:30 second review: Howard Leight stereo earmuffs

[socalocalypse]

Howard Leight 1030110 Sync Noise Blocking Stereo Earmuff

$26 at amazon.com

I was looking at the Impact Sport Electronic Earmuff, for $55, as I'd read a review that they were good. The NRR was only 22, and quite honestly I just didn't want to spend that much money.

I looked around and saw a link to these, and I'm glad I did! They don't have the external mike, so if that's what you need, these ain't it. For me, I just wanted to hear my ipod while I was shooting. I used to wear earbuds under my cans, but it was awkward and they'd fall out, not to mention they weren't always loud enough to hear.

So I ordered these, and they have an input jack so I can hook up my cell phone directly to them, and the 'phones don't require batteries. I was a bit leery of that, thinking they wouldn't be loud enough to hear. Well, I can report that they seem plenty loud enough to me. I'm loving how comfortable they are and how much sound they're reducing compared to my previous set of wal mart specials.

I haven't shot with them yet so I don't know how intrusive they are shooting a rifle. I can't see them being any worse than any other design, but there's only one way to find out.

[Burbur]

It appears that these are passive earmuffs, with some headphone speakers in them, right?

If I were off by myself in a secluded area, these look preferable. If I were in the presence of any other people, I'd stick with my Impact's as they allow me to hear voices better.

[dhyayi]

These things are amazing they do not get alot of volume but you can truly hear things in songs that you have never heard before, mostly because your blocking out background noise. The bass is surprisingly good even in sub 50Hz it still comes through well.

[DaveFJ80]

They work well when you are isolated and want to hear some tunes while shooting. But don't get accustomed to this and think that listening to music puts you into some sort or 'groove' or in some 'zone' to where you can shoot better when listening to music. If you come home and see your front door wide open at night, are you going to grab your iPod and turn it on & put in the earbuds or headphones and go clearing the house?

If I were off by myself in a secluded area, these look preferable. If I were in the presence of any other people, I'd stick with my Impact's as they allow me to hear voices better.

IMO, when there are others around, it's much safer to be able to hear the voices around you. Even if they're muffled, you can make out basic conversations or people/RO's yelling to move or get out if there's an emergency.



Now that I've gotten that off my chest, yes those Howard Leights will work well for just that. My friend has a pair, and I have the Impact Sports and have also tried using a MP3 player.... mainly to try and throw off my concentration during drills to see if it affected my shooting. But we used these on his private ranch where there was nobody around within 400 acres of us.

[socalocalypse]

I just got back from Angeles wearing these and they were great. There wasn't a lot of racket going on, but the big rifles were definitely quieter than my other set.

I could hear my show just fine and it was great not to have the microphone amplification clicking on and off.

I shot a marlin and a 10/22 and didn't have much trouble with interference. I like to double up with earplugs anyway.

The places I shoot have loudspeakers. I've never needed the external mike ones before, but I've got them for when I think they're better.

The worst form of tyrany is that from people who'd dictate to us how we should live our lives, because they think they know what's best for us. At least with a king he'll tire of edicts and leave some freedom if only by default, but tyrants saving us from ourselves never grow weary of issuing proclamations. Paraphrased of course.

We're adults, nobody needs instructions on what's best for their safety.

[Fastattack]

So why are they advertised as light to medium noise level industrial environment ear protectors? I get the impressions that they really aren't designed for loud sharp bangs.

[zod]

Sounds good enough for me. Just ordered these from Amazon too. Figured at the price, their definitely worth a try. If they don't work for me, I could always use them to tune out the kids.