Hearing Protection

[Ajbradley]

I manage to pick up a rifle from time to time when I get mad enough. For years I have used the Howard Leight amplified ear muffs. They work great but I get to the point where ear muffs get annoying after a few days. I’m also big on still hunting when the conditions are right. I’m looking to get some really good ear plugs that shut off at certain decibels for firearms but allow me to still hold conversation or slip through the woods and be aware of surroundings. I have looked at a couple of brands. Etymotic, Gloryfire (Amazon), and the Defendear.

What are you guys using?

 

[raisins]

I manage to pick up a rifle from time to time when I get mad enough. For years I have used the Howard Leight amplified ear muffs. They work great but I get to the point where ear muffs get annoying after a few days. I’m also big on still hunting when the conditions are right. I’m looking to get some really good ear plugs that shut off at certain decibels for firearms but allow me to still hold conversation or slip through the woods and be aware of surroundings. I have looked at a couple of brands. Etymotic, Gloryfire (Amazon), and the Defendear.

What are you guys using?

After significant research (on reddit and amazon and other places), I decided on 3M Peltor earbuds.

I cannot shoot a rifle with ear muffs because they prevent a proper cheek weld for me and the muffs get moved while I'm shooting and expose my hearing. Also, my hope was earbuds would better mimic natural directional hearing abilities since they seem more on the sides of the head. I was afraid with muffs I wouldn't be able to tell if a noise was to the left or right.

All other ear bud brands had too many bad reviews. I decided I was not interested in ones that also had bluetooth function so you could take calls or listen to music. It seemed that those features were the ones that way too many people said would break. Also, it adds complexity and is not needed by me when hunting.

The 3M Peltor ear buds come in at least 2 flavors. The neon green ones are for industrial settings and is what I got. The black ones are tactical and are for shooting ranges and such. When I researched if the green ones would work for hunting, I found out that they would when only there is occasional loud noise. At a shooting range, the earbuds have to "work" all the time as shots are fired and it supposedly stresses out their batteries. The black/tactical ones are made to withstand that.

I just wear regular foam plugs at the shooting range and only wanted these for hunting. So, I bought the green pair which is cheaper (I went to 3Ms site and found them for like $200). There are wind muffle accessories and several different size and types of tips that go on the end and in your ear. I liked the brown latex ridged ones the best and ordered like 30 of them as spares. I bought but did not need the wind muffs because when rifle hunting this year I found that either the wind wasn't blowing or if it was then it was cold enough to have my ear flaps down and that stopped wind noise (the wind muff thing is like a little foam end on a microphone).

I tried these first with a 22 LR and then my deer rifle and hunted with them all year.

So, far, they are slicker than cat crap and I cannot be happier with my purchase. There are 3 volume settings and the highest volume is maybe 25% louder (when not silenced during a shot) than normal hearing.

 

[Swampwalker]

After significant research (on reddit and amazon and other places), I decided on 3M Peltor earbuds.

I cannot shoot a rifle with ear muffs because they prevent a proper cheek weld for me and the muffs get moved while I'm shooting and expose my hearing. Also, my hope was earbuds would better mimic natural directional hearing abilities since they seem more on the sides of the head. I was afraid with muffs I wouldn't be able to tell if a noise was to the left or right.

All other ear bud brands had too many bad reviews. I decided I was not interested in ones that also had bluetooth function so you could take calls or listen to music. It seemed that those features were the ones that way too many people said would break. Also, it adds complexity and is not needed by me when hunting.

The 3M Peltor ear buds come in at least 2 flavors. The neon green ones are for industrial settings and is what I got. The black ones are tactical and are for shooting ranges and such. When I researched if the green ones would work for hunting, I found out that they would when only there is occasional loud noise. At a shooting range, the earbuds have to "work" all the time as shots are fired and it supposedly stresses out their batteries. The black/tactical ones are made to withstand that.

I just wear regular foam plugs at the shooting range and only wanted these for hunting. So, I bought the green pair which is cheaper (I went to 3Ms site and found them for like $200). There are wind muffle accessories and several different size and types of tips that go on the end and in your ear. I liked the brown latex ridged ones the best and ordered like 30 of them as spares. I bought but did not need the wind muffs because when rifle hunting this year I found that either the wind wasn't blowing or if it was then it was cold enough to have my ear flaps down and that stopped wind noise (the wind muff thing is like a little foam end on a microphone).

