Hearing and Ear Damage

[futureExpat]

which brands in headphones do you guys recommend?

[CleverName]

I always double up inside. Even if it's not a lot more protection, it's still more protection. That's enough reason for me.

By the way, does anybody have any experience with custom earplugs? What's the price, and are they worth the cost over the standard non-disposeable.

[HowardW56]

PROTECT YOUR HEARING.....

When I was young and dumb, my friends and I would go shooting every other weekend without hearing protection....

I am paying the price now, I hear a ringing in my ears all the time now and will for the rest of my life.

PROTECT YOUR HEARING!!!!!

[ojisan]

Cars have mufflers. Motorcyles have mufflers. Lawnmowers have mufflers.
In fact, mufflers are required by law for these.
Guns can't have mufflers?

WHAT?

[trinydex]

which brands in headphones do you guys recommend?

my peltors are definitely the shizzy... get something that is comfortable i know that normal peltor dome muffs hurt my head after a while. but if you get the noise canceling ones that are low profile i think the fact that they press against your ear and not cup it makes them more comfy and less headache inducing.

[Greg-Dawg]

Yeah, no ear protection hurts.

If you're really concerned, go stop by a hearing doctor to check your hearing. Also, I always double up on ear protection at the range.

[Rob454]

Ive used the Surefire ear plugs. They work pretty well. You can hear regular talking but when you fire a gun they somehow muffle it. I used to use the big giant ear warmer style of hearing protection. Surefire will also make you a custom set of earplugs if you go in to their store
Rob

[outersquare]

i think i have some hearing loss in my left side, from a club that was so loud, it felt like a shockwave through my head. I left after a couple minutes but obviously the damage is done by then. My ears were ringing for days.

Bring foam earplugs everywhere. Leave them in the car, they don't weigh much and don't cost anything, but the benefit is almost priceless.

If ANY place is too loud, and you have no hearing protection, just leave and do so immediately. Like already said in this thread, the damage is cumulative AND irreversible, better to be too safe than not.

good luck

[Xerxes]

When I was young and dumb, my friends and I would go shooting every other weekend without hearing protection....

I am paying the price now, I hear a ringing in my ears all the time now and will for the rest of my life.

PROTECT YOUR HEARING!!!!!

HUH? What did you say, HUH?

Can you say it again?

HUH?

Can you speak up please so I can hear you.

HUH?

My pops is like this. It is so bad that he just automatically says HUH? anytime someone says something then decides if he heard you correctly (which he usually does not). He even fills in words he does not hear correctly with other words which makes for some interesting conversations.

So if you don't want your kids to think of you as being the HUH? dad and foolish in conversation then please wear you ear plugs and muffs.

When I was younger there were a lot of WWII vets in the neighborhood, and they like my grandpa had all become pretty much deaf and always saying HUH? or alternatively not saying anything because they did not understand the conversation. I say they lost their hearing for a good cause and it was not out of laziness that they did not wear their plugs and muffs but for all of us it would be laziness and not for a good cause.

HUH? you say, well you should have worn your ear plugs and ear muffs.

[HowardW56]

HUH? What did you say, HUH?

Can you say it again?

HUH?

Can you speak up please so I can hear you.

HUH?

My pops is like this. It is so bad that he just automatically says HUH? anytime someone says something then decides if he heard you correctly (which he usually does not). He even fills in words he does not hear correctly with other words which makes for some interesting conversations.

So if you don't want your kids to think of you as being the HUH? dad and foolish in conversation then please wear you ear plugs and muffs.

When I was younger there were a lot of WWII vets in the neighborhood, and they like my grandpa had all become pretty much deaf and always saying HUH? or alternatively not saying anything because they did not understand the conversation. I say they lost their hearing for a good cause and it was not out of laziness that they did not wear their plugs and muffs but for all of us it would be laziness and not for a good cause.

HUH? you say, well you should have worn your ear plugs and ear muffs.

You are absolutely correct, I have nobody to blame but myself. That is why I put the emphasis on protecting your hearing...

People are more aware today of the long term effects of various environmental exposures, as a kid I wasn't.

I was going to be young and full of piss and vinegar forever. Or should I admit that I was just young and dumb...

But I never made light of anyone's disability, whatever the cause!

[A324]

eh?

[Paul]

Hearing damage is forever.

There is a documented phenomana where the mind shuts off the ear during high-stress gunfire and somehow avoids actually hearing the shots. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman writes about it in "On Killing" which is an excellent book BTW. He has cases where a cop involved in a shooting believes that his gun has malfunctioned - yet the partner right behind him clearly hears the blasts.

ALWAY WEAR HEARING PROTECTION AT THE RANGE.

[X-caliber]

Does anyone know which specific combination of plugs and ear muffs provide the best hearing protection?

I have found that Howard Leight Leighnting L3 (30 db) along with Silencio red-e-fit earplugs (32 DB) really do a good job together. The combination was recommended to me by a few different people on 1911forum.com, as well as indoor range instructors who spend hours in indoor ranges daily. I have found the provided protection to be the best I have tried so far. The Leightning L3 muffs are comfortable and are a bit less bulky then most of the other muffs that provide the same amount of noise reduction.

[.38 Special]

I always double up inside. Even if it's not a lot more protection, it's still more protection. That's enough reason for me.

By the way, does anybody have any experience with custom earplugs? What's the price, and are they worth the cost over the standard non-disposable.

Custom plugs normally retail for around $150 including a visit to the audiologist or hearing aid dispenser for ear impressions. (There are at least two companies that make "do it yourself" versions. I have no experience with them.)

I've tested several custom plugs in the sound booth (I'm a hearing aid specialist) and have found them to be approximately as effective as the roll-up type foam plugs (E-A-R, etc.) which is to say, moderate. They work best at low frequencies, which is unfortunate, as the high frequencies are the most damaging. Fit, of course, is critical as well. If your first pair doesn't fit correctly, demand a remake -- the manufacturers offer this at no charge, because the first go-around does have a 10-15 percent failure rate -- so don't let your audiologist/dispenser bully you. Might even be a good idea to determine their re-make policy at the outset.

The primary advantage, IMO, is that custom plugs are more comfortable and easier to insert than foam plugs, and they stay put once inserted. I still would not depend upon them alone for shooting, though, and always double up with a full-size pair of Peltor muffs.

HTH!

[UBFRAGD]

Let me add some purely subjective comments. Last year I was at an outdoor range and noticed that the only other people up there were not wearing ears of any kind, they were shooting .22, .40, .45, and .223's. They were in their 30's and appeared relatively normal otherwise. As the day wore on, I grew curious about shooting without ears. I had seen tons of war footage, and the combat soldiers had zero ear protection. Since I'm no stranger to loudness, after a break I decided to give it a try, and left my ears off.
10 rnds 10mm DT 180FMJ: Loud but could get used to it!
6 rnds 12ga light target loads: Not that bad! Very cool to hear the report roll around the hills!
1 rnd .308 168BTHP (M1A NM): I almost dropped the rifle. The pain was excruciating. It seemed like a wave of concussive force blew through my entire sinus cavity. The pain in my ears did not abate for about five minutes. It took three days for my hearing to return to "normal". One shot, serious hearing damage.