Hearing protection

[Scotiapilot]

What are you guys using for hearing protection?
Its too dang hot to use the Honeywell impacts for 3 hours at a time. I am thinking of doing a custom set.

Possible the Walker Razor XV?

 

[elpac3]

Go with a pair of foam insert plugs. Custom fit when they expand, most have an NRR of around 33.

For added protection, you can add a set of muffs.

 

[Rpg]

Foam inserts are great.

I keep a bottle of them in my shooting bag, often to give to new shooters I'm teaching.

I also have a couple sets of custom molded ear plugs for me. These were formed by the tech filling my ear canals with a viscis sylicon substance that cured in about 15 minutes. The are thus custom formed to my ears. I bought them at a gunshow about 20 years ago. They cost about $35.00 per pair.

I haven't used muffs in many, many years.

 

[Scotiapilot]

Go with a pair of foam insert plugs. Custom fit when they expand, most have an NRR of around 33.

For added protection, you can add a set of muffs.

I need electronic to hear voice commands and reactive targets.

 

[MWC2068]

Try Sound Gear from House of Hearing, a lot of shooters around here use them and the owner of the store is a shooter also. A bit more expensive than what you may have been looking for but well worth the cost.

 

[Scotiapilot]

Try Sound Gear from House of Hearing, a lot of shooters around here use them and the owner of the store is a shooter also. A bit more expensive than what you may have been looking for but well worth the cost.

That is a great find thank you. I have trip to st George in two weeks.

You shoot here in AZ? BASF? Cactus league?

 

[Al W.]

I use a set of custom in ear plugs that cover the outside of the ear canal as well. They are solid audiologist fit . Then I have a set of 33 NRR over that .
I already have tinnitus from years of shooting with out hearing protection when I was a kid , so even the bone conduction with protection is enough to make the tinnitus worse , especially when firing large caliber pistols. Your better off doubling up on the hearing protection cause when the ringing starts it ain't gonna stop. I dislike the effect of the electronic head sets and in ears. I find them to be very annoying, thats just my opinion. I would rather block the ear canal than try to attenuate with a frequency modulation. With my tinnitus the electronic sets actually hurt my ears rather than help.

 

[Pizza Bob]

Sensgard - I use them indoors and out with no other protection. They will seem loud, at first, but "filters" out the damaging noise. They make an NRR 26 and an NRR31, I have the NRR31 model and have used them for years. Comfortable enough for all-day wear. Doesn't interfere with cheek weld or shooting glasses. Available on Amazon and many other places. Here's the manufacturer's website...

HomeSensGard LLC

Adios,

Bob

 

[MWC2068]

That is a great find thank you. I have trip to st George in two weeks.

You shoot here in AZ? BASF? Cactus league?

I shoot at St. George, Vegas and I manage the the range at Mesquite Nv./Littlefield,Az.for pistol matches.

 

[chief38]

33 dB Howard foam ear plugs under 29dB Headset. Unfortunately too little - too late!

 

[292]

Sensgard - I use them indoors and out with no other protection. They will seem loud, at first, but "filters" out the damaging noise. They make an NRR 26 and an NRR31, I have the NRR31 model and have used them for years. Comfortable enough for all-day wear. Doesn't interfere with cheek weld or shooting glasses. Available on Amazon and many other places. Here's the manufacturer's website...

HomeSensGard LLC

Adios,

Bob

I just ordered a set. Going to give them a try for hunting with a 44 mag.

 

[oneounceload]

As mentioned above, the mastoid bones around the ear area need protection from the sound wave/vibrations as well as the ear canal. Muffs provide for that. I shoot in Florida, so I understand about the heat, but I also want to keep what is left of my hearing. Whether you call it a constant snare drum, ear crickets or similar, tinnitus and hearing loss can never be reversed.

 

[292]

As mentioned above, the mastoid bones around the ear area need protection from the sound wave/vibrations as well as the ear canal. Muffs provide for that. I shoot in Florida, so I understand about the heat, but I also want to keep what is left of my hearing. Whether you call it a constant snare drum, ear crickets or similar, tinnitus and hearing loss can never be reversed.

I've tried electronic muffs and also putting in plugs while the deer is coming. Neither is ideal for me. When things go well 1 shot is all that is needed. My thinking is that something is better than nothing. For target shooting I use plugs or muffs, sometimes both depending on the situation. And, yes I already have some tinnitus, from not using them when I was younger and stupider.

 

[oneounceload]

Mine was more likely from listening to Jimi Hendrix at volume 9 with headphones on.........

 

[686-380]

Depending upon what you're shooting and why, I would also consider buying a suppressor.

I only have one, for my 5.7s and .22s. I can vouch that they make shooting even more fun!

 

[oneounceload]

Hastings used to import one from Verney-Carron for a shotgun; wasn't classified as a suppressor so no NFA. Now, IIRC, it is called a metro barrel extension. It made shooting a shotgun possible with zero hearing protection. Downside was it's almost 3 feet long!

