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Update me on hearing protection please


buttonbuck

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I use squishys with a set of 24db over the ear and I'm not sure how cumulative it works out with actual numbers, but it certainly seems quieter than just OTA alone or squishys alone.  That said I think it's time to update my old OTA's with a set that at least has a padded section on top that bugs the crap out of me.  I tried some Howard Leight electronics and they are neat, but don't seal real well around the bottom of my ear w/o staying put.  I have to wear coke bottle glasses and keeping a good cheek weld isn't easy b/t fidgeting with pressure on glasses and fat ear muffs! 

I am readying about severa pairs of over the ear that go over 30db in the 32-37 range.  Anyone have anything they wanna suggest they like?  Seems the big bulky ones just don't let me keep a good cheek weld and i take a ton of offhand shots this time of year in full hog mode(weeping rifle season just ended:(

Thanks for updating me I think my current pair dates back to the Bill Clinton administration!

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I also wear glass's and use Howard Leigh electronic muffs. I also use the type of plugs the Menards sells that have like small rings on them [ orange by 3M in small white storage container]. If it's real loud like when a guy sat next to me with a .300 Win Mag I use both muff & plugs. I try to shoot outside as much as possible. After almost 40 yrs. in industry my hearing is fukked. Tinnitus big time.

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7 minutes ago, buttonbuck said:

 You guys are using the electronic ones?   Am I just imagining it or is there a cumulative effect to doubling up with squishy's?

I wear both the squishy ear plugs and the electronic muffs. There is a noticable effect of using both. If you doubt that, wear both to an active range. Lift one of the ear muffs off your ear and I guarantee you, you'll notice the difference.

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 You guys are using the electronic ones?   Am I just imagining it or is there a cumulative effect to doubling up with squishy's?

 

 I always double up when timing isn't an issue shooting at the  lease….Never shoot indoors. When I'm hunting now it takes way too much time to get squishy's in and then earmuffs so I've just been using muffs.   Way too much to miss if you can't hear what's going on the last Two hogs I shot we're almost 180° behind me I probably wouldn't have known they were there had I not heard them walking and sloshing through the swamp

 To hogs I shot we're almost 180° behind me I probably wouldn't have known they were there had I not heard them 

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I like the electronic HL I have, but for some damn reason I cannot use them when shooting a rifle and resort to the squishies. I am assuming I'm doing something wrong as far as how I shoot, though my dad has the same issue. Is it possible that we just have a bad combination of physical features...or is it as I expect and it's just incorrect form?

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If you are talking about cheek weld no I don't think that's bad form.   I believe it's a basic foundation to repeatable success. You can get by with out a great cheek weld shooting on a bench, but when you stand up offhand it's awfully hard to get study if you don't get locked in To the comb.   That's primarily why when I know I'm going to be shooting at running hongs I bring my bolt action because it's as close to a custom fit as I could ever hope for I don't have to think about anything just shoulder and I'm locked in 

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I just use squishies and some $9 Walmart Winchester Micky mouse ears at the range. Depending on the rifle they can interfere with my cheek weld so I just push that side off a little. I tend to just use squishies when were tromping around the desert. I recently tried a friend's electronics and it was pretty cool to be able to hear. Think I'm going to pick some up after I do some research.

 

8 years in the army

9 years so far in these obnoxiously loud armored trucks

Several years as a rave/club DJ

Lifetime gun enthusiast

Lifetime punk/rock/metal concertgoer

I'm far past the point of good hearing anyway.

 

Edited by blue109
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1 hour ago, blue109 said:

I just use squishies and some $9 Walmart Winchester Micky mouse ears at the range. Depending on the rifle they can interfere with my cheek weld so I just push that side off a little. I tend to just use squishies when were tromping around the desert. I recently tried a friend's electronics and it was pretty cool to be able to hear. Think I'm going to pick some up after I do some research.

 

8 years in the army

9 years so far in these obnoxiously loud armored trucks

Several years as a rave/club DJ

Lifetime gun enthusiast

Lifetime punk/rock/metal concertgoer

I'm far past the point of good hearing anyway.

While not in the military I think I did most of my hearing damage at one of the first Monsters of Rock shows.  Metallica came back out for an encore of One and Fade to Black.....my jeans were literally pressed flat of wrinkles after that.  Not healthy, but damn fun!

 

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I use H.L,s and I use a can on everything PLUS my hearing aids are custom fitted and I can program them from my phone to cut out everything over 25 db,my tinnitis is so bad from 20 years drumming in front of two or four Marshall stacks and shooting guns with no protection AND running a chainsaw for a living after I found out I would never be rich playing music so i say what? a lot!

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My wife claims I bought her a pair of Walker's Alpha Earmuffs, stole them, and had to buy her a pair to replace the ones I "got all nasty with sweat."

I'm pretty sure I bought them for myself, let her use them to qualify, then she insisted on a pair for herself so she could hear what everybody else at her department's range was saying about her behind her back. :laffs:

Either way, I've used those Walker's Alphas for about 3 years now, and can't imagine going back to plain ol' earmuffs and/or earplugs.

When I'm shooting at an indoor range (twice a year at the very most), I'll run squishy earplugs under the Alphas. Otherwise, I have never felt the need to double up on ear protection.

Edited by COBrien
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Always double up. This from a guy who has lost 80% of his hearing from noise induced hearing loss. When I was a kid we went to the range and never wore protection. Plus I had jobs in a loud car wash with no protection and ran an unmuffled power auger digging holes for two summers. In retrospect that is my biggest regret in life. 16 inch barrels are by far the worst on high velocity rifles, Especially when you are at the station next to them. I have electronic ones, but I prefer to wear High DB protection traditional over the ear with squishy's underneath. When I shoot my four inch barrel 44 magnum, I can definitely tell the difference between having squishy's and not. And make sure your kids double up as well, it will affect them the rest of their life if they lose part of their hearing. I lost a lot of opportunities in my life because of hearing damage.

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I always use plugs and muffs at the range.  Unfortunately, the range I use had to put sheets of plywood in front of the firing line to make sure you don't shoot over the target backstops.  Get a lot of sound blown back in your face.  I use Walker Razor electronic plugs under Brownell muffs.

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