IN-Ear plugs for shooting?

[Squib]

This is a very interesting thread. I'd love to find something more comfortable than the big, hot, noise cancelling muffs I wear now. They are especially uncomfortable in hot, humid weather because of the vynal covering.

I lost a fair amount of my hearing in the service, and now that I'm turning into an old geezer, it's getting worse; so I'd love to find something usable that doesn't cost a lot of money. I've been afraid to go for something in the ear, because I simply have to protect what hearing I have left. And, the electronic muffs work very well.

So, who decides how much db protection is needed, and how do you track down something for in the ear that meets that threashold?

 

[jojoa55]

got my plugs last night via UPS. I think they are pretty comfy in the ear. It does take a couple minutes to figure out how to put them in your ear, but once they are in there, they felt great to me. I am going to the range this afternoon with them, so we will see how they do with gunfire. Hopefully good. I'll let you know what happens.

 

[Mike_Indy]

^^^Great, looking forward to a range report.^^^

Mine are still over a week out. Stinks because I'll be at a training class shooting nearly 3000 rounds over a 4 day period next week. :-(

 

[Cru]

I wore mine twice so far.

Once shooting 9mm and .22 outside at steel (I know, who wears ear pro with .22 right? I DO) and once shooting 9mm inside.

You have to make sure they are in ALL THE WAY or they won't work at all. Once they are in though they are comfortable. With the little plug "out" the plugs will take the edge off of a 9mm pop, but it's still decently loud. I was ok for shooting outside with these. When shooting at an INDOOR range, I was ok with these, but the little hole plug must be inserted. If you leave that open, it's just too loud in the indoor range (and I don't think anyone was firing anything that loud.)

I don't think I'd use these when Firing rifles, but I will try it next time I take my AR out at least once, but that may be it.

I like them, they're comfortable, but I think they are best suited for outdoor pistol shooting.

 

[jojoa55]

Cru pretty well summed up what i wrote, then my PC erased my long a** post. Anyway, i would give the plugs 7/10. They are quite comfy in and are so for extended periods of time. One thing I would like to add is that while you can hear voices with them in, its still fairly muffled. They aren't as muffled as traditional plugs are, but you can tell you have something in your ear when your trying to hear someone talk. I also went to an indoor range, and I would agree. It took the edge off the sound, but muffs work much better. I should also mention that i never inserted the plug while firing. With the channel open, it blocks enough sound to comfortably shoot a couple hundred rounds. YMMV. Overall though, i think its a decent buy for 13 bucks.

 

[JordanN]

I wear the Surefire ones while at the range, with the muffs over them when actually shooting.

I used to wear E-A-R TaperFit2 plugs at work, but I developed impacted ear wax issues (VERY painful), and I decided to stop. I wear muffs there now.

I'm into audio/visual production and music, and I need my ears.

 

[JordanN]

I wore mine twice so far.

Once shooting 9mm and .22 outside at steel (I know, who wears ear pro with .22 right? I DO) and once shooting 9mm inside.

You have to make sure they are in ALL THE WAY or they won't work at all. Once they are in though they are comfortable. With the little plug "out" the plugs will take the edge off of a 9mm pop, but it's still decently loud. I was ok for shooting outside with these. When shooting at an INDOOR range, I was ok with these, but the little hole plug must be inserted. If you leave that open, it's just too loud in the indoor range (and I don't think anyone was firing anything that loud.)

I don't think I'd use these when Firing rifles, but I will try it next time I take my AR out at least once, but that may be it.

I like them, they're comfortable, but I think they are best suited for outdoor pistol shooting.

I'm pretty sure the instructions recommend that the channel plug be inserted for any shooting. The open channel is for loud music and such, not for stuff as damaging as gunfire.