While I may be on a sabbatical, I thought this was too revelational to not share with all you Fe$tool nay-sayers.
Bloody Fe$tool… too uppity to colloquialize their ear buds, they had to tag them with an upmarket “hearing protection” tag.
I read Rich’s poston these gizmos, and as always, got mesmerised with the green fungus. I’m guessing that not too many were foolish enough to undertake the venture, however, this fools was. So back in October 2023, I appended a set onto some other Fe$tool order and after delivery, tried to pair it with one of my Alexa devices. Having another preferred, conflicting Bluetooth device paired, it failed and I didn’t bother to do any further evaluation and promptly disposed of it in my scrap bin… gold lined of course for all my Fe$tool rejects.
Depending on timings, I may not have yet revealed my mortal sin of surrendering to that dark side and stooped to a further lower life status by my inagural Apple iPhone ownership The transgression was NOT for the phone itself, but for the hype around the "medical assistance" functionality of their watch… supposedly better than the Samsung offering (at the time).
Having taken to task of wearing a watch again after about 25 years, I was down in the workshop, turned on my sander, and that bloody watch zapped me with both a surprising vibration and a “deafening” (just kidding) audible warning about decibel levels detected.
Already being half deaf (with an trailing “f” not “d”), I got a fit of WOKEness and thought no sensitive, new-aged alcoholic could order his vino over a phone due to fear of DUI driving to the bottle shop (or home to The White House), so I should look after my ears.
Brushed the cobwebs off the Fe$tool buds and slapped them in my ears… pushed a bucket-load of wax out, but the talk-back radio in the background was still as loud and clear as ever… well nearly.
Turned on the Mirka… Soly Hhit… I couldn’t even hear myself think… those buds… sorry, hearing protection, were amazing.
Been making a lot of newly plagiarised puzzles and thereby a lot of buffing, I never measured the DB of it in action, however, combined with my Trend,
it seems to be loud enough to make the Fe$tool react and me to ignore my watch's complaints.
This was a mean feat as I ceased using my Ryobi ear muffs
quite a while back as it was cumbersome and wouldn’t fit under my Trend mask.
I didn’t have a noise meter back then, however, even the dust extractor used with my lathe now registered enough measurable DBs
to spring the Fe$tool into action while the Ryobi kept humming without interruption.
In comparison, the noise level with the talkback radio on and the dusty off,
I was just surprised how many other workshop operations tripped the watch's 90DB threshold... with the Noise meter, I took a snapshot of just normal sanding (Mirka) level,
which didn't surprise me, but I've mostly ignored it in the past.
However, I've been doing a lot of buffing lately and because of my Trend face shield, I never used ear muffs
and these ear plugs
are just tampons for rats. Took a reading while buffing and was gobsmacked,
The above reading was with much less pressure than I would normally apply using 2 hands.
Ok a bit more about our hero….
It comes with a charging box,
with 7 different earpieces, sufficient diversified sizes,
to fit any boof-head out there... and a USB "C" charging cable.
From what I’ve read/heard (on the Internet and not manufacturer), a fully charged ear piece should supposedly provide 13 hours usable time (depending on settings) with an additional 25 hours backup from its box… however, the pundits don’t mention to you that it still needs time to be charged… this is before the box needs to be recharged using a USB cable.
I don’t use my mobile in the workshop as I have a real phone (a landline) so I can’t comment on its integration capabilities (and quality) of Bluetooth linking with my phone.
Before posting this blog, I’ve read/watched varied negative comments about conducting conversations and ambient noise using the buds, however, there are built in features that are supposed to address them, however, I haven’t extensively investigated them.
My primary layman’s concern was hearing protection on noise levels that I normally used to ignore, either due to ignorance or inconvenience of ear muffs… now, with the emphasis on protection and not gossiping with SWMBO or neighbours, I am channeling my over enthusiastic, positive endorsement based on that premise.
My intention here is to add my support, make readers aware of them and suggest be worth investigating before you just poo-poo the price, if you haven't already mastered noise reduction and may still be of concern.
I’m sure there are other noise reducing ear buds and if anyone has some I’d appreciate to read their review. Unfortunately I can only compare what I have been exposed to, which are the Fe$tool (“powered”), Ryobi (“powered”) and several plain muffs/plugs (“manual”)… my other noise reducing ear muffs (“powered’) has long since met its fate in landfill which speaks for itself.
The Fe$tool may be 3 (or 4) times dearer than the Ryobi (poor comparison), however, in my humble opinion, this is a case of the "times benefit" surpassed the "times cost"… and I’m not even factoring in the convenience of size.
OK, the Ryobi has interchangeable batteries when it goes flat and the Fe$tool needs to be box/USB charged… however if you keep the case charged and store it in its case when unused, it should never cease to go without too much fanfare sound.
I haven’t fully swatted up on the safety/dangers of noise comfort levels and with my penchant of reading, probably definitely never will… I can however, say without hesitation, I feel very comfortable with the Fe$tool, have no hesitation in recommending it… and no way would consider it a waste of money (or over-priced for what it offers) as I initially did.
I now have to re-learn the new pitch of applied pressure on objects with “noisy” tools as a few times lately I’ve though they stopped working due to lack of noise.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Good write up, thanks! Have you read anything about noise cancelling vs noise blocking as it applies to these? There seemed to be some controversy a while back about the physical safety of your hearing mechanisms when using noise cancelling vs noise blocking.
