I have 3M PELTOR X5A Ear Muffs. I use them all the time, from getting a snooze while my car charges, to working in louder than necessary cafes, to getting decent if slightly uncomfortable sleep in a hotel. They're $31 delivered from Amazon. It amused the hell out of me that I had to click through an agreement saying I was a profession. I am a professional.
Since these are 31db ear muffs, they're heavier than something with less protection. These are over the head model and I may get the X5B behind the neck model. Harder to get though. Not on Amazon.
I tried noise cancelling headphones. When they work, they're great. But anything unusual and I'd get feedback. Dumb ear muffs work all the time plus they're super ugly and so people leave you alone.
I don't understand why noise cancelling doesn't recognize it's in feedback.
The loudness of cafes is necessary, at least to the business owner. Across the world, even in countries where cafes used to be peaceful places for reading and long conversations, owners have increasingly preferred to blast loud music and remove sound-dampening. The constant din has a subconscious effect on customers, leading them to leave the establishment after they finish their drink. So, they quickly free up the table for the next customers. People occupying a table for hours on just one or two purchases is one of cafe owners’ most frequent complaints.
I can sympathize with your sensitivity to noise – I pack earplugs for working in cafes – but if you are wearing blatant ear muffs you may well be pissing the proprietor off.
A local industrial supply house like Grainger should have a range of Peltor products available in-store, so you'll get to try them on first. Look for any general industrial supply or specifically safety distributor in the warehouse-and-factories part of town, they're almost always happy to sell you one unit. Otherwise these kinds of things can be hard to find.
Otherwise McMaster-Carr is a mail/online-order industrial supply house, their online ordering is just a bit old-fashioned and they do more 'white-box' than name brand.
I've used McMaster but they don't carry the Peltor. However, Grainger does carry 3M Peltor and carries the X5B behind the ear model. It's $47.45 at Grainger and the X5A is $30.97 from Amazon delivered. Strange that it's not more available and less expensive.
An alternative is the Peltor Optime 105 Behind-the-Head Earmuff which is 28 dB (vs 31 dB) and readily available at $23.99 from Amazon delivered. It also weighs slightly less, 11.4 oz vs 12.6 oz.
Noise isolating ear tips or IEMs for listening to audio are another great option if you want to maybe sacrifice a little bit of comfort for wonderful audio reproduction and probably portability/convenience.
Since these are 31db ear muffs, they're heavier than something with less protection. These are over the head model and I may get the X5B behind the neck model. Harder to get though. Not on Amazon.
I tried noise cancelling headphones. When they work, they're great. But anything unusual and I'd get feedback. Dumb ear muffs work all the time plus they're super ugly and so people leave you alone.
I don't understand why noise cancelling doesn't recognize it's in feedback.