Is it safe to use headphones under ear protection while brush cutting?

Question

I am wondering about possible damage to hearing resulting from using portable music players with ear buds underneath safety headphones (25 db protection) while using a brushcutter/weed whacker. Are the earbuds going to increase noise to dangerous volumes or is there a large enough net reduction in noise with the hearing protection to be safe to use?

Thanks

Answer 1

Believe it or not you're exposed to a lot more damaging sounds than without your headphones... just in everyday living. People are exposed to high decibels everyday and don't pay attention to it. Listening to your music at a normal volume under your safety headphones aren't going to hurt you any.

It's when you're operating loud machinery and can't hear the cries of pain from someone getting chopped up that you need to worry.   :-P ~

Answer 2

So long as the hearing protection fits properly it really shouldn't be a problem. However, If the ear buds prevent the earphones from sealing against your head properly then they shouldn't be used. There are combination audio/noise suppression headphones on the market. Bose is one supplier of them.