Eletronic Hearing protection.

[ArevaloSOCOM]

What are you using/ recommend and why?

TIA.

[Ramius]

Peltor 6S is my old standby. They are about $80/pair now a days.

Low profile (so you can shoot long guns), overall good set of ears.

If you shoot indoors and not many long guns you can go to the Peltor 7S, bulkier but provides more protection. Does NOT work well on rifles/shotguns.

If you got $$, move up to something like Peltor Comtacs (water-resistant) and can be hooked up to comms but now you are talking about $200 - $400.00/pair.

The very best are Sordins Supreme Pros. They run anywhere from $200 - $400/pair. They have the best electronic (attenuation instead of clipping) on sound -- that means when you are having a conversation with someone while there is gunfire in the background the noise impulse is not clipped out. Waterproof, and overall very well made.

Only problem with Sordins is if you have a big head, they tend to pinch.

[Poacher]

I tried the comtacs several years ago and hated them. So I went back to regular plugs then used surefire plugs for awhile.
I finally got a pair of the sordin supreme pros and they are the best electronic set I have found. Low profile and not "clippy" like the comtacs were.
They are for sure worth the money.

[rob_s]

MSA Sordins or custom plugs (sometimes both). Nothing else.

[jreinke]

Peltor 6S is my old standby. They are about $80/pair now a days.

Low profile (so you can shoot long guns), overall good set of ears.

If you shoot indoors and not many long guns you can go to the Peltor 7S, bulkier but provides more protection. Does NOT work well on rifles/shotguns.

If you got $$, move up to something like Peltor Comtacs (water-resistant) and can be hooked up to comms but now you are talking about $200 - $400.00/pair.

The very best are Sordins Supreme Pros. They run anywhere from $200 - $400/pair. They have the best electronic (attenuation instead of clipping) on sound -- that means when you are having a conversation with someone while there is gunfire in the background the noise impulse is not clipped out. Waterproof, and overall very well made.

Only problem with Sordins is if you have a big head, they tend to pinch.

+1 for Comtacs. I really like mine!

[tothemax]

i have the howard light protectors that cabelas sells. they were fairly cheap and work well. there is also a nice spot to plug your ipod into if you wish to do so.

[noiseless]

MSA Sordins or custom plugs (sometimes both). Nothing else.

I've used a bunch of the electronic hearing protection out there and have gone all Sordin now

The quality of electronics is excellent, very comfortable and very well built

[bnutriaz]

Thats why I use my Silencers! ha ha ha

Sorry, had to, Askin about ear pro on Silencertalk!


Coop

I cant believe I was the first to say it!

[silentobsession]

I've never owned a pair of muffs that weren't extremely uncomfortable while wearing eye protection. Can anybody comment on their experiences with any of these muffs while wearing eye pro?

[Cheetah]

I've got Peltor 7s. While certainly bulky, I don't have any problems with rifles or shotguns..Maybe I'm weird. They work great for the protection, they're surprisingly comfortable, and they didn't cost too much. When I was shopping around I saw a bunch of reviews complaining about it taking "over a second" for sound to come back after a gunshot clipped it out. Mine definitely don't take anywhere near that, I'd say more like a couple tenths of a second.

That said, all the research I did showed Sordins to be the best out there, they were just out of my price range. Figured I'd get a good set, upgrade to Sordins later and have a spare set for anyone I'm shooting with.

[chrismartin]

I've never owned a pair of muffs that weren't extremely uncomfortable while wearing eye protection. Can anybody comment on their experiences with any of these muffs while wearing eye pro?

Get the Comtact or sportacs and get the Gel ear seals (Gel ear hygiene kit)
I think the MSA Sordins have this available as well.
Best thing EVER!

I use the Sportacs and they have been great for me. With the gel ear seals, they are so much better than every other muff I've worn.

[withoutremorse42]

i have the howard light protectors that cabelas sells. they were fairly cheap and work well. there is also a nice spot to plug your ipod into if you wish to do so.

I have these as well. Love them, most of my shooting buddies are ordering them now.

[doubloon]

I bought two pair a while back to see if the $250 pair was worth the extra $$ over the $60 pair.

I bought Howard Leight Impact Sport Electronic Earmuffs and Pro-Ears Predator Gold.

Now that I have both I'm going to end up keeping both but the Pro Ears will be my primary electronic ears and the Howard Leights will be my "guest" pair. Had I not liked the Pro Ears I would have sent them back to reclaim my $250 less shipping but getting $60 back less shipping seemed less worth the effort.

I like the slim profile, single volume control and the single audio input on the Leights but the Pro Ears are considerably better overall in construction, quiet and amplification.

I don't like the separate volume controls or the separate audio inputs on the Pro Ears and the profile is just tolerable for rifle shooting.

They both seem to cut-off reasonably well, the cut-off on the Pro Ears seems to be a bit more "crisp".

They will both amplify ambient noise if desired but Pro Ears amplifies to a lower maximum than the Leights and the quality of amplified sound is 100 times better on the Pro Ears. I tried the amplification on both in my breakfast room and the Leights scared the s--t out of me ... what I thought was a tank with a bad track pulling into my front yard turned out to be my fridge trying to chill my beer in the kitchen.

