since then it's been a habit. These look nice and all, but basically all you really need are ear plugs.
http://www.thesafetysupplycompany.co.uk/p/449062/howard-leig...
comfy, snug and 32db (depending on version) of attenuation. That means that you can go to a loud gigs (95db) without the risk of tinitus.
same goes for bars. Loud noises are draining, have your hearing shattered by someone shouting in your ears is a pain.
Yes, if you choose the colourful ones its obvious. there are natural colours.
Bose makes a lot of song and dance about how you can adjust for noise, your ears do that already. The advantage of normal ear plugs is that you still retain some of the dimensionality that earphones loose.
Sadly I've had a child, and all that shrill screaming has basically killed off 10db of sensitivity of my hearing. but I'm 10db up form most of my musician friends