Ya gotta love gadgets. As a tech reviewer, I get to check out quite a few, but in this new blog series, I'll highlight some of the gear I've bought — with my own money — that's performed especially well. Following a utility-belt theme, I'll focus on gadgets under $100.
The first item in my list, though perhaps too big to hang off a belt, is a set of sound-deadening ear muffs. I bought the Bilsom T3 Thunder series, currently about $20 at Amazon. I wore a similar pair of Bilsoms when I used to mow lawns as a teenager, and I think that's a big reason my hearing is still sharp.
These days I have an electric mower, which is much quieter, but there are still plenty of potentially injurious noises around the house. I now wear the T3s when vacuuming or running the blender. They're even useful for short naps, if you don't roll over: they're bulky, but the quiet is worth it.
I sometimes use the ear muffs in combination with earbud headphones so I can listen to music while blocking out the world. You can also buy models with speakers installed — excellent for trade-show demos.
Categories
Audio
Read More Entries by David Battino.
Become an O'Reilly Member
Visit the Digital Media Forums
Subscribe to the Digital Media Blog Feed
Subscribe to the Digital Media Newsletter
@Fat: break the little speaker/earpieces off of the headphones that came with your last CD player and shove 'em into the earmuffs.
Heh. Imagine how it would sound if you filled the cups with earbuds. Headphone surround! Or a bunch of gnats.
I did a nice hack that I read in MAKE.
Get some of the sound-deadening earmuffs, then break the little speaker/earpieces off of the headphones that came with your last CD player and shove 'em into the earmuffs.
It works great! The sound deadening is however good the earmuffs were, and the sound quality inside is however good the original headphones were!
-fat