I figure the whole reason I might want electronic ears is to be able to pick up non-gunshot sounds while still keeping the gunshots themselves within a tolerable volume. If I simply don't want to hear gunshots I'll wear a standard pair of ears with a higher NRR than the electronic can deliver.

So, based on my interpretation of the purpose of electronic ears the Pro Ears are mine and the Leights are yours as a guest should you choose to wear them if you accompany me on a shoot.

[Selectedmarksman]

I've never owned a pair of muffs that weren't extremely uncomfortable while wearing eye protection. Can anybody comment on their experiences with any of these muffs while wearing eye pro?

Get the Comtact or sportacs and get the Gel ear seals (Gel ear hygiene kit)
I think the MSA Sordins have this available as well.
Best thing EVER!

I use the Sportacs and they have been great for me. With the gel ear seals, they are so much better than every other muff I've worn.

+1 for this.

I have a set of TacticalSports with the gel-cups and they're great. They're comfortable for hours with my prescription eye-pro and I love the attenuation feature. I'll never buy any 'clipping' electronic ears after using these. You can have an easy conversation no matter how chaotic the range fire is, they automatically drop the volume of the gunfire and boost the volume of softer sounds. I can hear people talking at the other side of the line and never get those 'black-out' moments that clipping style electronic ear-pro gives you.

[Eight]

I've never owned a pair of muffs that weren't extremely uncomfortable while wearing eye protection. Can anybody comment on their experiences with any of these muffs while wearing eye pro?

Get the Comtact or sportacs and get the Gel ear seals (Gel ear hygiene kit)
I think the MSA Sordins have this available as well.
Best thing EVER!

I use the Sportacs and they have been great for me. With the gel ear seals, they are so much better than every other muff I've worn.

+1 for this.

I have a set of TacticalSports with the gel-cups and they're great. They're comfortable for hours with my prescription eye-pro and I love the attenuation feature. I'll never buy any 'clipping' electronic ears after using these. You can have an easy conversation no matter how chaotic the range fire is, they automatically drop the volume of the gunfire and boost the volume of softer sounds. I can hear people talking at the other side of the line and never get those 'black-out' moments that clipping style electronic ear-pro gives you.

+2

I have the Tactical Sports (without the gel cups right now). I was really surprised the first time I used them on the range. You can hear people talking 20 feet away all while having a gun go off right next to you. The gunshot just sounds like a far-off gunshot without wearing hearing protection.

[unclemoak]

I use a pair of MSA-Sordin Pro X's with gel cushions on them along with a pair of surefire plugs. This is by far the most comfortable combination that I've found. Don't get me wrong, they are pricey, but being young I feel they are totally worth it because I want to be able to hear my grand kids some day.

I have found that sometimes when you use other generic plugs for an extended period of time they tend to make your ear canal hurt, this is especially true if you are wearing plugs underneath muffs, but this isn't the case with the surefire plugs because of the soft silicon rubber they use and their low profile. I typically double up with the plugs and muffs for an extra bit of protection. Granted I need to turn up the volume on the muffs the whole way to be able to hear anything, but to me it's worth it.

The MSA-Sordin's also have a port on the back if you want to integrate them with an mp3 player or two-way radio.

[mhuffman]

For the MSA's do you guys prefer standard headband or neckband. I've only used headband under my helmet and though not perfect I didn't have any other choice. Now that I am buying for me I can make my own decision. So... Which do you prefer?
Thanks.

[mk23]

Peltor Comtac II

I got them several months ago, and have used them extensively, inlcuding two MG shoots.

They are the way to go. Comfy, good sound reduction, extra audio input.

On MG shoots, I usually wear them with ear plugs and turn the amplification all the way up.

That way you get to hear customers asking question, while still being comfortable when the Ma-Deuce lights up next to you.

I got them from here, with an additional 10% coupon

http://www.botachtactical.com/pelcomtac.html

[doubloon]

Hmm, plugs with amplification turned up sounds like a plan worth trying.

Thanks!

[imyomama]

i have a pro-ears...had them for years..and love them! but I use custom modled ear plugs now , my dad Bought them for me , we had them made a the gun show and they are way more comfortable when shooting rifles and in the Texas heat..

[fstbk65]

I use Dillons muffs, I don't remember how much they were. I've had them for years. They don't cutt off the sound on gunfire so you can continue your conversation. I even took them hunting once so I could hear better than normal! but didn't like sitting there that long wearing muffs...

I need to get replacement pads for mine now. They've seen alot of use.

[2manygunz]

For the MSA's do you guys prefer standard headband or neckband. I've only used headband under my helmet and though not perfect I didn't have any other choice. Now that I am buying for me I can make my own decision. So... Which do you prefer?
Thanks.

My personal choice was headband. They don't budge. And you can expand it large enough to fit over a ball cap.

[mk23]

Hmm, plugs with amplification turned up sounds like a plan worth trying.

Thanks!

It works nicely.

That's also how I wear them when attending Firearms' training.

[gunrgood]

i want to buy a set of sordins, can anyone recommend the best source to purchase these? are the SORDIN SUPREME PRO-X the ideal ones to get? I'm guessing that the pro-x is the latest version

thanks

[goteron]

GreyGroup.. tomorrow and tomorrow only they are having a 20% off sale using the coupon code "wednesday" That brings them into affordable territory.

Not to mention, greygroup is friggin awesome.