Wanted Advice on Hearing Protection

walsh.peter

Hi All,
Looking for some advice on hearing protection. Am planning on doing some clay shooting and rough shooting but am lost as to what type of hearing protection to get.
Am hearing (excuse the pun) about electronic hearing protection but am not sure about what brands etc.
Some people are telling me about Napier Pro 10 and Allen sound sensor as not as bulky and better for range shooting !!!.

Any advice on make, models or general recommendations.
Thanks
Peter

Tackleberrywho

walsh.peter wrote: »

Hi All,
Looking for some advice on hearing protection. Am planning on doing some clay shooting and rough shooting but am lost as to what type of hearing protection to get.
Am hearing (excuse the pun) about electronic hearing protection but am not sure about what brands etc.
Some people are telling me about Napier Pro 10 and Allen sound sensor as not as bulky and better for range shooting !!!.

Any advice on make, models or general recommendations.
Thanks
Peter

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/tac6shearpro.html

€70 delivered to your door.
I have my pair 4 years and I had them out in torrential rain on a 72 hour Ex with the PDF and they still work fine.

A bit warm in summer though, so I use a moderator

deerhunter1

walsh.peter wrote: »

Hi All,
Looking for some advice on hearing protection. Am planning on doing some clay shooting and rough shooting but am lost as to what type of hearing protection to get.
Am hearing (excuse the pun) about electronic hearing protection but am not sure about what brands etc.
Some people are telling me about Napier Pro 10 and Allen sound sensor as not as bulky and better for range shooting !!!.

Any advice on make, models or general recommendations.
Thanks
Peter

This is what I use,custom made by Starkey (check website). Got mine in Newbridge, got mould made and had it delivered within a week or two. Have it now about four years, Brilliant, just got one, as one ear is shagged Adjustable volume suppresses blast of shotgun/rifle to below safe level. Can hear birds flushing, very sensitive, Not designed for automatic fire which I found out on the range with GPMG/Steyr:eek:. Though you can get them made for auto fire as well. Great comfort,no sweaty ears or obstruction, I paid about 300euro, expensive but worth the money. Colour coded for left/right ears, even get one and a blank for the other ear.

FISMA

Peter,
It would be nice if a mod were to move this thread to the shooting forum as you would get more replies.
<my_edit>... thanks for the move mods!</my_edit>

Anyhow, I use these

The problem with electronics is that you can't go cheap and you don't always get what you paid for. With that said, I have used these and found them to perform very well.

I like the idea of two microphones, fore and aft on each ear. It gives a more realistic feel.

You only really need them for game, not trap and skeet. I do not use them for trap and skeet. Only when I need to be able to hear, but don't want to lose my hearing.

Some can be bulky, that's a problem when you want to wear a hat or a hood on those rainy days.

Click here to see what's available in the low profile range.

walsh.peter

Hi All
Thanks very much for the replys. Was at the range the weekend and had the chance to try a few pairs on. Like FISMA said i think a standard pair of ear protection at the range is needed and one i take up some game shooting i will invest in a good pair of electronic ear protections.
Thanks for you help.
Peter

Deerspotter

You won't go wrong with anything Peltor

doyle61

Pletor active. Great hearing protection. Look up midway USA for them or ring your local dealer for a price

Tackleberrywho

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

http://earplugstore.stores.yahoo.net/tac6shearpro.html

€70 delivered to your door.
I have my pair 4 years and I had them out in torrential rain on a 72 hour Ex with the PDF and they still work fine.

A bit warm in summer though, so I use a moderator

I should have mentioned these are Peltor in 2 Types of camo.
These are what I have

clivej

This is what myself and a few others at the range use.



Review here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055450042


And I use these in ear Surefire passive ear protectors when I'm out stalking about €12 a pair.

dCorbus

clivej, where'd you get those surefire earwigs? They look like something i could do with.

clivej

dCorbus wrote: »

clivej, where'd you get those surefire earwigs? They look like something i could do with.

From the UK somewhere but can't for the life of me remember now, but do a search in goggle.co.uk and your find plenty of places that will sell them.
They give the same result as using a mod on your rifle, I use them when shooting the Sako 308 out stalking.

Arcto

While all these headsets look great and are probably top quality (and $$!!) I have been using a bog standard pair of 3M pelter style head gear and it works great. Granted you lose some situational awareness because they don't have microphones....but they were also dirt cheap and rated for use in factory environments.

That, and I'm getting a wildcat later this afternoon :pac:

firefly08

OP, I personally always use both the foam inserts and the big headset at the same time for anything other than a rimfire rifle (even just shooting a .22 pistol I usually double up).

At a range you much more exposure than when you're rough shooting because you're firing a lot more rounds. You can never be too careful. That's my 2 cents anyway.

Also ,do try to get a headset with a cutaway for the stock like the ones pictured above - or else the stock will always tend to push them off your ear when you shoot.