Seems, without proper noise blocking, the waves can still get through and cause damage to the hearing bits, even if you’re not ‘hearing’ the volume. I tried to get down a rabbit hole with it, as I really like my next gen Apple ear pods for their noise cancelling, but it seemed to get into more of a sales pitch war, or a legal battle of what a given mfg is approved for (so as to not get sued). Any insight on that?
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
I really need to get some sound level readings in my shop. It's not too bad IMO, but I do need the muffs with the lunchbox planer and I leave when the oilless compressor kicks in.
Probably the router table is the worst offender where I fail to putt on the muffs if I'm just doing a quickie, something that is obviously no bueno.
Ear buds, something that won't fall out, keeps the noise down to acceptable levels, and lets me hear some background so I can tell when some running tool is screaming duress.
Good to hear/see/know you are still "up and atom" LBD!
I have missed your write ups LBD! I have had several people admonish me for my lack of ear protection, this might be what I need. I'll have to look into it.
welcome back my friend. good review. ive got a few ear muffs, one with radio bluetooth but seems i never use em. probably should more often though. when using the 15"delta planer i will because it's damn loud !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Well it's about time old friend!!! I just use old shooting muffs with the sound in them ...made by Wolf.
The thing I noticed is that you have a sound meter? I thought I had a bunch of stuff...but I bow to you...my guess is I am not even in the same category, let alone the level of that category...I do have an app on my phone from the old LE days....
These are the best passive hearing protection I’ve ever found. I wore out the older ones and got a pair of the 31db ones (mine are black). They use some sound channeling technology (all passive) to just kill all the higher pitch stuff. Really amazing. I can still hear the music playing in the shop when most tools are running. Has something to do with which frequencies it filters out…black magic, but they’re pretty amazing. And no batteries to worry about!!
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
I used the super soft foam plugs for years shooting high power matches. Loved those things as you could hear conservation but never had any ringing or other effects, just the sound of the bolt cycling. Not fatiguing either, but certainly get loaded with ear wax, probably good BBQ wood starters 🤠
If you are only interested in stopping noise, you can do the flighline deal, and wear plugs, inside of your Muffs, you don't get the full effect of all the added numbers, but you can get some pretty good scores.
I still use my EyeMuffs in the shop. IIRC mine are a 31NRR, but the goggles that fit easily over my glasses help keep all the dust out of my eyes, which I have always had more issue with that then hearing issues. Ducky, you ought to reach out to Jorge about trying a pair of them, he's in Australian, and he might make ya a deal. :-)
Unfortunately what we have available in Aussieland is a small subset of your Yankeeland offerings… and inter. shipping would often double the price. While I normally don’t get unduly intimidated by costs I do hesitate forking out extra shekels on a whim without testing.
I have tried a swagfull of ear “protection” over the years, however, as I do a lot of sanding and buffing (of MDF), my Trend faceshield is a must to protect my lungs… and the Trend is not ear muff friendly. I can live without hearing, but a tad harder without lungs. These ear pods were the first that I’ve been comfortable in… with/without the Trend. The fact that I can hear backround talkback on the radio (Alaxa) is a bonus.
R’Gi, In my defence, I’m glad I hadn’t heard of those SG-31 as I probably might have considered them and they would have been caught foul with my Trend… However, from your reaction/comment, it sound similar to my reaction the first time I tried my Fe$tool against noise.
In the past, I never worried about “low level” noise (and duration), however, if the Fe$tool are “accurate”, I’m now amazed at the “low level” noise it dulls out... that I used to ignore.
Mokey, you know I’m a gadgets man… as my mobile does not enter the workshop, apps are not an option.
I would also have done a review on my Dylos,
if I knew how it worked.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Ducky, I can easily wear my Uvex faceshield with my eye muffs on. Familiar with the trend breathers, but not with the actual width? I wear the much cheaper 3M half face mask to cover up the mouth and nose. I don't have my faceshield on in my pic, but it goes on easily.
I did a review of these back in August of 2023 and was roundly informed that they were completely inadequate hearing protection. Looks like you're getting a pass.
Half of what we read or hear about finishing is right. We just don’t know which half! — Bob Flexner
Reference to your review was my opening statement... it was what spurred me on to buy the buds.
I was initially disappointed because I had pairing issues (my bad) and ignored the noise reduction. When I tried them recently for the noise, I was impressed which is why I posted this and basically backed up your review.
There may be better out there, but in my opinion these are the best I've encountered and have no intention to try elsewhat and will stick with them.
I do get annoyed when people offer better alternatives without the effort to post a review on their offering.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
Reference to your review was my opening statement... it was what spurred me on to buy the buds.
I was curious to see what sort of comments you received and blew right past that link.
I'm glad you like them. I'm still very happy with mine. The only gripe I have is that they don't seem to remember the ambient volume setting and always starts on max.
Half of what we read or hear about finishing is right. We just don’t know which half! — Bob Flexner
I will look into the Fe$$tool ear savers. Easily worth any $$.
Downloaded a free sound meter app for my cell phone. NIOSH SLM Noise meter.
I can't say they're the best on the market, but I've tried quite a few different ones/types and the Fe$tool are by far the best out of them... and the size make them convenient and above all possible, under my face shield.
No idea how good the app is, however, it was an app on my new Apple Watch that warned me of "excessive" noise levels... levels I didn't consider excessive.
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
