I’ve been shooting for a long time now and still have my hearing. Not everyone can say that. As time marches on, hearing protection keeps getting better and better. Hearing loss is a product of loud noises over an extended period of time. It doesn’t just happen one day. It happens over years and years of exposure. The more exposure, the more hearing loss you will have. A really easy way to know that you are having hearing loss is when it hurts. Pretty simple. Gunshots are extremely damaging to your hearing. If loud noises come on slowly your ears can adjust some and protect you, but things that happen fast, like gunshots, there is no time for adjustment so hearing loss is happening.
If you want to be able to hear people talk and the just the sounds of the world years from now, you need to be wearing hearing protection every time you shoot. I try to always wear hearing protection and even wore it in combat, despite being laughed at and even told they where going to get me killed by one soldier. I even wear hearing protection when I go hunting. I get made fun of a little because I’m the only one, but I know I’ll have my hearing while some of my friends are already losing theirs.
There are two types of hearing protection, plugs and muffs. The plugs go inside the ear canal and the muffs go over the top of the entire ear. Doctors that I’ve talked to and read suggest you use muffs all the time because it keeps any noise from being transmitted to the ear bone and ensures that there is no damage. Some experts I know say that you should double up and wear both. The only time I’ve wanted to double up was when I was throwing grenades or flash bangs in the military. In the civilian world I just don’t play with things that are that loud.
I have been using two different types for years now and probably won’t be changing anytime soon. For muffs I used Peltor’s excellent SWAT Tac’s for over a decade now. I’ve bought my own since 2002 and am only on my second pair. They aren’t cheap but work really well. They are electronic muffs, so the muffs muffle the sound down to a safe level and then there are microphones and little speaks built into the muff. It picks up sounds and then cuts out once the sound is at an unsafe level. It really makes hearing things a lot easier. A couple things that make these stand out form others; one they use standard AA batteries that last forever (I don’t know how long but replace the batteries every year just to be safe). Second is these are stereo. Each side of the muffs have their own set of electronics in them. This allows you to determine where a noise is coming from just like normal. The Peltor’s are really good at picking up sounds, especially metallic ones. They have a volume control that can be turned up way beyond what the normal ear can hear. They where great to wear when I was on foot patrols in Iraq, and I wore them all the time.
The only problem with the electronic ears is that they amplify background noise. When I’m just on the range or in a loud environment they can drive me crazy, so I like to wear ear buds from Surefire.
They are called Sonic Defenders. I find they give a good balance between being able to hear and protecting my hearing, but most importantly they are comfortable and I don’t mind wearing them all day. They are cheap compared to most everything else (especially the SWAT Tacs above) but they do wear out. I buy a couple sets a year, but wear them at least all day a couple times a month. When they start to wear out they don’t work as well and become uncomfortable for me. I buy them two at a time, so when one wears out, I just switch. I can normally find them for less then $15. I also like the one’s that have the cord on them because it keeps me from losing one of them. I replaced a couple sets over the years because I lost one side. Surefire makes a lot of different numbers in the serious and that has to do with how much sound they block. I’ve found that the Sonic Defender 4 works the best. They also make a 3 serious and 6 serious. The 3’s don’t block as much sound and when I’m shooting a match my ears would ring a little when shooting a rifle with a compensator on it near a barricade. The 6 serious are too quite and I have a hard time hearing range commands and other people. For $15 they are worth a try, buy them here at Amazon. I’ve found they have the cheapest price and best shipping (at least at the time I write this). I’ve also bought them from LAPoliceGear.com and the PX on base.
Whatever you buy, make sure you get something that is comfortable so you will actually wear it and that it is small enough to have with you so you can actually wear your hearing protection.
Stay Safe,
Ben