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Spudmuffin

Wind deafness

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It's not the wind, it's the rapid altitude change that deafens you.



Well, you often do need to clear your ears once under canopy. However, the noise of 120-mph wind blast *is* very loud in freefall - which is why we can't talk to each other. And long term exposure to such noise can affect your hearing.

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And don't forget the aircraft noise on the way to height [:/]



Yeah, and my other hobby is rifle shooting. So I'm around noisy airplanes, noisy freefall, and noisy guns, nearly every weekend. I'm probably already going deaf...

Huh? What did you say?

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And don't forget the aircraft noise on the way to height [:/]



Yeah, and my other hobby is rifle shooting. So I'm around noisy airplanes, noisy freefall, and noisy guns, nearly every weekend. I'm probably already going deaf...

Huh? What did you say?



It's funny until you start having hearing loss. Take it from me, its not fun. I have CC on my tv almost all of the time, if not I have the volume turned up LOUD. Most people think I am yelling at them when I think I talking at normal volume. "Huh? What? Say that again?" are the most common phrases you will hear from me on a daily basis.

Get some earplugs for freefall and the airplane. You will be thankful later on.
_________________________________________
you can burn the land and boil the sea, but you can't take the sky from me....
I WILL fly again.....

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Wear earplugs and a helmet which covers your ears. The foam plugs work fairly well, but only last a few days. The more dense ones will tend to come out in the ride to altitude, or be pushed in a bit on the freefall descent.



I was under the impression that wearing earplugs in freefall was dangerous, or should I stand corrected?

Can't see any problem with using them on the ride up in the plane (although I just wear my close-fitting helmet, which quietens things down a little... :)
--
BASE #1182
Muff #3573
PFI #52; UK WSI #13

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Wear earplugs and a helmet which covers your ears. The foam plugs work fairly well, but only last a few days. The more dense ones will tend to come out in the ride to altitude, or be pushed in a bit on the freefall descent.



I was under the impression that wearing earplugs in freefall was dangerous, or should I stand corrected?

Can't see any problem with using them on the ride up in the plane (although I just wear my close-fitting helmet, which quietens things down a little... :)


foam earplugs to deafen the noise should be fine. What you DON'T want to do is wear your hearing aids (if you wear them) with the special silicone ear molds. The change in air pressure in freefall is enough to really suck in the ear mold to the point where it HURTS LIKE HELL... I did it once before, and so did another deaf skydiver. I think at the time he wanted to be able to hear his audible, but there are products out there such as LED-equipped altitude warning devices.

One big benefit of being deaf is you don't have to put up with all the bullshit and plugging up your ears on the take-offs, etc... and if you know sign language and have reasonably good body balance, you can actually "talk" in freefall! :D Rides to altitude are actually soothing to me...:P

Blue Skies
Billy
www.deafskydivers.org
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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