Nifty Stuff…Bilsom Thunder T3 Dielectric Earmuff

Something that astonishes me is how people don’t put a lot of thought into their hearing. Of course, that’s hardly surprising. We live in an age not only of rock concerts, but of leaf blowers. All around us, it seems there are pieces of technology made to make our physical lives easier, but at the expense of polluting our environment with an excess of harmful noise. To combat this, I highly recommend the very affordable Bilsom Thunder T3 Dielectric Earmuff to silence the racket and protect your hearing.

Bilsom Thunder T3 Dielectric EarmuffSince those of us who don’t have a pre-existing hearing-impairment pretty much take for granted our hearing, it’s oh-so-easy to forget how easily it can be damaged over time. Sure, most of us remember to take along ear plugs to rock concerts (you do, don’t you?), but how many of us think about protecting ourselves when we’re, say, mowing the lawn, or blowing leaves? Those gas-powered motors generate quite a lot of noise, but most of us simply accept it, or worse, grab some recorded music, jam a couple of ear-buds into our auditory canals, and then crank up the volume. Silly, silly people.

Now, I’m not just ragging on you all. While it’s true that I try to stay as far away from yard work as possible, that doesn’t mean I don’t have occasion to be in a noise-filled environment. I come from a long line of carpenters and similar craftsmen. I prefer the fine joinery aspect, but that’s neither here nor there. Suffice it to say that I spend a fair amount of time with power tools: table saws, routers, sanders, moto-tools, etc. These generate A LOT of noise. Before ear plugs came into vogue I sometimes used cotton, or went without. More recently, I’ve put in the ear-buds and did my best to mask the noise with music.

Why I like these earmuffs instead of ear plugs is because not only are they easy to remove and not lose, but I can still listen to my recorded music at a quiet (i.e. sane) level. I don’t have to hurt my hearing for the sake of craftsmanship.

I’m in my mid-forties. Except for a couple of frequencies that got blown out when I was a kid because someone blew a very loud whistle in my ear, I still have the hearing of a pre-Walkman/pre-iPod teen who hasn’t been to many loud concerts. I can hear quiet sounds; I can hear high sounds (though, when I hear the whine of TVs and monitors, I kinda get annoyed by this part); I can hear my name spoken from across the room. So many people my age (and older) usually have volume knobs cranked up, and their most-often used word is "what?" Me…I like my hearing. Assuming you do, too, I highly recommend the Bilsom Thunder T3 Dielectric Earmuff. They are under $20, they are comfortable enough to wear for reasonable periods, and they just plain work.