I tried these first with a 22 LR and then my deer rifle and hunted with them all year.

So, far, they are slicker than cat crap and I cannot be happier with my purchase. There are 3 volume settings and the highest volume is maybe 25% louder (when not silenced during a shot) than normal hearing.

Raisins, you think these (earbuds) would work with something like a 450 BM w/ a muzzle brake?

 

[raisins]

Raisins, you think these (earbuds) would work with something like a 450 BM w/ a muzzle brake?

I can't say. They worked great with the 22 LR and a 6.5 Creedmoor (neither with muzzle brakes).

I think the issue with the neon green ones wasn't that it had trouble blocking out the noise it was that doing it over and over at a range would screw it up. When turned off during the loud noise, they are like wearing the rubbery ear buds that are reusable and joined with a string.

They sound neat when shooting the 22 LR. You can't really hear the 22 LR rifle at all go off with them on but they turn back on while the shot is still echoing. It sounds a little like a soda can opening and fizzing.

I'd research those ones in firearm forums/amazon/reddit and see what folks say.

I'll say that everything I read about them was pretty much rave reviews.

I trust 3M more than a lot of companies because they make so much stuff and are probably involved with military contracts. It wouldn't surprise me if the military uses those tactical earbuds.

The other companies that seem to just make hearing protection stuff (and aren't even big names...like Bose or something) had a lot of bad reviews that I saw.

 

[The_Fit_Ness_Monster]

Walker inner ears I’ve been using for a few years now different versions and love them all. At a range for the Army with lines of people firing I can hear a convo from across the way but not the gunshots. They’re comfy also and they don’t get in the way of you go down on the scope like and over the ear would.

 

[Kayl]

I'm going to try to send you down a rabbit hole. Put in the time and money to set up a firearms trust and buy a suppressor. I won't rifle hunt without one. No more ringing, shots don't echo, seems to confuse deer as to where the shots are coming from. It's awesome.

 

[Ajbradley]

I'm going to try to send you down a rabbit hole. Put in the time and money to set up a firearms trust and buy a suppressor. I won't rifle hunt without one. No more ringing, shots don't echo, seems to confuse deer as to where the shots are coming from. It's awesome.

I’ll blame you when I tell my wife

 

[NMSbowhunter]

I'll be the odd man out but for deer hunting I have never used anything. At the range, of course its standard procedure but if I fire one shot per year it's not going it hurt me. If it were high volume hunting like dove in Argentina or shooting a 30-378 Weatherby with a brake inside a closed shoot house, then yeah.

I have noticed that at the range a 30-06 will ring my ears good if I forget hearing protection but that same shot at a deer and I don't have ringing and hardly even remember the shot. I bow hunt almost exclusively now so no real need any more for earplugs for me. I do think they have come out with some pretty amazing things since the days of just putting a cartridge in each ear, lol.

 

[Kayl]

LI have noticed that at the range a 30-06 will ring my ears good if I forget hearing protection but that same shot at a deer and I don't have ringing and hardly even remember the shot.

Auditory exclusion doesn't mean that you aren't damaging your hearing. Auditory exclusion is your brain not processing the signal. Your ears are still getting the pressure.

 

[NMSbowhunter]

Auditory exclusion doesn't mean that you aren't damaging your hearing. Auditory exclusion is your brain not processing the signal. Your ears are still getting the pressure.

True, but being exposed to one shot or to a year is not going to do anything. I guarantee I did more damage to my ears from the last concert my wife drug me too, lol.

I guarantee listening to music with earplugs in all year long does way more damage.

 

[bigmike23]

Raisins, you think these (earbuds) would work with something like a 450 BM w/ a muzzle brake?

I've never had a pair of muffs or buds that can properly protect alone against braked rifles. You have to double up

 

[raisins]

Auditory exclusion doesn't mean that you aren't damaging your hearing. Auditory exclusion is your brain not processing the signal. Your ears are still getting the pressure.

If we could see in slo mo, micro view how a high powered rifle shakes our ear drum and inner ear....we'd probably all invest in a suppressor, earbuds, etc

If you know how the ear works inside, the idea of something banging on that sensitive stuff that hard is actually kind of gross

We'd never tolerate someone jabbing our eyeball with their finger every time we shoot a deer, and I feel like it's a similar thing

 

[raisins]

True, but being exposed to one shot or to a year is not going to do anything. I guarantee I did more damage to my ears from the last concert my wife drug me too, lol.

