Thread: best budget electronic earmuffs

I'm going to get the Mrs some electronic earpro for xmas, as an upgrade from standard ones. Im looking for something preferably under $100...

A bit of googling has bought up these :
https://xhunteronline.co.nz/collecti...-explorer-plus
Although I have not heard of this brand before, and actually never heard of this website either. Has anyone used these muffs or dealt with this Xhunter company before?

Failing that, does anyone have any recommendations for budget muffs? I have tried the aliexpress-howard-leight knockoffs and they're not too bad for the price, but I don't think they will arrive in time if I order now.

Something seems off with that Xhunter website also, it has postage options that don't equate to NZ post, and only accepts payment in paypal. I think it may be an overseas drop shipping company.
It also lists products we wouldn't buy in NZ, like rifle carriers that go on the backs of car seats.
I will pass on that website and look elsewhere.

The only thing I can say is how often will she be using them and can you get replacement ear pads and foam wind blockers? I started with cheap ones, and they either sucked or died young. Just about abandoned the idea but got a second hand set of Peltor's cheap - revelation. Way better in every respect, night and day. They were an early pair of tacticals that had independent on/off and volume on each earcup - I soon replaced them with a pair of sporttacs which are very good but not enough noise suppression for the range or muzzle braked firearms. I doubt you will have that issue for the Mrs though?

The benefit of the Peltors and equivalent brands is that you can get the parts to freshen them up from a variety of sources, if you use them frequently you'll probably find the earcups give up once a year or so.

Just ran that site thru SSL Labs. Came back "Not Trusted, Server Certificate Not Trusted" and an overall rating of T (Best is an A). It would have got an A if ignoring the server cerificate.
Alternative name of myshopify.com came up.

No obvious way of contacting them.
Beware.

A saying that has always stuck with me - "I don't make enough money to buy cheap things".

Originally Posted by zimmer

Just ran that site thru SSL Labs. Came back "Not Trusted, Server Certificate Not Trusted" and an overall rating of T (Best is an A). It would have got an A if ignoring the server cerificate.
Alternative name of myshopify.com came up.

No obvious way of contacting them.
Beware.

There was enough red flags on that one I’ve decided to ignore that website already, but thanks for the additional info

Originally Posted by No.3

The only thing I can say is how often will she be using them and can you get replacement ear pads and foam wind blockers? I started with cheap ones, and they either sucked or died young. Just about abandoned the idea but got a second hand set of Peltor's cheap - revelation. Way better in every respect, night and day. They were an early pair of tacticals that had independent on/off and volume on each earcup - I soon replaced them with a pair of sporttacs which are very good but not enough noise suppression for the range or muzzle braked firearms. I doubt you will have that issue for the Mrs though?

The benefit of the Peltors and equivalent brands is that you can get the parts to freshen them up from a variety of sources, if you use them frequently you'll probably find the earcups give up once a year or so.

She only shoots at the range once a month. If she uses the cheap ones often enough to wear them out, then next Xmas can be some nice peltors. I’m gonna order some $50 ones from AliExpress for now

gun city

I've had a set of caldwell ones for a while with no problems - sorry can't recall what I paid but they are pretty budget

chuck up review when they arrive please.....

Originally Posted by -BW-

I'm going to get the Mrs some electronic earpro for xmas, as an upgrade from standard ones. Im looking for something preferably under $100...

A bit of googling has bought up these :
https://xhunteronline.co.nz/collecti...-explorer-plus
Although I have not heard of this brand before, and actually never heard of this website either. Has anyone used these muffs or dealt with this Xhunter company before?

Failing that, does anyone have any recommendations for budget muffs? I have tried the aliexpress-howard-leight knockoffs and they're not too bad for the price, but I don't think they will arrive in time if I order now.

What are you currently using yourself?

I got the daughter some of the Howard Leight knockoff ones (shes at the low end of the ASD/spectrum and struggles with noise and large groups etc so the idea was that they might help her with the volume control and external noise dampening).

They do work, but I found the noise suppression out of them was not a patch on the real ones (but they were less than a 1/3 of the cost). I ended up packing the earcups with more foam (there basically wasn't any in them at all) and flogged the earcup seals off a spare pair of helmet-mounted HL passive earmuffs I had loafing which helped the noise suppression so that they are functional. The foam windsocks fell off the microphone ports early on, and I had to repair the solder joints on some wires inside but apart from those issues they work and to land them in NZ was if I recall it right about NZ$50. We've subsequently ended up getting her some pink JBL audio-type noise cancelling earphones and an MP4 player - she likes those more for some reason (thanks Child Disability Allowance for the funding support). Dunno if that helps any or if they are the same type that you're getting in...

Don't buy the cheap ones from GC

Originally Posted by zimmer

What are you currently using yourself?

I have some Peltor Tactical which I bought years ago on sale from Amazon, and back before the freight cost increases and automatic GST inclusion, cost around $100 at the time.

I have gone with some Walker chinese knock-offs for now, and if she takes a liking to them we will invest more on something better quality. Or alternatively, if they don't provide adequate hearing protection, we'll try something else. But for $30 shipped from aliexpress I guess its worth the experiment. A few guys at the range are using various types of chinese knock-offs, and say they are good value for money.

Will post a review when we get them.

Originally Posted by Three O'Three

Don't buy the cheap ones from GC

Agreed. I once bought a set of those unbranded GC muffs about 8 or 9 years ago. What a waste of $60 they were! The reactive noise reduction was terrible, and one side stopped working after a few months.