Hearing protection

O

oberah

Joined
Jul 18, 2010
Messages
60
Location
Southern Missouri
Hi, I'm wanting to upgrade my hearing protection. My uses will be while using the lawnmower as well as at the gun range (indoor). I'm having trouble trying to figure this out however, the passive earmuffs go up to 30 dB and RR while the electronic ones are in the 22 to 24 range. Unless I want to hear somebody else, seems like a no-brainer to go for the nonelectronic and hire noise reduction earmuffs. Is there something more to this that I'm not seeing?
Thanks
 
Do you ever go to the range with people and talk to them? That is worth a set of electronics in and of itself. Put them on, turn them on, and you don't have to take them off until you're done. With the non-electronic ones, I've always found that if I'm at a public range and want to talk to someone, there's always someone nearby that's sending lead downrange, which is a bit loud when your muffs are off.
 
I like the cheap foam ones. Buy in bulk, leave a bag in the basement and one in the garage, and wherever needed. I find the hearing reduction modest, and will leave in while talking to people, but find them just fine for my power tools. A bit weak for shooting though, when the loudnboomers come out, might want muffs on top of foam.
 
I only tried the electronic ones once but I felt like they didn't deaden sound as well. May have been the particular brand, they weren't mine, I had borrowed them. If you don't need to talk to anyone much I wouldn't bother.
 
The electronic muffs do not have the higher DB ratings. In an indoor range I wear a pair of closed cell foam plugs, with a pair of Howard Leight, "Lightning" 33 DB muffs over them.

For trap and sporting clays I just wear foam plugs. Shotguns outdoors are low pressure rounds that are not terribly hard on the ears with just plugs. For high powered rifle I have a set of custom molded plugs that offer a bit better protection than the foam plugs. But I can't wear them for long periods of time because they bother me. So I take them out during range breaks.

I don't wear muffs shooting high powered, heavy recoiling rifles, because the recoil causes the muffs to hit the stock. I have even had issues with the low profile muffs doing this. Not to mention it's a good way to scratch up a nice wood stock.
 
You can get tapered foam plugs to 32 NRR. the Howard Leight muffs Bill mentioned are 30 NRR. Interestingly if you stack plugs and muffs you only gain 5 NRR. Former safety guy at work here. The trick with plugs is to twirl them between thumb and finger to compress and quickly slide them into the ear canal. You'll know when you get them right.
 
AZjeff said:
You can get tapered foam plugs to 32 NRR. the Howard Leight muffs Bill mentioned are 30 NRR. Interestingly if you stack plugs and muffs you only gain 5 NRR. Former safety guy at work here. The trick with plugs is to twirl them between thumb and finger to compress and quickly slide them into the ear canal. You'll know when you get them right.
Click to expand...
The reason i stack them, is i don't get a tight fit with the ear muffs , due to the eyeglass ear pieces. the foam by themselves , its hard to hear someone. So i go with foam plugs and the electronic muff to hear speech.
 
In the AF working around running jets we had to wear the foamies and "head knockers". We called it double protection and with all this I have hearing loss.
I always wear head knockers when around noise, lawnmower, shooting, etc. I don't think I would trust the noise canceling types.
 
Lawn mower muffs I'd get one with a built-in radio. Or one that doesn't lose much protection if running earbuds under them. I need to hear my news and politics when mowing the lawn.
 
Depending upon the work/noise I wear just foam, just over ear, or both. I haven’t warmed up to the electronic ones yet because of lower protection. If I got them I’d be more inclined to double up.
 
oberah said:
Hi, I'm wanting to upgrade my hearing protection. My uses will be while using the lawnmower as well as at the gun range (indoor). I'm having trouble trying to figure this out however, the passive earmuffs go up to 30 dB and RR while the electronic ones are in the 22 to 24 range. Unless I want to hear somebody else, seems like a no-brainer to go for the nonelectronic and hire noise reduction earmuffs. Is there something more to this that I'm not seeing?
Thanks
Click to expand...

I didn't have any experience with electronic earmuffs in the workplace. Looking at Midway's products electronic earmuffs have NRR ratings from 20-26 NRR, about the same as the cheapest regular earmuffs they sell. Good earmuffs are 30-32 NRR. Foam plugs range from 26-33 NRR.

NRR is Noise Reduction Rating, a measurement of how much a product reduces the noise level. Not as simple as subtracting the NRR number from the noise level, the lab method is to subtract 7 from the rating then subtract that from the noise level. OSHA's method is to subtract 7 then divide that number in half.

When I shoot I use tapered foam plugs and muffs. I have some hearing loss, mainly high frequency I blame on 2 stroke motorcycles and stock cars in younger years. I want to keep what I still have.

Some earplugs make my ear canals hurt after a while, I've found Mack's ultrasoft earplugs very comfortable and they have a 33 NRR.
 
I use foam plugs on the mower. Muffs make my ears sweat too much in summer heat. Macks are my choice.
Shooting I use Walkers electronic muffs. No need to yell at your buddy in the next station.
 
For the range use, I got Peltor Tactical Sport many years ago and replaced ear pads with gel pads, very comfortable and good for indoors. Never had to double up with ear plugs. Gel pads isolate sound more, much more comfy to wear for hours, great with glasses.
There is a good cheaper route as well - Walker Razor and add gel pads to them.
 
Yea, the wonderful side effects of hearing loss. I have the tinnitus and vertigo and there is something going on in my left ear that the ENT and neurologist can't figure out. I'm a mess! AND, the VA won't compensate me for the tinnitus and vertigo which are a direct result of my hearing loss which was job related.
 
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