Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

Hearing protection for Open


WestTex

Recommended Posts

Hey guys, I just got into shooting open. I'm currently using the Peltor tactical sport 100s and they don't quite cut it. They were fine for limited but don't suppress enough when I shoot open. I'm also wanting something that doesn't completely block out a conversation with someone every time there's a gunshot. What ears do you guys recommend. I also may shoot indoors once a month but I'm ok with double plugging for that if I have to. Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a diehard open shooter and I use the peltor tactical pros, nrr is 25 and they come with gel ear cups

and the ear cups are deeper than on the tac sport so no more squished ears

I've used them around open guns, comp rifles and 50's, and didn't feel the need to double plug

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I normally put foamies (double plug) when shooting it indoors. I just knew there a few options for outdoor and was curious what people were using. I'm not a big fan of foamies or sticking anything in my ears.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While they are huge and make you look like princess Leia, the Howard Leight impact PROs are 30 NRR. I have yet to find another electronic muff on the market that has that rating. Not to be confused with the impact pro sport, which are good as well, but are only 25. I've had people shooting .308 and 12 gauge indoors in the pod next to me and have been fairly comfortable.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/3/2017 at 9:52 AM, jschweg said:

While they are huge and make you look like princess Leia, the Howard Leight impact PROs are 30 NRR. I have yet to find another electronic muff on the market that has that rating. Not to be confused with the impact pro sport, which are good as well, but are only 25. I've had people shooting .308 and 12 gauge indoors in the pod next to me and have been fairly comfortable.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for the recommendation. 

How well does it amplify sound , as in normal conversation levels?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the recommendation.  How well does it amplify sound , as in normal conversation levels?

 

 

 

They amplify sound very well and have independent microphones on each side. As mentioned, I practice with my friends at a pretty busy 100 yard indoor range and don't have any problems chatting while others are sighting in hunting rifles. I'm not going to go as far to say it's pleasant listening to a 30'06 indoors regardless of what muffs you have on, but my ears don't hurt or ring and I'm still a fairly young guy with sensitive hearing. Nothing beats my passive 3M Peltors, but not being to hear anything at all including range commands obviously isn't an option.

 

The electronics don't ever cut the sound off, but rather you just hear everything at a normalized volume according to how you set the volume control. Don't get me wrong, these are not expensive fancy earmuffs at 60 bucks but they do an excellent job and just haven't found any other electronic muffs above 25.

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

46 minutes ago, jschweg said:

 

 

They amplify sound very well and have independent microphones on each side. As mentioned, I practice with my friends at a pretty busy 100 yard indoor range and don't have any problems chatting while others are sighting in hunting rifles. I'm not going to go as far to say it's pleasant listening to a 30'06 indoors regardless of what muffs you have on, but my ears don't hurt or ring and I'm still a fairly young guy with sensitive hearing. Nothing beats my passive 3M Peltors, but not being to hear anything at all including range commands obviously isn't an option.

 

The electronics don't ever cut the sound off, but rather you just hear everything at a normalized volume according to how you set the volume control. Don't get me wrong, these are not expensive fancy earmuffs at 60 bucks but they do an excellent job and just haven't found any other electronic muffs above 25.

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm good with that. At 60 bucks it'd be worth having even if they end up as backups down the road. I double plug with my Peltors but I can't hear anything because it's amplification is weak. I end up having to take them off just to have a conversation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/4/2017 at 10:30 PM, WestTex said:

I'm good with that. At 60 bucks it'd be worth having even if they end up as backups down the road. I double plug with my Peltors but I can't hear anything because it's amplification is weak. I end up having to take them off just to have a conversation.

I end up only double plugging when I'm shooting and I can pretty much only hear the "MR" command and the buzzer. (HL Impact sports, molded in ear plugs) Then when I'm not shooting I take the in ear plugs out and keep them around my neck so I can still hear people and talk as needed. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have the impact pros and they do great, but if there is gunfire going off nearby, they suppress everything. No way you are going to suppress the loud gunfire and yet allow in all other ambient volume. On the plus side, the volume sensitivity is freaking amazing. Turn them all the way up and you hear every cartridge case hit the range floor, exhaust fan, crickets in the woods, etc. If any of you remember those whisper 2000 commercials from years back, I swear these could actually be the holy grail of late night television. They are bulky though and do not fold like the impact sport models do. I've never used the impact sports so I can't compare the two.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone have any experience with Msa sordins indoors? Iim not exactly impressed with their 18 nrr but there seems to be alot of good reviews on them. What's the deal?

Edited by WestTex
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

FZdtvOd.png

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/

Edited by ClangClang
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, 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

FZdtvOd.png

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/

Thanks for the quantitive data Clang! Makes it much easier to weed out subjectiveness. 

Edited by WestTex
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anyone have any experience with Msa sordins indoors? Iim not exactly impressed with their 18 nrr but there seems to be alot of good reviews on them. What's the deal?


Great post, thank you.

It would be interesting to see that chart for the regular HL muffs and not the sports.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have never understood why people don't like using regular foam earplugs. They give you the absolute best protection and are the absolute cheapest option. I wear earplugs all day and put my super cheap muffs on right before I shoot (only because I can concentrate better when the concussion is dampened, which the muffs give me the impression of. It doesn't bother me to shoot with just plugs, that is what I do in practice) and immediately take them back off when I am done. I am actually looking at getting a new pair of super cheap muffs that are not electronic and are thinner than my current ones, because I hate when my muffs accidentally get turned on and I can hear stuff while I am shooting. 

 

 

As a bonus, you have a great excuse for ignoring people you don't want to talk to when you can't hear them with your earplugs in. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The big thing lots of people miss with foam plugs is getting them put in correctly. I see people with plugs just barely stuck in all the time, when I put them in I joke that I'm only wearing one and it goes all the way through. 

 

As for muffs, I got my blast sensitive wife a set of the Pro Ears Mag Gold muffs and they are great, she went from needing to double plug for anything more than a 22 being fired around her to just the muffs, I tried them out and just picked myself up a set as well, they are as quiet for me as plugs but I can still hold a conversation. only down side is they are huge 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, MikeBurgess said:

The big thing lots of people miss with foam plugs is getting them put in correctly. I see people with plugs just barely stuck in all the time, when I put them in I joke that I'm only wearing one and it goes all the way through. 

 

As for muffs, I got my blast sensitive wife a set of the Pro Ears Mag Gold muffs and they are great, she went from needing to double plug for anything more than a 22 being fired around her to just the muffs, I tried them out and just picked myself up a set as well, they are as quiet for me as plugs but I can still hold a conversation. only down side is they are huge 

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. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Gooldylocks said:

I have never understood why people don't like using regular foam earplugs. They give you the absolute best protection and are the absolute cheapest option. I wear earplugs all day and put my super cheap muffs on right before I shoot (only because I can concentrate better when the concussion is dampened, which the muffs give me the impression of. It doesn't bother me to shoot with just plugs, that is what I do in practice) and immediately take them back off when I am done. I am actually looking at getting a new pair of super cheap muffs that are not electronic and are thinner than my current ones, because I hate when my muffs accidentally get turned on and I can hear stuff while I am shooting. 

 

 

As a bonus, you have a great excuse for ignoring people you don't want to talk to when you can't hear them with your earplugs in. 

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. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...