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Hearing protection for Open


WestTex

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6 minutes ago, WestTex said:

My issue with plugs is that hearing in my right ear is damaged. I prefer electronics because they help me hear range commands and hold converstions without having to take off my muffs. 

I failed to mention that but it still doesn't change the intent of the original post on finding quality ears that suit My needs. I'm glad your hearing is still perfect but for those of us that don't have perfect hearing, amplified ear muffs are very handy, provided they still block out noise at a safe level. 

 

You never once said you had damaged hearing, so there is no way I would have been able to know that. I can hold a conversation with Mike Burgess at matches, and he has nearly complete deafness in one ear and still wears earplugs. Just have to stand on the other side haha.

 

The MSA or Pro Ears are probably both good options for your needs. 

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18 minutes ago, Gooldylocks said:

You never once said you had damaged hearing, so there is no way I would have been able to know that. I can hold a conversation with Mike Burgess at matches, and he has nearly complete deafness in one ear and still wears earplugs. Just have to stand on the other side haha.

 

The MSA or Pro Ears are probably both good options for your needs. 

True, and that's my fault for not being more clear about my needs/wants.

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5 hours ago, Gooldylocks said:

Yes, they are huge and I make fun of you both. You just don't know it. 

 

The plugs thing is a good point. When you put them in properly, they are not uncomfortable and they are extremely effective at blocking the sound. The only reason I bother with muffs at all is to stop the pressure/concussion I can feel from my open gun. 

you just make fun of me because they are purple

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5 hours ago, Gooldylocks said:

Yes, they are huge and I make fun of you both. You just don't know it. 

 

The plugs thing is a good point. When you put them in properly, they are not uncomfortable and they are extremely effective at blocking the sound. The only reason I bother with muffs at all is to stop the pressure/concussion I can feel from my open gun. 

you just make fun of me because they are purple

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  • 2 months later...

Guess I haven't updated this in a bit. 

 

I did end up buying the MSA Sordin with gel cups. They're built extremely well. Don't let the low nrr fool you, because they do block the right frequencies when it comes to shooting open. I can get away without double plugging outdoors and my gun is one blasty sob. Just to give you an idea of how blasty, It's a shorty with 3 popple holes and my load is a little north of 11 gr of n105,

The sound amplification is crazy good and offers great volume when double plugging. There's hardly any delay when it cuts off sound for gunshots. 

My only complaint is that I wish they were a hair bigger to fit my big dome. They do run a little on the small side, but they still fit me without any sealing issues. 

Battery life is phenomenal, I've had them 2 months now and I'm still on the same batteries (roughly 5 local matches). My peltors would have to be changed out every match.

 

All in all, I'm extremely pleased and would recommend these to anyone willing to spend a premium on a good set of ears. 

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1 hour ago, WestTex said:

Guess I haven't updated this in a bit. 

 

I did end up buying the MSA Sordin with gel cups. They're built extremely well. Don't let the low nrr fool you, because they do block the right frequencies when it comes to shooting open. I can get away without double plugging outdoors and my gun is one blasty sob. Just to give you an idea of how blasty, It's a shorty with 3 popple holes and my load is a little north of 11 gr of n105,

The sound amplification is crazy good and offers great volume when double plugging. There's hardly any delay when it cuts off sound for gunshots. 

My only complaint is that I wish they were a hair bigger to fit my big dome. They do run a little on the small side, but they still fit me without any sealing issues. 

Battery life is phenomenal, I've had them 2 months now and I'm still on the same batteries (roughly 5 local matches). My peltors would have to be changed out every match.

 

All in all, I'm extremely pleased and would recommend these to anyone willing to spend a premium on a good set of ears. 

You must have a bad pair of peltors. My batteries last a full season. They are probably still good when I swap them out but it's just something I do every spring

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19 minutes ago, Sarge said:

You must have a bad pair of peltors. My batteries last a full season. They are probably still good when I swap them out but it's just something I do every spring

I do actually lol. They're the peltor 100s, not the sport tactical ones that are the good ones. They were fine when I was shooting limited, but open is a different level of loud that I was totally unprepared for.

