Pistol target shooting, hearing protection?

[geepondy]

It's been quite a few years since I've shot a gun but next week I plan on doing some outdoor target shooting with my buddy and his 9mm Glock. I was wondering what I should bring for hearing protection? Do you think the Flent ear stopple foam inserts are sufficient or do I really need one of the headphone over the ear type protectors? I have a much higher awareness of protecting my hearing then I did in the past.

 

[carbine15]

If inserted correctly the foam plugs are sufficient. The problem is that they are uncomfortable. They are also more time-consuming. Removing them to hear better means taking the time to put them back in properly before each shoot. The earmuff - headphone style are usually slightly better at stopping harmful noise. If you have them, bring a pair of those. If you don't have a pair yet, look for the ones with electronics for detecting and stopping high Db levels but still let you talk. I had occasion to try a pair and was amazed.

 

[Burgess]

i strongly recommend . . . .



er, i mean,




I STRONGLY RECOMMEND


USING THE BEST HEARING PROTECTION AVAILABLE !



;)




A good pair of Headphones (over-the-head, or back-of-head)


makes your shooting experience much more enjoyable.



Good Luck, and good shooting.


:thumbsup:

_

 

[smokinbasser]

I use Norton chambered ear plugs, the same ones recommended for my former job as a jet engine tech and they handled the blast from 12 gauges and 44 mags with no issues. If you have mickey mouse headphones they work excellently too.

 

[chmsam]

Look on the back of the package for information on the noise reduction levels. The more dB's it lowers, the better. However, valve type hearing protection will have a number lower than plugs or headphone styles since they lower the noise and pressure of sudden sounds and not the overall sound level.

I've used hearing protection for about 40 years but I promise that you do not want to deal with tinnitus. That little ringing in your ears that goes away after loud noises someday will not go away. It's annoying and it can be painful. Spend money on hearing protection if need be but get good ones no matter what.

 

[Search]

http://www.surefire.com/EP3-Sonic-Defenders

Best thing you will ever use.

The EP3s are more comfortable. They both allow noise under 80 db to come through clearly, but everything above 80 (which is dangerous) comes through at 80.

I've used them for 6 hours of qualifying with Glock 31s and about 5 hours of qualifying with AR-15 platform rifles.

I can shoot and still hear whats going on around me.

Don't buy foam, please. It's outdated.

 

[Radiophile]

If inserted correctly the foam plugs are sufficient. The problem is that they are uncomfortable.

Gotta disagree here. I work in a high noise environment and wear earplugs every day. Because I'm cheap, I wear silicone plugs that can be washed daily and reused. If money was no object, I'd wear the disposable foam earplugs because they are much more comfortable. And as a bonus, they also reduce more noise.

I have a pair of Silencio Magnum earmuffs and even with the liquid filled pads I have trouble getting them to seal well every time I put them on my big head. Because of that, I generally wear both at the range, and take the muffs off when I'm not shooting, and just keep in the earplugs. It's overkill, because the earplugs alone offer plenty of protection.

It is a pain to take the foam plugs out and put them back in constantly, but after a while you become accustomed to the lower noise level and you can hear pretty well.

 

[NA8]

I like the EAR Classic foam earplugs:

312-1201 E.A.R. Classic Uncorded
(POLY BAG PACKS)
(200 count)

http://www.tasco-safety.com/earplugs/earplugs03.html#230006

Always wear them with earmuffs over them.

http://www.tasco-safety.com/ear-muffs.html

 

[binky]

I think the problem I have with hearing protection is that I have a big nose.

Okay, it sounds strange, but I can cover my ears with the best hearing protection and when shooting the percussion seems to go straight into my head.

For now I just use the relatively cheap Pelton earmuff types. They work for me, anyway. I'd like to get some electronic active ones. I borrowed those once from a friend and they were much better than my passive ones, just expensive...

 

[Diesel_Bomber]

How long will it be till you go shooting again? If you're only doing it this once and it'll be years before you go again, I'd pay 98 cents for a pair of ear plugs. I've fired my G26 thousands of times using a pair of $4 Harbor Freight ear muffs w/ no problems. They're rated at 28db reduction over most frequencies. I also picked up a box of 200 pairs of foam ear plugs for $7 from a rental place recently. They're rated at 30db reduction, I've used them before and they work fine too. While $13 for EP3's is hardly expensive, they're really not needed if they'll only get used once.

Let us know how you like the Glock. :buddies:

 

[powernoodle]

I wear the foam ones plus the over the ears flavor on top of that. My ears already ring 24/7, and I want to hold onto what I got.

 

[Blacksidesniper]

Any plugs over any muffs, as long as they fit you.

 

[Lee1959]

Get the best rated you can, plugs and muffs make a good combo. Do NOT skimp. I shot too many times with too little protection. I am down to approx. 50 percent, and it aint coming back, ever. And at 50, I might have a long time still to miss what I aint got...