Metro Barrel Extension

 

[LarryMNH]

Like many out there. Hearing is not so good. Early years of Jet Engines in the Air Force then 40 years of shooting and noisy machine shops has left me asking "What" regularly.

Many years ago I did machining work for Gentex in NH. They were very early in the electronic ear protection products. They made "Wolf Ears" for the military at around $500.00 each. The engineer I worked with gave me a set and I still use them. They have a normal and amplified setting for listening and the loud noise cutout is excellent.

NRR is great, in the 30's I am sure, but they get in the way when bench shooting a rifle. Plus they wear on you during long hot days at the range.

I just got a set of Walker Razor XV Bluetooth electronic plugs. The plugs are on wires feeding out of a collar around the neck. The listening mode has good adjustment and Bluetooth can pick up Music or news off my Cell phone. Which is wonderful on the days I spend a few hours alone at the range. I have only used them with a .22 indoors so far and they were great. And were comfortable for hours at the shop.

With nothing big sticking out of the ear plug they aren't in the way of a good cheek rest on a rifle.

So far so good and I will be trying them out with big handguns next week for suppression. And all day comfort.

Larry

 

[andy52]

33 dB Howard foam ear plugs under 29dB Headset. Unfortunately too little - too late!

I'm sorry I couldn't hear you I have ringing in my ears.......

 

[otasan56]

I wear the big ears.

 

[Qc Pistolero]

WRITE LOUDER,I CAN'T HEAR YOU!Yeah!I started shooting guns when a real man didn't need ear protection.Good for sissies.Nowadays I'm paying the price.And worse,the people I love around me also are...
I now wear plugs+muffs to preserve the little(less than 40%)I got left.God was I stupid....but I didn't know any better then!

 

[RGVshooter]

I mostly shoot outdoors so I use my pair of Howard Leight Impact. For indoor ranges I use a pair of cheap Walkers. They actually work very well for being under 15 bux.

 

[loc n load]

Foam ear plugs and Peltor electronic muffs, with the audio gain adjusted so I can hear what is going on around me. Been using the Peltors since 1990, have several pair of them.

 

[mrmike7189]

Peltors since its still cold and snowy here in MA, they keep my ears warm and dry, and save my hearing at the same time. I have disposable earplugs in my range bag for extra protection if needed.

 

[Kiwi cop]

I'm sorry I couldn't hear you I have ringing in my ears.......

Then answer it

I have hearing loss from a misspent youth with loud music, loud machinery and lots of field shooting without hearing protection. As a result I have tinnitus.

But I swear that as I have gotten older my hearing has actually improved. Under conditions where I used to say "What"? whenever I was spoken to I can now hear people speak. Lyrics in recorded songs are much less muffled (without resorting to Google to find out what they actually are) and generally I hear things in a whole lot clearer. (Except when my wife asks me to do something of course).

 

[WR Moore]

I vote for muffs also. However, there are muffs and then there are things that look like muffs. Get the highest db rating you can find, whatever you pay, it's cheaper than hearing aids.

The same goes for electronic hearing protection. My Wolf Ears died last year and I started a search for a reasonable replacement. The things you have to be aware of is that industrial hearing protection drives the supply side at our end and the instructions are going to suck. Blue Tooth/MP3/whatever interface is more important than protection from impulse noise in many/most cases. After a number of false starts I ended up with the Peltor Tactical Pro. One button on/off and it holds your volume settings when off. I'm not thrilled with the foam bags over the mikes, but the part number is in the instructions and they're cheap.

Now if you can afford the stuff made for the Spec Ops crowd, please remain silent and don't brag.

 

[Al W.]

I've tried a bunch of stuff , including custom molded plugs.
The best thing so far are a set of Titanium Flare plugs.
I saw an add on FB and followed up. They are English.
Ordered a pair, pricy 80 bucks , but cheaper than molded , at least in my area.
They work better than anything I have used , and I have used everything.
I use these and 3M industrial muffs so anything I hear is bone conduction.
The audiologist tells me that the concussion and consequent bone conduction is enough to aggravate a tinnitus condition.
I have no stock in the Flare company and derive no benefit from the recommendation .
I've had tinnitus since my teenage years most likely due to shooting with out ear protection when I was a kid , and some really loud music.
Now that I'm at retirement age I try to not worsen the condition, but its pretty bad.
I still am around plenty of loud music, because I am a professional musician , (apart from my trade in instrument repair) and guns are plenty loud too ain't they, I shoot several times a week !
So do what you can , when you can.
Foam plugs don't get the job done. They are not dense enough , the plug needs to seal perfectly, which the foam plugs do very well but their effectiveness is limited by their lack of density.
When you step up to the custom molded plugs you get a good fit and increased density but the seal is not as good because the material is rather hard, so if you use muffs as well as the custom plugs you actually disturb the fit of the plugs with the muffs.
The Flare plugs have a core of metal, and a seal which is made of a high density foam, so even with the muffs the seal is complete and core density is high .
This is the best I have found so far.