My work vehicle is an ATV, so I wear foam earplugs all day.
Instead of earbuds (which I dislike anyway) I’ve become a big fan of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones, which bypass the plugs, sound good enough, and can be found for $30 these days. They are reasonably unobtrusive even while wearing glasses. Dust goggles may or may not work, haven’t tried that yet.
The cheap ones also use USB C ports, instead of proprietary connectors like the $150 ones
I'm interested in trying some bone conducting headphones, but it seems like there's two styles on Amazon; those that go around the ear and head similar to Aftershockz, and those that "clip" to the ear. I imagine the ones that are touching yours skull/jaw do better with the actual bone conducting. Did you buy a specific brand for that cheap?
It's time I tried them. I have yet to find an earbud that doesn't fall out of my ear with activity. Plus, working in industrial environments generally means I need to keep at least one ear open, anyway. There's a market someone can corner; a bone conducting mono headphone that can deal with a wee bit of machine oil on the users finders when they need to start/stop the audio.
I’m the same with earbuds, they work their way out constantly. Probably an ear shape thing or something, otherwise I can’t understand why so many like them.
Here’s the set of bone conduction headphones I got, it’s the hanging kind. The brand is “BAICLUD”, just your typical Chinese brand that may or may not disappear in a month: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3LT2Q28
They are supposedly waterproof, so they may or may not do well with oil. In my case, they clean off easy and don’t seem prone to collecting grime/dust. I’ve no idea if there is a barrier under the physical buttons.
So far working well, though one thing I’ve found is that if my phone is in my back pocket and I crouch down or bend over, my body seems to interfere with the Bluetooth signal, sometimes interrupting it. No idea how normal that is with Bluetooth.
The sound will be bit different than regular headphones, but for me it’s not an important difference. I basically listen to Doom and podcasts.
So far I’d be perfectly happy buying them again.
I think an advancement to this style of headphones would be some way to adjust the length and tension of the connection band.
One thing I forgot to mention, is that the situational awareness with BC headphones is better than other options, but can be overstated.
If they are loud enough to fully enjoy, then it’s going to outcompete your environment. You’ll need to have them a bit quieter than you’d like to retain actual awareness.
Instead of earbuds (which I dislike anyway) I’ve become a big fan of Bluetooth bone conduction headphones, which bypass the plugs, sound good enough, and can be found for $30 these days. They are reasonably unobtrusive even while wearing glasses. Dust goggles may or may not work, haven’t tried that yet.
The cheap ones also use USB C ports, instead of proprietary connectors like the $150 ones