 

[Illum]

http://www.surefire.com/EP3-Sonic-Defenders

Best thing you will ever use.

The EP3s are more comfortable. They both allow noise under 80 db to come through clearly, but everything above 80 (which is dangerous) comes through at 80.

I've used them for 6 hours of qualifying with Glock 31s and about 5 hours of qualifying with AR-15 platform rifles.

I can shoot and still hear whats going on around me.

Don't buy foam, please. It's outdated.

A little off topic but any word on using them off the range?
Dad operates the table saw/miter saw quite alot and while the foam inserts are not effective the other the ear ones are very effective and sometimes I have to wave him off to get his attention. Do you think these might be the solution?

 

[Search]

A little off topic but any word on using them off the range?
Dad operates the table saw/miter saw quite alot and while the foam inserts are not effective the other the ear ones are very effective and sometimes I have to wave him off to get his attention. Do you think these might be the solution?

The local store only sells EP4s. I'm going to order EP3s because the bigger size is too much for my ears. My big head doesn't translate to big ear canals.

When inserted properly, which is all the way in, they allow so much sound to come through is insane. They reduce everything over 80 dbs to 80 dbs.

While firing a Glock 31 and an M16 they dropped their dbs so well I could shot the weapons and hear people yelling.

Don't ask why people were yelling, shooting was more important.

An operator can hear people talking normally and shot his weapon safely. Nothing compares. Quit using foam or muffs, they block EVERYTHING.

It would make his saw and your voice (given you speak at 80dbs) the same. If you yelled at 80 dbs and his saw was emitting 120 dbs, he would hear you the same as the saw and be very comfortable doing it.

 

[Patriot]

Most quality foam plugs work well outdoors if the terrain is open. If you shooting in a wooded area they might not do the job. I'm sensitive to sound so anything more that a .38 special and I have to double up with my electronic Peltors and plugs together. I'd wear the electronic muffs by themselves but when wearing necessary eye protection they don't seal up over my ear as perfectly as they should because of the arms. If you're taking a lot of breaks in between shooting the muffs will probably be convenient. I would just purchase a good set of muffs and a pack of foamies and then experiment with what works best. Have fun :)

 

[LukeA]

Plugs and muffs together only give you 6 or so more dB protection than either by itself (about 30dB each).

 

[Search]

I do feel my post is being ignored.

SureFire EP3s. Reduce every noise over 80 dbs down to 80dbs. Everything else comes through perfect.

Why would you even think about anything else afterwords.

 

[Patriot]

I was one of the guys who read your post Search. :)

I was just thinking to myself that I probably wasn't getting all that excited just because valved or dual mode plug technology has existed long before Surefire started making them. I can think of 5 or 6 brands off-hand that are somewhat popular. I've tried many of them including the Combat Arms, Aearo, Blast busters, Hocks and some others that I can't remember the name off. I'm sure that I'll eventually try the Surefire brand but to make a long story short I decided they're not all they're cracked up to be. They don't work nearly as well at letting voice through as an electronic muff and they don't seem to block noise nearly as effectively as the best super-foam plugs, regardless of their DB reduction rating. Maybe I'm just too picky or to sensitive but I sort of treat them as emergency ear protection.

When I use plugs and electronic muffs together the muffs amplify speech enough that I can easily hear with the plugs in. Now, I don't always have to double plug but it makes a huge difference when I do. On the extreme side I shot a 9x25 Dillon race gun twice a week at indoor matches and it used to make me physically sick to my stomach if I didn't double up. In the open outdoors I can usually get away with one or the other unless I'm firing high pressure cartridges.

I might be driving past the gun club today so I may have to stop in and give the Surefire's a try. You've got me curious as to whether they're really a departure from these other very similar types.

 

[Radiophile]

I don't want to sound like a jerk here, but my hearing is far too important to me to risk it with some electronic device. My brother in law sold safety equipment including several brands of electronic muffs and I could have gotten them at cost, but I never even asked about them. Why? My father had a serious hearing loss - 98% in his good ear - and I saw what that did to his quality of life. He knew it too. The $5,000 hearing aid he had did little to help him hear better. I was one of the few people he could chat with because I have a loud and fairly deep voice that he could hear. He often was offended by others who felt the need to shout and downright yell so he could hear them.

Dad saw to it that I wore ear plugs when I mowed the lawn and encouraged me to wear them whenever I did anything that involved loud noise. I've only been to a few concerts where I didn't wear some kind of ear protection, and yes I still really enjoyed the concert.

I wear ear plugs every day at work while other people who do the same job as I do don't bother with them. At the end of the day, I walk out of there with no ear ringing and I feel less fatigued because I didn't have to deal with loud noise for 8 hours. Earlier this year when I had my work physical they gave me a hearing test, and I scored better than an average woman of my age. I hope to do so for a long time.