Hearing Enhansing Muffs.

S

Stroble

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I am looking for any info. or thoughts on using Walkers Game ears or other hearing devices when calling predators to help you hear response and the direction it is coming from? As I am getting older my hearing is getting worse, one ear is worse then the other and that is making it hard to figure out witch direction the howls are coming from. If anybody out there is using anything please give me your thoughts.
 
Good old hearing aids will help. If you've done a lot of shooting the ear that is not against the rifle stock gets damaged more than the other and with one good ear you cannot tell sound direction. Hearing aids will do much to correct that. However I am curious as to other suggestions like the Game Ear etc.
 
My dad tried a pair of Walkers years ago and liked them as long as it wasn't too windy. Wind blowing across the microphones pretty much wiped out the ability to hear anything else. Or so dad said, I have never tried them myself.
 
I have a VA 30% disability for hearing loss & severe tinnitus. Hearing aids do help, but do not protect your ears from further damage like the Walker quad muffs because of the drain port in each earpiece on hearing aids. While the hearing aids do shut down at the sound of a gunshot, enough sound is allowed through the drain ports to do further damage. I tried plugging the drains w/small pieces of foam, but that managed to crack one of the housings so had to discontinue that.
ETA: Comments apply to in-the-ear hearing aids; not sure if the behind-the-ear types have any drain/vent ports or not.)

I picked up a set of Walker Quads many ears ago, and they work fine (w/or without the hearing aids). I can control volume on each side to make up for difference in hearing acuity, and they aid greatly in directional awareness as well as amplification. As has been stated, wind does diminish quality considerable, as it does with any mike.

When the first set of Walker's finally bit the dust, I bought a set of cheaper muffs, but ya get what ya pay for.
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They cancelled loud noises just fine, but were lacking in higher volume.

I then tried a set of the Walker ear buds, but unfortunately none of the various adapters supplied sealed in my ears properly so had to return them. I suspect they would be fine if they fit properly, but I went back to the original Walker Quads, if that helps.

Regards,
hm
 
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I use Walker muffs today. They work pretty good. I used Howard Lighte in the past and think I actually liked them better.

Not to sure I agree with Hellgate about which ear gets damaged when shooting. I shoot right handed and my right ear is far worse than my left. But its to late to debate or argue about it as I can't hear worth a flip these days. LOL!
 
I have struggled with hearing for many years. I have bought quite a few sets, maybe a dozen, of "cheap" $20-$200 hearing aids including two different Walkers sets (Razor and Muffs). They all help some but like GC said, the wind is a problem. The harder it blows the bigger the problem. 15mph was way more than I could stand and I would just have to turn them off or take them off. I am like you Stroble, left ear is worse than the right and when I could hear something, I couldn't tell where it came from. I was in bad need of hearing help all the time and decided to get regular hearing aids. My hearing was down 50% in left ear and 25% in right (right handed). A ton of research resulted in sticker shock. The prices ranged from $1400 to over $8000. I opted for Costco's Kirkland brand at $1400. They are made by Phonak, a leading hearing aid company, I am very pleased. You can get the actual Phonak brand if you are brand conscious for somewhere in the mid $3K range. The wind still causes some issues but nowhere near the issues I had with the cheaper versions I had tried. Costco does very thorough testing of your ears and then tunes your aids to balance your hearing. The Kirkland's are NOT hearing protection as the Walkers are, just hearing enhancement.
My wife may be happier than me with my aids. We can talk now and she doesn't have to yell or repeat what she said 2 or 3 times for me to get it. She watched our TV on a volume 18, I had to have it above 30 to even get part of what was being said. We had resorted to CC so I could read it and not blast her out. Now I can turn my aids up and hear it plain on volume 12 if I want.

If you have any questions about what I have had or now have, don't hesitate to ask.
 
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Are your hearing aids in (ITE) or behind the ear (BTE), and do they block muzzle blast? Just curious; I can't use BTE as the ears get a bit congested when you add eyeglasses and face mask to the hearing aid.
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No doubt that quality hearing aids do more for the hearing than any of the protective earmuffs, but for my particular hearing issues, the Walkers are not too far behind the ITE as to enhancing hearing. Oh, and my left ear is much worse than right (right hand shooter). Audiologist said that was common...I suppose because the "off" ear is directed more toward the muzzle on rifle shooting.

