Hearing Protection?

[Demogorgon]

I ran this by a couple people at the OCB, but I wanted to get some more input. What do you all like as far as electronic muffs and/or ear buds? The video on the Pro Ears site looks pretty convincing (Pro Ears shown @ 2:56):



If anyone uses these, does the video seem like an honest representation of the product? What else is out there? MSA Sordin's Supreme Pro-X looks pretty good, but the NRR on them is 18dB. That doesn't seem like a lot.

I'm interested to know what others have tried and where they have found success.

[Hmac]

Those look pretty good, but way more money than I would want to spend. I have used Sordin ProX, but found that I needed a pair of Surefires underneath for use with the AR's with compensators that I shoot. My buddy has them now, but they went TU in a rainstorm earlier this summer.

I've gone back to the good ol' HL Impact Sports.Really, really hard to beat at $47. I've been using them all summer, pistol and rifle, lots of sweat, and in at least one heavy downpour. Never had any problems whatsoever with range commands. Hard to beat, IMHO, especially at the price.

[DanM]

You get what you pay for. In my experience, hearing protection that costs less than about $100 is likely to be using something like the 'clipping' technology that the video demonstrated. More expensive hearing protection is likely to use better methods, and above about $200 you get some very good units. I'm treading the break point with Peltor Sport Tac's, but I followed a recommendation to replace the standard ear pads with gel-filled ear pads (from their aviation models) to increase the seal and therefore the passive noise reduction rating (NRR) of the base unit. You may not be able to do this with other brands. I can't remember all of the specific models I've tried/borrowed, but the performance has matched the cost.

Also, outdoor shooting seems less demanding than indoor. Rifle ranges usually have fewer shots fired, and the sound isn't reflected like an indoor pistol league. The video presented a near worst-case scenario for hearing range commands while firing takes place. If you are not going to be in that position, you may not need that level of performance. On the other hand, if you do find yourself indoors needing to hear range commands you may not be able to with lower performing units.

Bottom line: pay enough for the hearing protection that you need. Sighting in a deer rifle once a year - $20 passive cheapos. Most anything else - best that you can afford.

[bensdad]

I have three pair of electronics:
http://reviews.cabelas.com/8815/228957/reviews.htm
These suck. They reduce noise as much as the others, but they amplify like a megaphone - with a tinny, artificial tone. Also, the clipping is slooowwwww.

http://www.cabelas.com/fryprod-0/produc ... .uts.shtml
These break the "get what you pay for" mold. They're cheap, but they work pretty well. Almost as good as these:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunting/ ... 26rid%3D30

[LarryFlew]

These break the "get what you pay for" mold. They're cheap, but they work pretty well. Almost as good as these: Here's same muffs for less

http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-R-0 ... B001T7QJ9O

$47.66 free shipping on the Howard Leight impact sport

[JustinPo]

I'm treading the break point with Peltor Sport Tac's, but I followed a recommendation to replace the standard ear pads with gel-filled ear pads (from their aviation models) to increase the seal and therefore the passive noise reduction rating (NRR) of the base unit. You may not be able to do this with other brands. I can't remember all of the specific models I've tried/borrowed, but the performance has matched the cost.

Where did you get the gel ear pads from?

[mnglocker]

The NRR of 18db is crap. Get some good foam plugs and plain old muffs until you're ready to thunk down some serious cash on electronic muffs.

I've got a set of the cheapo electronic muffs that I'll let you borrow, just so you can know what bensdad is talking about.

[Hmac]

These break the "get what you pay for" mold. They're cheap, but they work pretty well. Almost as good as these: Here's same muffs for less

http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-R-0 ... B001T7QJ9O

$47.66 free shipping on the Howard Leight impact sport

Yeh, those are the ones I was talking about. They work well. IMHO, to spend more, especially $300 more, for hearing protection means that you're spending a LOT more for something that only works a LITTLE better.

I do note that the Impact Sports get a little loud when shooting on an indoor range. On those rare occasions, I put on a pair of Surefire EarPros with vents open underneath the Impact Sports. With the volume turned up, you can still hear range commands and conversational speaking just fine but the sound brake mechanism of the EarPros in conjunction with the Impact Sports' electronic attenuation works great.

My buddy has a pair of the Peltors now, after the Sordins I sold him died in a rainstorm. I don't agree that they're more effective than the Impact Sports, and neither does he.

[DanM]

I'm treading the break point with Peltor Sport Tac's, but I followed a recommendation to replace the standard ear pads with gel-filled ear pads (from their aviation models) to increase the seal and therefore the passive noise reduction rating (NRR) of the base unit. You may not be able to do this with other brands. I can't remember all of the specific models I've tried/borrowed, but the performance has matched the cost.

Where did you get the gel ear pads from?

I got them from the internet vendor that I bought the Sport Tacs from - can't remember the outfit. (I'll look it up when I get home tonight.) He sells range gear and accessories for IPSC/IDPA competitors. He included the gel seals for $25 extra and installed them. This was a couple of years ago after I read discussions on ARFCOM that recommended this combination.

Here are some current leads to the Peltor gel ear seals:

http://www.skygeek.com/hy80.html

http://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/pel ... seals.html

And, as you can see, they have gone up in price since I bought mine.

[bensdad]

I think the gel inserts are a bit high-priced. Would something like these work?