FISMA

firefly08 wrote: »

OP, I personally always use both the foam inserts and the big headset at the same time for anything other than a rimfire rifle (even just shooting a .22 pistol I usually double up).
t.

+1

I too double up as I am concerned with leakage due to wearing glasses. When you put the bigger foam/mickey mouse ear protectors over the glasses' temples, there is a little volume not covered/sealed. Many people are claiming that over years of use, this has caused hearing loss.

Hence, foam in the ear and mickey mouse protectors to cover.

clivej

As I've shown above thats what I use BUT its to late for me now after years of not wearing protection in the workplace I now have constant 'White Noise' and I mean constant. But I take the view that its never to late to start and wear protection all the time now that way I may save what hearing I have got.

The surefire are passive but allow you to hear around you, they close down and shut out the loud bang. Good little yokes for little money.

FISMA

clivej wrote: »

As I've shown above thats what I use BUT its to late for me now after years of not wearing protection in the workplace I now have constant 'White Noise' and I mean constant. But I take the view that its never to late to start and wear protection all the time now that way I may save what hearing I have got.

Clive,
Do you mean tinnitus? I thought I remember reading a recent medical article that claimed a cure was not far away for tinnitus.

Whatever you do, don't make it worse!

Sparks

clivej wrote: »

The surefire are passive but allow you to hear around you, they close down and shut out the loud bang. Good little yokes for little money.

MEC do similar ones for air and smallbore shooting, I find them fine for training (but not for competition, where I don't want to hear the crowd of people behind the firing line chatting away to one another). Wouldn't want to use them or any other in-ear plugs for something like shotgun or centerfire rifle though, there's just too much energy in the initial pressure wave from those for in-ear plugs to handle fully.

YMMV, but I'd also be careful about the electronic ear defenders - the majority of the damage done to your hearing is in the first few microseconds as the initial pressure wave from the sound of the shot hits the ear; unless the electronics in your ear defenders are very fast, they won't react fast enough to block that initial damaging bit, but they will react fast enough to block out the sound from a few milliseconds in, which is too late to stop damage but early enough to stop you really hearing the shot - so you pick up hearing loss while thinking you're fine.

The ANC systems in the electronics, don't forget, were originally designed for working in noisy environments like plane cockpits and the like, where the noise is constant, rather than blocking single, highly intense, very sudden spikes of noise in an otherwise quiet environment like a firing range.

Personally, I just stick to good passive ear defenders (I use a pair of Peltors) except for the air/smallbore rifle stuff, and I'd use them there as well if it wasn't for the point that they're really annoyingly noisy in rifle because you knock them off the stock as you get into position.

Tackleberrywho

The Peltor reactives are great, I bought mine in 2008 and have them thrown behind the driver seat all the time.

You'd hear a pin drop, magnifies below 16db and blocks major noise

The DF make people wear double hearing protection for compo reasons, but you can't hear fire control orders then and just causes a cluster fcuk

I did see a Moderated shotgun once, not sure if they are allowed on clay grounds though

As the OP asked for Shotgun use I would stay with the Peltor Tactical.

If he had asked for Rifle, Mod all the way man
I find in hot weather your ears rot with muffs, I had to wear Peltor in a former employ constantly and they were horrid.

For Hunting hearing is everything so blocking out all sound; for me is a non runner

clivej

FISMA wrote: »

Clive,
Do you mean tinnitus? I thought I remember reading a recent medical article that claimed a cure was not far away for tinnitus.

Whatever you do, don't make it worse!

Yes from working in a bottling hall and keg racking plant for oh so many years without protection on all the time.

When your young and 'Jack the Lad' you know its never go'na happen to you.:o

Sparks wrote: »

MEC do similar ones for air and smallbore shooting, I find them fine for training (but not for competition, where I don't want to hear the crowd of people behind the firing line chatting away to one another). Wouldn't want to use them or any other in-ear plugs for something like shotgun or centerfire rifle though, there's just too much energy in the initial pressure wave from those for in-ear plugs to handle fully.

YMMV, but I'd also be careful about the electronic ear defenders - the majority of the damage done to your hearing is in the first few microseconds as the initial pressure wave from the sound of the shot hits the ear; unless the electronics in your ear defenders are very fast, they won't react fast enough to block that initial damaging bit, but they will react fast enough to block out the sound from a few milliseconds in, which is too late to stop damage but early enough to stop you really hearing the shot - so you pick up hearing loss while thinking you're fine.

The ANC systems in the electronics, don't forget, were originally designed for working in noisy environments like plane cockpits and the like, where the noise is constant, rather than blocking single, highly intense, very sudden spikes of noise in an otherwise quiet environment like a firing range.

Personally, I just stick to good passive ear defenders (I use a pair of Peltors) except for the air/smallbore rifle stuff, and I'd use them there as well if it wasn't for the point that they're really annoyingly noisy in rifle because you knock them off the stock as you get into position.

Good words of wisdom All read and take note.