Thread: Dont take hearing protection lightly

Originally Posted by SiB

@jacksimonton
Ordinary (passive) ear muffs and plugs are simply a foam type material that deaden the sound - effectively too if you buy class 5 gear not budget gear

Electronic earmuffs (and some plugs) have microphones, with the ability to slightly amplify ordinary conversations so you can hear them with muffs on, and special circuitry that switches “off” any loud noises.

I’ve just switched from the usual passive to electronic. Very happy

Note the previous comments that a foam type plug inside electronic muffs is also possible for loud environmental noises

Thanks for your beautiful response.

Originally Posted by zimmer

Yep, range use with 308s, 284s, 7mmSAUMs.

MSA Sordins. Wouldn't be happy to trust the cheapies. I already have substantial hearing loss from the days when only weaklings wore muffs.

On the odd occassion due to other shooters nearby have also used throwaway ear plugs under my electronic muffs.

I use sordins with my braked 7mm, they work well, especially with the gel cup.

Helped the neighbour across the road do a fence using his nail gun. Came away with tinnitus
Sometimes don’t notice it and sometimes quite annoying
Would have only taken 5min to get earmuffs from home and now a life sentence

I had a cockup while hunting with the braked 28 Nosler over the weekend.

Had plugs in ready to shoot a deer, deer went out of sight, plugs out to talk to mate further back up the hill on the uhf to see if he could still see the 3 deer (which he could) the one I wanted to shoot then quickly came back into my view and presented a shot thru a very small opening in the bush, I let rip with the plugs still hanging on their string around my neck.

The moment I pulled the trigger I realised my mistake. Ringing in my ears for hours and they were sore for the rest of the night but not bad by morning.

I know I will have done damage and will have lost some hearing, but I think I ended getting off lightly.

I do have a feeling I'll regret that mistake for life tho.

I'm pretty pissed off with myself.

Earplug is the key to protect hearing, but we need to make the right decision. The loud noise is one of the best reason for tinnitus, which is not curable.

Anyone notice that tinnitus is more noticeable when you are miserable than happy..?

Always wondered what's up with that.

Or is it just me?

But I know when my tinnitus is bugging me it's time for a meeting with myself about my lifestyle choices.

Originally Posted by davetapson

Anyone notice that tinnitus is more noticeable when you are miserable than happy..?

Always wondered what's up with that.

Or is it just me?

But I know when my tinnitus is bugging me it's time for a meeting with myself about my lifestyle choices.

I hate loosing to myself when I argue with myself. SOB loosing to yourself Bloody hell no justice in that one sided goddarn argument

got a head cold....left ear is ringing constantly....are as grumpy as a grumpy bastard....poor wife keeps getting grumped at and even the dogs are giving me a wide berth.....
got work tomorrow and just know already how little fun that will be...with head cold communication becomes a real effort
look after your hearing.

some people can blast their ears to deafness without a squeak of tinnitus, some people get tinnitus matching hearing loss, and some can lose very little or no hearing and get a lot of tinnitus.You get used to it, but as the above blokes say you would rather not have it. I got 10-15 high pitch whines oscillating in my left ear, crickets in the background and hissing behind my head... though that could be snakes creeping up on me this is Australia after all.

I reckon this is one of the reasons people preferred longer barrels a couple of generations ago before hearing protection was common. Sudden mild hearing loss and tinnitus was seen as a pretty good reason not to chop high powered rifles down to 20". With a longer barrel, not only is the noise further from the ears, the muzzle pressure has more time to drop, which contributes to less db blast.

Originally Posted by Mathias

Yep, I find they are not enough for my braked 260 and wear Grade 4 muffs, this is for range use. I've got the Peltor Sport Tac.

These would be for bush stalking with a 30 30 or 243. I always bring decent ear Pro if it's a longer shot where I have time.

Originally Posted by zimmer

Yep, range use with 308s, 284s, 7mmSAUMs.

MSA Sordins. Wouldn't be happy to trust the cheapies. I already have substantial hearing loss from the days when only weaklings wore muffs.

On the odd occassion due to other shooters nearby have also used throwaway ear plugs under my electronic muffs.

Sounds good.

Originally Posted by sako75

Helped the neighbour across the road do a fence using his nail gun. Came away with tinnitus
Sometimes don’t notice it and sometimes quite annoying
Would have only taken 5min to get earmuffs from home and now a life sentence

Yeah it's very annoying. Simply will never have real peace and quiet. The tapping the back of your head doesn't work for me.

Originally Posted by stagstalker

Found out I had hearing damage in my right ear at 18 years old when I joined the Army. Attributed to plenty of duck shooting and centrefire rifles with no ear pro on. Pretty big wake up call about the importance of hearing protection...

The loud noise is harmful to our ear and may cause tinnitus, which is not curable or may cause some other ear disease if you lost your hearing, so you miss someone beautiful speech. I think safety must come first. The earplug is the key to hearing protection, but we need to make our right decision.

What're your thoughts on electronic hearing protection? I think electronic earplugs are best than generic earplugs at the time of the shooting.

Originally Posted by jacksimonton

What're your thoughts on electronic hearing protection? I think electronic earplugs are best than generic earplugs at the time of the shooting.

I find them distracting to use for range shooting. Good for hunting

Does the concussion wave itself that hits you with a side and rear facing muzzle brake damage your hearing? I’m wearing double hearing protection with my brake but I often get ringing that evening

The hearing aids I wear, help control my Tinnitus, they can tune it out. Didnt wear them this weekend and needed them by the time I got home, screaming grand kids all weekend, I can tune them out as well.