hearing protection

[GreyWhiskers]

I use electronic muffs at pistol matches. Use plugs for most other shooting and at work. Too bad I did't start using em earlier in life. Can't hear the higher tones and have a constant buzzing in my ears. GW

 

[BillinOregon]

I like to wear plugs and muffs at the range. I find the less noise I deal with, the easier it is to deal with recoil from the bigger boomers like the .375 H&H, etc. Plus, I shot my share of pistols as a teenager with no protection, and now that I am 54 I really miss the hearing that I have lost.

 

[billandbeaufort]

I have high frequency loss as well from farm tractors and many years of trap shooting, small engines at work, etc. Work protection muffs when shooting but werent of same quality as today. I wear ear plugs for range shooting and occasionally for hunting. I am considering some of the sound enhancement products in Cabelas that have high decibel blocking for gun shots etc. Has anyone tried them, and did they work for you?

I have a pair of muffs from Caldwell Shooting Supplies and they are great! It is wierd how fast they react! You can talk to the guy next to you at the range and when he lights off his 44-70 you just hear a muffled pop! It is also handy to hear the range officer's orders, like stop shooting LOL. They are like those welding masks that are clear until you strike an arc. How do they do it, ain't technology cool? They were $55 but worth every penny. B&B

 

[rebel727]

Huh, what? Yeah, I do now. Unfortunately nobody ever told me about hearing protection when I was young. Now the crickets never go away. Haven't heard a real one in many years.

 

[wildeagle]

Plugs + muffs = best noise suppression. Muffs where applicable. The hard bone around ears transmits shock waves to inner ear. Muffs protect this bony structure. Many yrs of large machinery ( paper machines ) have proven this to me.

 

[RedFeather]

I like to wear plugs and muffs at the range. I find the less noise I deal with, the easier it is to deal with recoil from the bigger boomers like the .375 H&H, etc.

What he said :thumbsup: My range is largely mixed use. I will never forget trying to shoot my .22 while a guy three positions to the left had a .375 Something Or Other with one of those tank-like wide muzzle breaks. Every time he touched it off I could feel the concussion, so loud that it made me jump. And I was wearing both plugs and muffs. Just bought a new pair of muffs - 31db, the highest I could find. As I understand it, the muffs dampen one sort of noise damage and plugs another.

 

[jtmattison]

I use electronic muffs at the range and nothing while hunting. I never hear the bang when hunting and can't recall ever having ringing in my ears after a shot.

HD

 

[ldykeman]

Except for hunting, I never shoot without hearing protection these days. In fact, I avoid the big boomers for hunting. I shot twice at a deer years ago with a S&W Model 29 and my ears rang for two days. At least I got that deer, but never used it again for hunting. Unfortunately, I never used hearing protection in my younger days. But, I was the first one to start using them many years ago in our gun club. In fact, I was teased about using them. Obviously real men were immune to hearing loss back then. Now I wonder how much longer I will be able to hear what you all are saying in your posts WITHOUT HAVING YOU TYPE IN UPPER CASE :grin:
Larry

 

[2172]

in place of plugs, I use the hearing aids I'm forced to use by the years of shooting without protection...high pitched sounds were just not audible, and I couldn't understand my grandsons until they reached puberty and their voices deepened...my aids are by Miracle Ear, and fit into the hearing canal...they automatically block sudden loud sounds, but let me hear everything else normally....please everyone, use some form of protection..Hank

 

[spitpatch]

I belong to three shooting clubs. No ear or eye protection and you are asked to correct the situation or leave. Also to not have it would be a poor example to new or young shooters. Just my thoughts.

 

[Don B]

Can some of you silicone plug users be more specific about types and brands that you use? Do you use the flanged type silicone plugs, the soft moldable type, or the custom formed ones?

 

[Robert Egler]

Hard earmuffs on the range, nothing when hunting.

According to the wife I have some high frequency loss, but I prefer to think that all the alarms on my watches have broken. :rotf:

I doubt that it's because of shooting, lots of more frequent noise issues to blame than a dozen or two so shots a year in the field.

