I need good hearing protection.

[jmarriott]

I have always relied on the little orange and yellow earplugs.

I sometimes used them in combo with ear muffs that never really fit me right, (Mostly when i new what i was shooting real boomers like cutts compensator 12 guage barrels, .35 rem contender barrels ect. )

I am now hearing thousands of rounds in a afternoon, turkey shoots, skeet range, range work, automatic rifles with hi-cap mags.

I used to just hunt. Other than Original scope mounting, sighting in and the normal 3-shot check up group i really did not shoot that often other than hunting. Some years i might have just shot 1/2 box 12 guage 5's, 4 steel 3 inch mags, 5 12 guage slugs, and 20 rounds of 22 rimfire mag. Now i shoot much more

I don't wanna end up with the majority of my spoken words being "what" .

Which do you use (Brand model)
What do you like?

[gumpokc]

Send a PM to Rocky Raab, he can steer you in the right direction.

I used to have a set of custom made silicone earplugs, best money i ever spent.
Used them for years shooting and in my job, when on field sites, delivering oil to gas-patch compresson sites.

[reload]

Have used many types from custom to the peltors that I am now am using, they work great. You can pick different decibels depending on how protected you want to be. There are a good number of them on E-bay and good prices. Good Luck

[Rocky Raab]

There is NO protection as good as custom-molded plugs. By themselves, they are AT LEAST as quiet as foam plugs and muffs together.

They have to be personally fitted. For a supplier near you (or any of you) call E.A.R. at 1-800-525-2690.

A pair will run anywhere from $50 to $100 depending on the material you select. Silicone ones are lower than polyvinyl. Both are excellent and will last for years.

[woodchuckchucker]

Another alternative. Go to the nearest hearing aid center and have them pour the quick setting gunk into your ear to make a mold of your ear. They will send them out to their lab and make a set of plugs that are nearly indestructable. I've been using mine for 8 years now. It is a requirement of my employment! I think they cost around $90 in this area. Well worth the money spent. Ill post a pic if you desire. Say the word. Bill.............

[woodchuckchucker]

Since I think that this topic is so important, I decided to post a pic so everyone can see what the plugs look like. You can wear em all day in comfort.

[Rocky Raab]

Yup. Those are the indestructible vinyl ones, if they're flexible, or acrylic if they're not flexible/soft.

Silicone or vinyl are flexible and soft for more comfort. Worth their weight in bellybuttons.

[Cal Sibley]

Thanks guys. I've learned a fair amount from this post. I currently use the Peltor's with a DB rating of 29. I think that's about as good as it gets with this type of equipment. However I feel the need for more protection. Will it help to wear ear plugs under my Peltor? Or, should I just consider something entirely different as mentioned above? Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[woodchuckchucker]

Cal, I feel compelled to add this, especially after your last post. As a condition my employment, I MUST conform to my employers requirements that I wear plugs under muffs. The equipment that I use makes so much noise that either plugs or muffs alone will not reduce the noise to below allowable federal standards. I wear the form fitted plugs under Pelter muffs. Just to help others understand, I run a Dry Ice Blaster. The principal is about the same as a bead blaster, with the exception that I use dry ice pellets under pressure to clean things. A 1"air line charged with about 96 psi makes a bunch of noise. Can you say instant head pain? All this noise happens at arms length. Plugs under muffs work. Can you read lips?

[Rocky Raab]

Cal, the NRR ratings are not additive. That is, if you wear a set of NRR 25 muffs plus a set of NRR 25 plugs, you do not get a protection rating of 50. It'd be more like 28.

Good, properly fitted muffs with liquid seals can run up to NRR 29. Foam plugs (IF worn correctly!) can achieve NRR 29. The combo will get you about NRR 31.

The theoretical maximum is about NRR33, because you get so much sound from bone conduction (the whole skull, not just behind the ear).

I wish you well.

[jmarriott]

Well thanks to you guy's and the local OSHA office in Indiana I am almost sure my company is picking up the bill on some custom Ear plugs for me at no cost out of my pocket.

I do sound setup's in Schools, auditoriums, Bar's, Ect. Sound masking in building, Fire alarm in commercial buildings, Data electronics Ect.

I picked up a new client for the company though old friends thank has special emergancy announcement pages that must come out at nearly 85 DB to overcome the sound of the metal stamping machines.

Requirements are allowable federal standards and I must wear both while working at the stamping plant.

Without my ears staying in good working condition makes it much harder to balance a audio system for live preformance's. I can do it with just machines fairly well but the ear is a wonderfull thing.

[Cal Sibley]

Good topic guys. Thanks for some very useful information. A good set of ear plugs is sounding better (pun) all the time. Besides, I'm tired of getting my wooden stocks scratched up by the muffs. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[Riff]

Plugs and muffs seem like good ideas at the range. However, I'm looking for a good solution for hunting. I do a lot of stalking/still hunting, and sound is a critical element of finding game. Also, its nice to hear yourself - are you making too much noise as you walk? My current solution is one earplug in the left ear, nothing in the right (I shoot right handed). It's a marginal solution at best.

I've been looking at the powered muffs and the "in-the-ear" style of powered hearing protection, because 2 "in-the-ear" units would be quite expensive. In the "ear muff style" category, it looks like there are three options:

Monophonic, one mic piped to both ears. $35 - 65 price range.
Stereo, seperate mic for each ear. $65-150 price range.
Quad, two directional mics for each ear. $200+

I got frustrated trying to decide whether it was worth the extra money for the Quad muffs, so I bought a set of stereo muffs yesterday. They are Radians Pro-Amps, $80.00. I'll be trying them out this week, and if anyone is interested I'll post a "review."

[Rocky Raab]

Riff and others...

There IS an "in-between" solution: filtered earplugs.

There is a filter that can be inserted into earplugs that allows sound up to conversational level to pass through, but damps louder sounds down. They don't amplify, but they do allow near-normal hearing plus a decent amount of protection.

They work by what you might call mechanical sound cancellation. The interior channel of the filter reflects sound waves back on themselves to achieve wave cancellation. It works.

If you have custom plugs that you'd like to have filtered, I'll do it for $10 (that's half price, just for HC members). Or I can send you a set of filtered "generic" plugs for $20. Contact me by PM or email. Put "earplug" or "Hunt Chat" in the email Subject line so it doesn't get bounced.

NOTE! Filtered plugs are NOT the same as the so-called "valve" designs which claim to close on sound pressure. Those things do NOT work because they cannot be faster than sound if they are powered by sound waves. The lag time in the valve allows the first -and most damaging- sound wave to get by. Valve plugs are the only dangerous plugs on the market. Do not buy them.

[Jack]

I'll second what Rocky says about the valve plugs- won't mention the name, but it starts with an L-
They don't work at all, IME