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Ear pro survey


Broski

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I have just been using some electronic ear muffs from Academy sports. Most of the people I shoot with have molded ear plugs. What do you guys use? I have looked online at some of the molded ones and they can be as high as a couple grand, ad I'm just not gonna pay that much. 

Edited by Broski
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I use the mold-them-yourself plugs from Radians for $12 and thet are better than any other foam plug I ever tried. I add muffs while actually shooting (open gun) or ROing an open shooter. 

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I picked up a pair of Etymotic GS-PRO plugs for Black Friday last year. They worked pretty well, but just not comfortable for more than a few stages without readjusting. However, I did just get custom ear molds made for them and now they work great. Well great until yesterday, l noticed one of them stopped working, so it's time to test their customer service department.

https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/hearing-protection/gsp15.html

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

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The guy who travels around to major matches made my molded plugs. Night and day difference from the cheap molded plugs. 

 

I wear my MSA sordins supreme pro-x with gel cups over them (not turned on).  I hate to hear people talking when I shoot. 

Edited by ShortBus
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1 hour ago, DukeEB said:

I was able to use my health savings account and got the westone defendear.  They are really good.  I wouldn't have spent that much if it came out of my pocket directly though

Oooh... gonna have to see if I can use that with my parent's HSA... we always have leftover money that needs to be spent each year.

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Just a heads up, but if your health insurance offers coverage for hearing aids you may be able to get soundgear or SportEar high end custom electronic earplugs covered because they use hearing aid caliber ciruits and chips. They're both supposed to be quite good

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Foam ear plugs.  These are what the Mediflight team uses, so I use them too.  https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-7902/Hearing-Protection/Max-Earplugs-Uncorded?pricode=WY633&gadtype=pla&id=S-7902&gclid=CjwKEAjwlpbIBRCx4eT8l9W26igSJAAuQ_HGegD2J4_-CHxRSEaMhF5EsytSvMrTRB4Ninwvh0NDDxoC5Ijw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

If I'm talking to someone on the range and can't understand them, it's smile and nod time.

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19 hours ago, mscott said:

I use the mold-them-yourself plugs from Radians for $12 and thet are better than any other foam plug I ever tried. I add muffs while actually shooting (open gun) or ROing an open shooter. 

This.

 

Shooting outdoors and doing anything other than being within 4 feet of an Open gun, they're very sufficient by themselves. 

 

Also cheap enough I simply make new ones annually, but they're still always good to go when I make new ones and pitch the old.

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I use the custom molded plugs you can get for around $50 at major matches and gun shows, they're great.  Usually I also put electronic muffs on over them while actually shooting.  Before I got those I used Surefire EP5 plugs and they were pretty good, but the custom molded ones are much better.

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18 hours ago, bkjunk said:

I picked up a pair of Etymotic GS-PRO plugs for Black Friday last year. They worked pretty well, but just not comfortable for more than a few stages without readjusting. However, I did just get custom ear molds made for them and now they work great. Well great until yesterday, l noticed one of them stopped working, so it's time to test their customer service department.

https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/hearing-protection/gsp15.html

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 

 

Who makes the custom molds for them?

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I went to a local audiologist and got molded earplugs made. It cost 160 total out the door. They have a filter that deadens loud noises, but still allow you to hear normally otherwise. So far they have been fantastic. I was interested to see how they were going to work as they are not electronic, but I have no complaints.

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Who makes the custom molds for them?


Same thing for me, i went to a local Audiologist. She made the molds and sent them somewhere to make the plugs. The "somewhere" company said they had worked with the GSP`s before. They are friction fit, and look like this. I also got a free hearing test. Well nothing is really free, but I did get the test.9da36da3635708c10ba1c4cb5b529d63.jpg

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Any of the surefire plugs. Foam plugs make my ear holes itchy. Also, I have long hair and have always foind muffs flop themselves loose because of it.

Edited by Fishin6061
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On 4/30/2017 at 5:16 AM, mscott said:

 

I use the mold-them-yourself plugs from Radians for $12 and thet are better than any other foam plug I ever tried. I add muffs while actually shooting (open gun) or ROing an open shooter. 

 

 

I use these too. Cheap, effective and comfortable. 

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My wife and I got fitted for SoundGear electronic (in the ear) hearing protection at Area 1 in 2016 by House of Hearing. I had not considered this route due to the cost (~$700 per set), but the people at House of Hearing suggested submitting the cost to my health insurance. They did all the paperwork and my insurance covered both sets. One of the main reasons was that earmuffs bothered my wife (and an unhappy wife is not a good thing) After using them for a year, I couldn't be talked back into ear muffs for anything.

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I work for a hearing aid clinic. We sell custom hearing protection, both passive and electronic. Base cost for custom molded passive hearing protection is $300 ($150/side). 

 

If you're not willing to spend that (and up), I would suggest a pair of electronic ear muffs + a low NRR set of passive plugs. Something like Earasers or Dubs, or the high-fidelity hearos... something that has a NRR of 12 dB or less. 

 

Personally, I use Howard Leight Impact Sport + Earasers. That's 22 dB NRR plus an extra 5 dB from the plugs. It's a fantastic combination, allows me to hear everything without any pain or discomfort from gunfire. Plus the earasers have wax filters/guards that you can change out (also known as the brand 'HearClears'), which you can buy for cheap at any hearing aid clinic.

Edited by pixel5
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Sound Gear from House of Hearing!   I'm the same as Bkreutz...  I would never go back to over the earmuffs again.  The cost is high and you have to replace batteries all the time but well worth it, especially if your insurance or FSP pays for them.  After a day on the range with earmuffs my head would be pounding from the pressure over the ears.  With these I forget they are in and can talk normally, even on a cell phone.

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1 hour ago, af220wa said:

Sound Gear from House of Hearing!   I'm the same as Bkreutz...  I would never go back to over the earmuffs again.  The cost is high and you have to replace batteries all the time but well worth it, especially if your insurance or FSP pays for them.  After a day on the range with earmuffs my head would be pounding from the pressure over the ears.  With these I forget they are in and can talk normally, even on a cell phone.

Batteries all the time? Every year MAYBE. Muffs are the only thing that cut it for me shooting and ROING Open guns. 

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6 hours ago, Sarge said:

Batteries all the time? Every year MAYBE. Muffs are the only thing that cut it for me shooting and ROING Open guns. 

 

The batteries are air activated (they come with a sticker over the hole for the air inlet) so they are constantly discharging. They last about 2 weeks but are really cheap. I shoot and RO open (indoors and out) and they work great without any muffs over the top of them. I'm sure there is a lot of variation in the noise cancelling capabilities considering the wide range of prices for in the ear electronic ear buds. I've seen them for less than $100 and up to $3000. There has to be a difference in performance. (or some real stupid shooters who buy the expensive ones)

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