Once had two guys that helped mow at our sportsmen's club that wore ear muffs. Neither one of them ever heard something clattering/making a noise early enough, that it could've been more easily repaired, if they'd had them ear muffs up their arses.
Been running equipment since I was a kid, sans muffs. Three to five cords of wood cut every year for decades. Mid 70s, hearing is still fine.
Wear muffs to shoot now, never started doing that until my 40s.
