My first ear protection came from the US Army, a set of soft rubber ear plugs carried in a screw-top plastic tube with chain allowing carry on the shoulder epaulet of the field jacket, or through a buttonhole of the uniform shirt. Used those when training with the M14 rifle, M16 rifle, .45 pistol, M60 machinegun, M79 grenade launcher, M2 Browning .50 machinegun, and several other small arms. I won't say they were the best solution, but they probably saved some of my hearing capacity.
As a cop I was provided with ear muffs for range training with handgun and shotgun. Probably not the best, but again that probably saved some of my hearing capacity.
In real world use of firearms I have experienced firefights in Vietnam with no hearing protection, and a few exposures to gunfire (outdoors and indoors) as a cop with nothing to protect my hearing. I don't recommend going without hearing protection anytime a person experiences gunfire, particularly at close range, and especially while in enclosed areas.
I have also seen various products offered in gun shops, in magazine ads, and on-line that purport to be state-of-the-art hearing protection, often with medical endorsements, and usually with relatively high retail prices. Somehow I managed to get by with my old Army-issue earplugs and a modestly-priced set of earmuff protectors for many years.
After retiring from law enforcement I went into business in construction and roof contracting. That is when I started seeing industrial hearing protection products as described in my earlier post on this subject, and I could not help noticing that those modestly-priced products were either closely comparable, or functionally identical, to those offered for shooting sports use.
Frankly, I don't see how an hour or two of range time really compares to the 8-hour shifts many people put in on industrial production lines or heavy construction jobs that expose workers to constant high pressure and high level noise. I will restate my recommendation that shooters might best be served by shopping with industrial supply sources rather than specialty sports shops.
Along the same lines, I see folks at the range using some pretty fancy eye protection gear, frequently with brand-name logos prominently displayed. I have noticed advertisements for shooters' eye protection products at much higher prices than will be found at industrial supply houses that regularly provide very high quality glasses for workers in various jobs requiring such gear, and at much lower prices.
We have all heard that we get what we pay for, and that is frequently true. Sometimes what we pay for is little more than fancy advertising or a maker's logo applied to an otherwise common product.
