.
But, yeah, you're right, my radio is useless at speed. However, an Ipod with a set of earbuds under those earmuff type hearing protectors is a decent plan
...just be mindful of the volume to protect your hearing.
Cheers!
Dugly