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  • 10 months later...
10 hours ago, jamesflood1 said:

I want to buy a earplug at the lowest price but I didn't find any company that provides the earplugs in very cheap price.

 

Very cheap and "Open" are mutually exclusive terms.

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James, I ended up ditching cheap plugs and cans when running open. I've had a set of MSA Sordins for almost a year now and they are solid. Zero malfunctions and battery life is crazy good. I think I've changed them once and even then, it was just a precaution before a level 2 match. I can actually wear them all day and have little fatigue. They do get sweaty here in west Texas because I opted for the gelcups.

 

If you want cheap I wouldn't bother with cheap electronics because it isnt worth the money. You're better off with passive or plugs.

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On 6/7/2017 at 1:25 AM, ClangClang said:

There is a lot of misconceptions about NRR ratings in this thread.  All manufacturers specify a single value for the NRR, e.g. 18dB for the MSA Sordins compared to 30dB for the Howard Leights.  The Sordins cost nearly 10x more, so what's the difference?

 

The answer is that NRRs must be calculated across the entire scale of audible frequencies. Gunshots typically have a frequency of 2000 (pistol shots) - 6000 Hz (magnum rifles).The true NRR scale can be found if you dig deep into the product literature and looks something like this: 

 

MSA Sordins

screenshot-2014-05-01-22-19-49.png

 

HL Impact Sport

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We see that for pistol shooting (~2000 Hz) Sordins actually have an NRR of 29.5 where HLs come in at 27.1. And then recall that decibels are measured on a logarithmic scale, so that difference between 27.1 and 29.5 is actually quite large.

Don't be fooled by silly marketing. MSA offers SIGNIFICANTLY more hearing protection than a pair of HLs.

If you really want to get into the weeds of this type of analysis, here's an in depth blog post to start: https://trevoronthetrigger.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/msa-sordin-supreme-performance-the-misleading-nrr18db-rating/

 

I'm on my second and last pair of Sordin supremes. What my ears tell me is that they do the worst job of noise reduction of any ear muff I've ever owned (including $20 Walmart non amplified), also the gel ear pads do not last very long and the electronics on my first pair lasted maybe 4 years max. 

 

Based on my own hearing impressions in the field (ok shoot - now let me switch back to these others - ok shoot) , they are just not a good choice if you need something for indoors or for being around the really loud guns. For shooting 9mm pistols outdoors and similar I think they are ok. As others have noted, double plugging is a great way to go but this can be more practical for the shooter than for the r.o., also my current Sordins clamp voice amplification at something like 82  d.b. (memory) so they are not great at boosting low volume voices to compensate for the plugs. 

 

I think they created their own NRR rating because they look bad when compared to the better hearing protection, which my ears tell me is the case. 

 

Edited by IHAVEGAS
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I have been using custom molded plugs (non-electronic).  At first they were fine for open but after about 8-10 months I noticed I was getting ringing in my ears after a match.  This past weekend I just tried a product called Otoferm https://www.amazon.com/OtoFerm-Comfort-Lubricant-Earpieces-Sealant/dp/B07DFBKR42/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1531766757&sr=8-2&keywords=EAR+PLUG+LUBE that acts a a sealant on the plugs.  It works awesome.  Plugs sealed better than they did when new.  Tiny dab on each plug did the trick.  No greasy residue once the plugs were removed.  

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Have now shot enough & r.o.'d enough with my new active ear muffs (Pro Golds rated at 26 db) to get a seat of the eardrum feel for them compared against my MSA sordins (rated at 18-19 db but with add hype which says that this rating is misleading).

 

My ears tell me that the Sordins are correctly rated at around 19 db & the add hype about them punching above their weight class is just add hype. My common sense probably should have told me that also, hold them up next to anything else & compare thickness of insulation & etc. 

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