Of the 2 main kinds of headphones, the open-air foam earpiece type is not so prone to mass bacteria buildup. Most of these have removable foam covers that can be rinsed and dried. The studio type that totally encloses your ears is what can cook up nasties but they are usually easily cleaned with an anti-bacterial wipe that you can get at the grocery or drug store easily. What you don't want to do is drip liquid into the works. Just wipe the ear cushion, and depending on the design of your earcups you may swab it with a damp (not wet) Q-tip moistened with some of the anti-bacterial stuff. Wipe dry and you should be OK.
If you wear the studio set in hot weather try to keep a kleenex at hand to wipe excess moisture out of the earcups while you are hunting, then clean them afterwards with the antiseptic wipes. If sweat is pouring out of your earcups maybe you picked a bad day to go swinging your coil...
For the open-air set, go to Radio Shack or Frys and get extra foam covers. You can swap them out in the field and wash the grungy ones later.
- Bill in La Puente, Calif.