I guarantee listening to music with earplugs in all year long does way more damage.

That's not true. A single, very loud event can EASILY give you permanent tinnitus or other damage. Of course duration also matter, but it's like "which is more important to the area of a rectangle, length or width?".

 

[raisins]

I've never had a pair of muffs or buds that can properly protect alone against braked rifles. You have to double up

I didn't know that, but I do know at the range people next to me with one of those things are annoying as heck. I'll never own one for that and other reasons.

 

[Islandshooter]

I've never had a pair of muffs or buds that can properly protect alone against braked rifles. You have to double up

16 years as a firearms instructor (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) and thats the ONLY way i shoot ANYTHING-pistol, rifle, carbine…inner ears pushed in with the canal straightened and outer hard shell. 21 years prior of pistols, rifles, explosives without much protection has taken its toll. Hard shell with a cutout for rifle shouldering. Just my experience, my tinnitus is so bad that the first week in the deer woods is almost unbearable its that loud.

 

[raisins]

16 years as a firearms instructor (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) and thats the ONLY way i shoot ANYTHING-pistol, rifle, carbine…inner ears pushed in with the canal straightened and outer hard shell. 21 years prior of pistols, rifles, explosives without much protection has taken its toll. Hard shell with a cutout for rifle shouldering. Just my experience, my tinnitus is so bad that the first week in the deer woods is almost unbearable its that loud.

Sorry to hear that, but thank you for underling what hearing damage is like in order to help younger folks.

I have mild tinnitus, mostly from concerts and playing in a band. It really improved after I started taking allergy nasal spray and pills as needed. Inflammation in the inner ear was compounding it.

I have not seen the muffs with a cutout for rifles. Can you provide a link or a name?

I only wear plugs because I have a somewhat wide/short face and on most guns I have to push down enough with my cheek weld that it just pushes regular muffs off my right ear anyways.

Would active ear pro while hunting help you? The Peltors I mentioned make it kind of sound like someone is playing the outside world to you through a decent radio signal turned up about 25% past normal. I wonder if that would act like white noise to you and help the ringing while also doing other good things?

 

[bigmike23]

16 years as a firearms instructor (8 hours a day, 5 days a week) and thats the ONLY way i shoot ANYTHING-pistol, rifle, carbine…inner ears pushed in with the canal straightened and outer hard shell. 21 years prior of pistols, rifles, explosives without much protection has taken its toll. Hard shell with a cutout for rifle shouldering. Just my experience, my tinnitus is so bad that the first week in the deer woods is almost unbearable its that loud.

In my early 30s and I have significant shooters ear left side. I'm at almost 30db loss at speaking frequencys on my left side. There was exactly 3 times I fired my 338-378 weatherby braked at game with no protection and it did that much damage.

 

[bigmike23]

Great vid on them

 

[Islandshooter]

Sorry to hear that, but thank you for underling what hearing damage is like in order to help younger folks.

I have mild tinnitus, mostly from concerts and playing in a band. It really improved after I started taking allergy nasal spray and pills as needed. Inflammation in the inner ear was compounding it.

I have not seen the muffs with a cutout for rifles. Can you provide a link or a name?

I only wear plugs because I have a somewhat wide/short face and on most guns I have to push down enough with my cheek weld that it just pushes regular muffs off my right ear anyways.

Would active ear pro while hunting help you? The Peltors I mentioned make it kind of sound like someone is playing the outside world to you through a decent radio signal turned up about 25% past normal. I wonder if that would act like white noise to you and help the ringing while also doing other good things?

I just ignore and override the noise until i get used to the quiet. After so many years it’s just something i live with (sounds like a dull roar right now). I couldnt find the outer ear pro we used at work on the internet, but just google ear muffs with cutouts for rifle shooting and there are numerous options. But, as one of the crusty old firearms instructors told me when i started with DHS, if you don’t open that ear canal and insert the inner plugs correctly, you might as well just push cotton in there. Which is exactly what we did for years in the military lol

 

[cedar paul]

I have been using Decibullz and found them quite affordable, custom. They are made with percussive baffles and you don't have the cheek weld when shooting rifles. I shoot more handguns and they work great.