 

[crmyers]

Hard earmuffs on the range, nothing when hunting.

According to the wife I have some high frequency loss, but I prefer to think that all the alarms on my watches have broken. :rotf:

I doubt that it's because of shooting, lots of more frequent noise issues to blame than a dozen or two so shots a year in the field.

I blame a lot of my hearing loss on model airplane engines. Back in the 60s and 70s I never used mufflers on them, and those little suckers are loud.

 

[RICKYD]

I'll sometimes stick cigerettes (unlit :shocked2: )
in my ears if i'm shooting a bunch

 

[paulvallandigham]

Can some of you silicone plug users be more specific about types and brands that you use? Do you use the flanged type silicone plugs, the soft moldable type, or the custom formed ones?

Don B: I had custom made earplugs cast for me by the Belltone people here locally. I understand that any of their offices can do this. The plugs now will cost twice what I paid for them, back when, but they involve the same casting and fitting technique to make hearing aids to fit your ears comfortably. Instead of inserting a small hearing aid, the plugs are a solid, soft plastic.

They are very comfortable after you get used to having anything in your ears. I wore them trap shooting since light shotgun loads don't make a lot of noise compared to rifles and center fire handguns. When I shoot revolvers, or center fire rifles, I add earmuffs on top of the plugs to give me added protection. When I shoot my ML rifle, which has a 39 inch barrel, I find that my plugs are enough protection that I don't have tinnitis when I leave to go home from the range. The same with my ML shotguns. I do need, and use muffs with the plugs when someone is on the range shooting really hot loads in a gun, and if the roof over the firing line is made of metal.

Your off-side ear will be closer to the muzzle of the barrel of any gun you fire, including MLers, and that is the one you want to have a plug in when you are hunting, if you use them at all. One shot is not going to deafen your ears, but over the years, we do lose hearing from a variety of sources.

I lost most of my hearing loss the summer I drove a bus in Chicago( 1968) because the metal walls next to my left ear rattled so much. I also lost a range of hearing in that ear playing the Trombone, with the tubing along the jaw right under my left ear. Driving at highway speeds with the window down, allows road noise and wind rush to also contribute to hearing loss in the Left ear on all people. I am a LH shooter, so I also have a loss of hearing in my Right Ear, from shooting without muffs, or earplugs when I was very young. My right ear hears a greater range of sounds, now, than my left ear does.

I am in need of a hearing aid for that left ear. Its been years since I could hear the sound of deer feet in the oak leaves at any distance further than about 25 yards, so that I am now just as likely to see the movement of a deer approaching me, as to hear it. It would be nice to hear all the sounds of the forest again, as I could do 40 years ago.

Protect your ears. You only are issued two of them, and you need them both. Like your eyes, when they are gone, you don't get another pair.

 

[brubincam]

--huh what oh ok, no I don't wear ear protection,did you say something,I can hear just fine,could you stop mumbling,I can hear better now than anytime in my life,if you'r gonna move you'r lips at least say something, :surrender: :surrender: :surrender: I HEAR YOU, :youcrazy: :youcrazy: :youcrazy:

 

[mazo kid]

I always wear muffs and/or plugs. A few years ago I lost all hearing in my right ear due to removal of a tumor on the auditory canal. I am fanatic about protecting the hearing in my left ear.

 

[pennsyltucky]

i try to at least have a plug in my left ear. if i amd doing alot of shooting, i plug them both, especially with modern guns. and with the hot loads in the 44mag, even the good plugs dont seem to be enuf

 

[Dan Leroy]

I Wish I Would Done As Grand Pa Told Me
To Do He Always Said Protect Your Ears
No High Range Hearing Now I Now Wear Plugs
When Shooting And Nothing When Hunting

If Kids Would Only Listen

Dan-L

 

[Little Wattsy]

just wondering how many black powder shooters use some form of hearing protection?

p.s. i ued muffs for the range, plugs for my black powder shoots and nothing while hunting.

Ditto!

And just FYI a little hearing loss has smoothed out my marriage tremendously.... :yakyak: