Don't ever lose a noise dosimeter windscreen again!

Why do you need a windscreen on a noise dosimeter microphone? Quite simply, it blocks out outdoor wind noise by creating a dead air space around the suspended microphone. So, if there's a lot of wind where you're doing outdoor noise monitoring like a workplace noise exposure study, the dosimeter's microphone doesn't exaggerate the impact of wind into your noise exposure study results. It also reduces the popping noise made by the wearer's breath or speech, and it can help lengthen the usable life of the microphone.

If you've ever used a 3M Quest NoisePro personal noise dosimeter, you may have noticed that, unlike their newer Edge cordless models, the windscreen on the microphone isn't permanently attached. It slides on. That also means it slides off easily. And if you lose one, it's not cheap to replace. But we found a great way to keep the windscreen secured and save money at the same time.

A small rubber band around the base of the windscreen keeps it in place without interfering with the device or adding any weight or disruption. First, we tested it with a regular tan band we found in our office supplies, but a quick trip to the local Dollar Store found something even better:  500 clear elastic bands for just $1.  So, instead of spending $10.80 to replace a windscreen on a Type 2 microphone, we spent $1.10 and can now secure 500 windscreens.

I'm sure this isn't the only "cheap trick" out there. What everyday items are in your toolkit?