Regards,
hm
 
Thanks guys for the replies, keep them coming. I am more interested in something for my directional hearing for locating on responses I get from coyotes. It's my right ear that is bad I had a lot of ear infection as a kid and that's what did most of the damage I also shoot left handed, my left ear is the one that I hear best with but that's not as good as I get older, Thanks again for the info. I'll take all I can get.
 
Before acquiring real hearing aids l used a walker in my bad ear (left) for several years. It worked excellent for me to get direction to a quadrant of deer walking in leaves and turkeys gobbling.
 
My hearing aids are the BTE type and are NOT protective to muzzle blast. I too wear glasses and when turkey hunting a face mask. I put the elastic or cord of my face mask up on my hat further away from my cluttered ears. I had what I would call minor issues with my glasses and the BTE aids when I first got them but I think the benefit far outweighs the annoyance.
 
THX weekender, I missed the Quote:The Kirkland's are NOT hearing protection as the Walkers are, just hearing enhancement.
in your original post. When I first got the hearing aids I thought they might replace the muffs, but alas....

So, do the ear muffs work with the BTE hearing aids?

I recently got a boonie hat with face mast attached, so that relieved some of the congestion, but my glasses fog a lot having to clean them often adds to the problem.
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Regards,
hm
 
I've used the Walker ear muffs while hunting deer and coyotes to protect my hearing. They do improve my ability to hear but I feel like I cannot tell the direction of the noise as well. On more than one occasion there have been loud noises that I could have heard without the muffs on and I had difficulty trying to determine the direction it was coming from. I've even taken off the muffs to determine the direction of a howling coyote better. That is just my experience with them. I'm sure for some people they may help with the direction of noise.
 
I have not tried the muffs with the hearing aids. I have been trying to turn them off with a button on them prior to shooting and then they become just an ear plug so to speak. Is it perfect, no. But it is working for me.

I do have a set of head phones that I wear with my computer while watching youtube and I wear those over top the hearing aids so maybe the protection muffs would work with them, I don't know.
 
i,m in pretty bad shape when it comes to hearing was born with one ear completly deaf so i have a [beeep] of time knowing what direction sound is coming from . I can,t count how many coyote deer turkey ducks and everything else try squirrel hunting with one ear . i tried them walker muffs cant stand them especialy when its cold hard to get hats and stuff on, i go to a good hearing aid place where they fitted my one hearing aid get them 50 percent off since i only have to bu.y one,just joking, it makes you pay more attention where you think they will be coming from. what i do is crank it up all the way then when they start talking i can turn around to see witch way is louder then turn it all the way down that and useing a can makes it bearable.
 
Howard liget are much better. That said I use walker razers with the walkie-talkie option it is a nice touch to be able to talk with your other hunting buddies. I to have behind the ear hearing aids. They both work well whit them. My aids are comprising aides and will work shooting, but if you're using pistols or at a target range.
WIND is a handicap for all hearing enhancement devices. I hot glued some fake fur over the microphone opening to help the wind noise works well. don't get glue on the screen.
 
Originally Posted By: BrianIDI've used the Walker ear muffs while hunting deer and coyotes to protect my hearing. They do improve my ability to hear but I feel like I cannot tell the direction of the noise as well. On more than one occasion there have been loud noises that I could have heard without the muffs on and I had difficulty trying to determine the direction it was coming from. I've even taken off the muffs to determine the direction of a howling coyote better. That is just my experience with them. I'm sure for some people they may help with the direction of noise.

Same experience. They definitely help with hearing sounds but not for sound location since the speaker is right next to your ear. I wore them once out jump shooting quail and anything that jumped behind me had me spinning in circles.
 
Originally Posted By: hm1996Coincidentally, received this info from NRA this morning. No experience w/the product, but those ear buds look very interesting.

AXIL Ear Buds

AXIL Muffs

Regards,
hm


I had both, there great as long as they worked.

The first one you listed I had in the shop longer than I had them in my ears.
I returned them for the second ones they worked great for 3 months then completely stopped. They asked me to return them and credited my account in full.
BUMMER for sure I really liked them.
 
One thing that irritated me about the muffs was the contact with the butt stock. Plastic on plastic or wood just wasn't comfortable and made noise.
 
Thats too bad! The buds looked good.

Weekender, I was able to wear Walker quads high enough to clear stock, they are flatter t han some.
 
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