Ear plug recommendations?

[GammaPaladin]

I shoot at an indoor range. I've tried foam plugs and I've tried muffs. The foam plugs are actually painful to wear. I think I have particularly small ear canals. The muffs work fine, but firing my shotgun tends to knock the right side off my ear, at which point they're not doing me a lot of good.

What I would like, ideally, is a pair of reusable plugs. I bought a set at Turner's to see if they would work, but I can't even get them into my ears.

I'm curious if anyone else out there has trouble fitting these "one size fits all" plugs into their ears, and if so, what you may have found that does fit.

[CalNRA]

the orange plugs they sell in Big 5 and a lot of gunshops are pretty good. it's a really soft material that rolls into practically nothing and really plugs the ear canal

[DaveFJ80]

It's more comfortable for me to wear the standard foam plugs, maybe because my ear canals are bigger. For my wife, she can't wear them comfortably and has to wear the other foam plugs that have grooves in them. The grooved plugs don't fit well in my ears. We both wear slim muffs over them when at the indoor range.

BTW, the easiest way I've found to get any foam plugs into your ears are to twist them up so they're skinny, and put them into your ear. Let them expand (you can wiggle them around while they expand) so it fills up your ear canal to where it blocks out the sound for you.


You can try those out and see if they work out for you.


Regular foam plugs




Grooved foam plugs

[GammaPaladin]

Yeah, I've tried the orange foam plugs, those are what I was saying are actively painful for me to wear... I often have trouble getting them in even when I've rolled them down, and need a couple tries because they expand too quickly to get them in... And when they expand it hurts. So I guess my ear canals are small.

I'll try the grooved ones maybe.

[hkusp9c]

surefire?
or get them custom made to your ear canals. a bit pricey but i heard lots of good reviews about them.

[foxtrotuniformlima]

The regular foam plugs give you the highest NRR.

The Surefire ones are very comfortable but not as effective and for indoor I'd need muffs too.

[CSACANNONEER]

I use custom plugs. But, you might want to try the wax type plugs and muffs on top. I also have some flat foam plugs that are ment to be carried in a wallet. These might fit your ears better than the normal foam ones. Anyway, shoot me a mailing address and I can send you a set of flat ones and some wax to try.

[duckman1]

You can have a set of custom plugs cast for you at any hearing center. I had a set made for my wife and she says they are very comfortable.

[uxo2]

I am very happy with surefires....Fommies work good IF
you insert them properly.

But surefires becuse they are not throw aways

http://www.riflegear.com/p-537-surefire-sonic-defenders-ep3.aspx

[damndave]

I use these.

http://www.alliedarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=24_64&products_id=3829

They are designed for people with smaller ear canals. When shooting indoors, I usually use these and double up with some muffs.

[xibunkrlilkidsx]

how are you inserting the foam plugs? roll them down and which ever ear your putting them into use the opposite hand(ie right ear use your left hand) reach around your head grab upper part of ear and pull towards back of head an insert.


otherwise custom ones would be my best choice if you have that much problems.

[greed647]

You know sometimes the foam ones can hurt if your putting them in to deep. When my allergies act up this happens to me. Try backing them out just a millimeter at a time and seeing if that helps. And I buy the AOSAfety foam plugs at Lowes and they are 32db and like 9 bucks for 80 pairs.

[E_Shaw90]

I have two set of these....

http://www.fbgear.com/instamold-custom-earplug-p-183.html

They have a location Chino and one in the greater Sacramento Area...If going to the Sac area Art Charvalla...is pretty flexible and is willing to meet at a Starbucks or similar...takes about 45 minutes total to get a custom set.

[prc104]

At the gunshows in SoCal there is the ear plug lady who usually has a booth there and custom makes them for you to fit your ear while you wait.

I like mine, they fit good and don't bother me at all. I just use them at the outdoor range though. Full head gear at the indoor.

[plan-b]

I like the Surefire EPs also. I use the EP4s at indoor ranges with earmuffs on top. I also have issues with foamies being painful but the Surefires have been fine for up to an hour at a time (haven't needed to wear them longer than that). The last time I was at an indoor range, the guys next to me were working over a Remington 870 with 00 Buck and the combo worked fine. I like them so much I bought a 2nd set of EP3s for when I'm riding my motorcycle.