Ear protection.

I don't use a sledge and wedge. If a round is that stubborn I drill a plug out of the center and jam a quarter stick in there. Depending on the variety of wood, I either end up with a few splits of a month's worth of kindling.

RORY12553 said:

Do most of you wear ear protection when splitting wood manually?

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Not enough decibels generated to damage hearing splitting manual,with an engine always,and don't forget eye protection splitting manually,or with an engine.

Hand tools=no motors=no. Engines=normally yes.

No but it won't hurt too.

WHAT? That is my profession. Constant noise,not necessarily loud can also be damaging.
Splitting by hand should not be a problem. Anything more than 80 decibels or repeated noise
You should wear ear protection. Jet plane engines, chainsaws, screaming babies in that order

I love hearing protection primarily for how much better I can concentrate when I'm using it. I'll call it something that enhances productivity.

Hearing damage is akin to radiation exposure. It's the quantity of the dose over a quantity of time - high dose short time, low dose long time.

I can also pass a lie detector test with my belief about noise fatigue. Playing loud music in bars with heavy hitting drummers is the worst. Aspiring guitarists are in second place. If I'm in that pickle (and I resemble the second case), I'll use earplugs for the third set. The result is I'm fresh as a daisy when we stop because I haven't been beaten to death by the noise. I can organize and load gear as if I just had my second cup of coffee. And then I hear inexplicable noises on the way home like crickets, faucets dripping and appliance motors running ! Who knew??

In my book, more hearing protection is better. Plane flights, long drives with Dad, you get the drift. It's a wonderful strategy for not getting frustrated when a conversation isn't give and take. I'm able to nod at appropriate moments, and then escape to daydreaming until some event requires real interaction.