A new government effort to map hearing loss in America inspired us to dig deeper, revealing a surprising explanation for the partisan gap in hearing loss.
Republicians are too insecure in their masculinity to use safety equipment
You misunderstood or ignored my initial comment, so I will reiterate:
Ear protection only reduces sound passing through the ear canal. The noise from a gunshot is loud enough to cause damage to the cochlea by transmitting sound via bone conduction, through the skull and jaw bones, rendering ear protection largely ineffective.
The only effective form of hearing protection is by reducing the noise impulse of the firearm.
The rest of your comment is denigrating nonsense. People are being injured despite wearing hearing protection, and aren’t seeking effective forms of noise reduction due to red tape and the stigma that an individual using a suppressor is trying to live out a macho fantasy.
I accused you of demanding a standard from others that you don’t hold yourself (nor other gun owners) to and this is now the second time you’ve done exactly that.
I not only stand by that “denigrating nonsense”, I’m happy to escalate it: Take your propaganda and fuck off.
However, in all but the most extreme environments, this will be sufficient protection.
Gunshots are easily among the “most extreme” environments.
From your link:
This means that even if a hearing protector could block all of the sound entering the earcanal, that sound attenuated by 40 to 60 dB would still get though to the cochlea, and like the sound transmitted via the air-conduction pathway, this energy can cause hearing loss.
Your link says that even with completely perfect hearing protection, you can only reduce noise exposure by 40 to 60dB, depending on frequency. High frequencies attenuate more than low frequencies; gunshots produce low frequency noise.
Hearing damage begins to occur with long-term exposure to as little as 85dB. 120dB can instantly cause permanent damage. A .22 rifle produces around 140dB. With 40dB attenuation, that is still above a level where hearing damage can occur from chronic exposure, such as from long sessions in an indoor gun range.
Handguns and rifles produce considerably more noise, typically 155-165dB, but can be up to 175dB. Even with theoretically perfect hearing protection, that’s still exposure of at least 95 to 125dB, and possibly up to 135dB even with perfect protection. Actual protection numbers are around 28 to 32dB.
Basically, your link supports my position, and rebuts your own. I don’t think you even read it. You certainly didn’t read it for comprehension.
Uh oh, looks like you’re lying again, this time by omission. I did read the article and I know the what the sentence you surgically removed said.
However, in all but the most extreme environments, this will be sufficient protection. For all but the most susceptible ears and all but the most extreme amounts of gunfire, noise reduction that equals the attenuation imposed by the bone-conduction limits should be quite sufficient.
Your other quotes are simply the explanation of what the bone conduction limits are, which you’re carefully presenting to make it sound like he is talking about “when firing your cool guns with your cool gun friends”.
You’re a real slimy motherfucker. Somewhere, deep down inside yourself, surely you know that.
Anyway, I’m done with this conversation. You’ve undermined your positions so thoroughly that there’s nothing more I need to say. Best of luck psychologically abusing your friends and family.
None of that “surgically removed” comment changes the fact that a shooting range is the exact kind of “extreme environment” where hearing protection is insufficient to prevent hearing damage. The numbers don’t lie.
The only way to reduce the noise to protectable levels is at the gun. There is no level of hearing protection that can reduce the noise of most firearms below damaging levels.
You misunderstood or ignored my initial comment, so I will reiterate:
Ear protection only reduces sound passing through the ear canal. The noise from a gunshot is loud enough to cause damage to the cochlea by transmitting sound via bone conduction, through the skull and jaw bones, rendering ear protection largely ineffective.
The only effective form of hearing protection is by reducing the noise impulse of the firearm.
The rest of your comment is denigrating nonsense. People are being injured despite wearing hearing protection, and aren’t seeking effective forms of noise reduction due to red tape and the stigma that an individual using a suppressor is trying to live out a macho fantasy.
I wonder who I should believe? The gun owner who has already claimed “supressors are mandatory in Europe” or the guy with extensive qualifiications in the field of hearing loss that says the gun owner is full of shit.
I accused you of demanding a standard from others that you don’t hold yourself (nor other gun owners) to and this is now the second time you’ve done exactly that.
I not only stand by that “denigrating nonsense”, I’m happy to escalate it: Take your propaganda and fuck off.
From your own link:
Gunshots are easily among the “most extreme” environments.
From your link:
Your link says that even with completely perfect hearing protection, you can only reduce noise exposure by 40 to 60dB, depending on frequency. High frequencies attenuate more than low frequencies; gunshots produce low frequency noise.
Hearing damage begins to occur with long-term exposure to as little as 85dB. 120dB can instantly cause permanent damage. A .22 rifle produces around 140dB. With 40dB attenuation, that is still above a level where hearing damage can occur from chronic exposure, such as from long sessions in an indoor gun range.
Handguns and rifles produce considerably more noise, typically 155-165dB, but can be up to 175dB. Even with theoretically perfect hearing protection, that’s still exposure of at least 95 to 125dB, and possibly up to 135dB even with perfect protection. Actual protection numbers are around 28 to 32dB.
Basically, your link supports my position, and rebuts your own. I don’t think you even read it. You certainly didn’t read it for comprehension.
Uh oh, looks like you’re lying again, this time by omission. I did read the article and I know the what the sentence you surgically removed said.
Your other quotes are simply the explanation of what the bone conduction limits are, which you’re carefully presenting to make it sound like he is talking about “when firing your cool guns with your cool gun friends”.
You’re a real slimy motherfucker. Somewhere, deep down inside yourself, surely you know that.
Anyway, I’m done with this conversation. You’ve undermined your positions so thoroughly that there’s nothing more I need to say. Best of luck psychologically abusing your friends and family.
None of that “surgically removed” comment changes the fact that a shooting range is the exact kind of “extreme environment” where hearing protection is insufficient to prevent hearing damage. The numbers don’t lie.
The only way to reduce the noise to protectable levels is at the gun. There is no level of hearing protection that can reduce the noise of most firearms below damaging levels.