Electronic ear protection

D

DCM

New member
I want new ear protection and have thought about the electronic ones because they sound like they would be best.

My question about them is how can they completely protect our ears if they shut down when sound reaches a certain level. It seems like at least a little of the loud noise would reach the ear.

My ears never stop ringing and I do not want to make them worse.

Do they offer complete protection?
 
Great question and it will be interesting to see what some of the resident experts here say.

My view is that there is no such thing as "complete protection". Take for example the fact that all ear muffs and ear plugs (electronic or not) have specs on NRR or noise reduction .... High noise reduction numbers are 26 dB.

Some sources say that gunshots have a dB level of 140, and that hearing damage occurs for any level above 85 dB. You do the math....140-26=114, which is greater than 85. This implies that even with hearing protection you get damage.

Many electronic muffs indicate that they "cancel" out sounds above 85dB. That seems to imply that the do give "complete" protection.

Like I said, good question and I don't know the answer.

In the end I believe that some protection is better than none. I only wish I had thought the same thing when I was younger. When I target shoot I now wear both (non electronic) plugs and muffs. When I hunt I use electronic plugs or e-muffs.
 
They offer what is reffered to as a NNR which means a Noise Reduction Rating....both while on and off. I use Peltor Tactical Pros which in the last five years of extensive use have never left me with ringing ears. They actually react faster than the speed of sound. If they did not they would be worthless.
 
Originally Posted By: plainviewI use Peltor Tactical Pros which in the last five years of extensive use have never left me with ringing ears.
I use the same ones and they do work great. Most of the time I never used any type of ear protection while deer hunting but after using these for pdogs I thought I would try them out. I loved deer hunting with them. They make hearing things easier and block out the fire.
 
The electronics do work. I, too, use the Walker quads. Only wish I had used them sooner.

My hearing has already been damaged from years of abuse on the job as well as shooting w/sub standard protection. The Walkers allow me to hear sounds I cannot hear without them and shut out the harmful muzzle blast.

Regards,
hm
 
I have a set of Howard Leight muffs.

Pluses: Very thin at the bottom, so they don't hold your head too far away from stock. I actually cut some of the plastic off and recovered to make them thinner though.

I love the way you can turn up the sound so you can hear much better than normal, yet any excessive noise is cancelled.

Often times I wear them in the shop when working on different machines. The muffs will mute the machine noise, and when you turn off the machine you can hear the radio or TV without taking them off.

Automatically turn themselves off if not being used.

Minus: On hot days they are unbarable. I can only wear them an hour or so when shooting pds as they will make your ears sweat so bad.

Jim
 
tt2.gif
 
Last edited:
I wish Walkers were available years ago, as I have lost over 2/3rd of my hearing in my right ear and 1/2 in my left. I need to get me the Walker quads for stand hunting, so I can hear whats coming.

I have some sound enhancers but they do not cut out the muzzle blast when shots are taken.
 
I have a set of walkers that went out 7 months after I bought them and they have a 6 month guarantee. $300 product with a 6 month warranty? I wouldn't recommend them to my worst enemy.
 
Great to hear guys...haha punt intended. I have lost 65% of my hearing in my left ear due to shooting too much with out protection. I have been looking for something I can hunt with and still hear. Especially when duck hunting.
 
I have substancial hearing loss in both ears from years of not knowing any better. After several trips to doctors and thinking about a hearing aid his recommendations was to use ear plugs (custom molded) and ear muffs to keep what hearing I had left. My question to him about electronic hearing protection come back as" Do you still want to HEAR." Ya'll make your on minds up. I know what I'm doing............
 
I use the Peltors for competition, and hunting aa lot. I had a bad experience with the Walker Game Ears while hunting out in the desert. Seems that they do not like sweat, and given their position they get a lot of it, and would cut in and out. If I am doing a lot of run and gun I have used some of the Sure Fire in the ear protectors that have a tube which will only allow so much of the soundwave to enter, thus eliminating the majority of the harsh sound. They work good in a pinch and do not muffle too much of the sounds. but I like the electronics the best.
 
I've been using the Browning compact "ears" for trap, handgun and rifle shooting or many years. They are light and provide great protection. They are thin enough that you can get down on a stock when shooting varmints from a table.

BrowningEars.jpg


I have and use the Peltors but I don't use them alot.
 
I'm on my second set of Peltors. I tend to sweat a lot and with my first set, the electronics corroded away because I wasn't drying them out in-between uses. If you close them up like the Brownings in the picture above, the moisture is just trapped inside. Now I only completely collapse them when their dry and when I'm stuffing my gun box for the range. The rest of the time I always keep the pads at a 90 degree angle to each other so they air dry.

Yes you hear a gun shoot, but the powerfullness of the report. The noise is knocked down to a very none painful level. I use mine a lot while shooting competitive Bullseye Pistol. I've considered wearing ear plug beneath them to further isolate myself from the sound of others shooting on the line with me, but not due to any pain or discomfort.

The feature I like the best about mine is the ability to plug in other electronic gear such an Ipod. If I go to a high power rifle range, I can listen to music and still hear all that's going on around me. In fact if I don't listen to music, I find the sound of brass hitting the ground to be distracting. Turn them up and I can hear every word said on the range, and still be protected from shooting noise.
 
Originally Posted By: claimbusterI've been using the Browning compact "ears" for trap, handgun and rifle shooting or many years. They are light and provide great protection. They are thin enough that you can get down on a stock when shooting varmints from a table.

BrowningEars.jpg


I have and use the Peltors but I don't use them alot.

I like the Peltors.
I had a set of the Walkers and they had so much background noise I sent them back. The Peltors are better (for me) and they cost about 1/3 as much.
 
I use pro amps from BPS half the $ of Peltor and twice as good
went through 3 pairs of Peltors tac 6 in 2 years?!?! I have been using the same pair of pro amps for the last 3 years with out a hitch ....at the range...duck,goose,deer,coyote,groundhog,turkey,small game, upland,cutting the grass you name it I got them raped around my head. I am deaf in my left ear between 2000-6000Mhz and I have the ring that wont go away....ever! sometimes it is so loud I can hardly think strait! I am only 36!!!!!! I need these puppy's for a while yet!

ware something ...the best you can afford!
 
Back
Top