electronic "ears"

[longeyes]

Looking for comments, reviews on available electronic hearing protection. (Pro-Ears, et al.) How well do these work? Which are best? Thanks.

[Anthony]

Hi Longeyes,

I've had a pair of Gentex Wolfears for several years now. Massad Ayoob has advocated them and sold them for more years than I can remember. They're $150 from Police Bookshelf (800)624-9049.

They're directional in that there is a separate mic for each ear. So you can tell from which direction a sound came instead of hearing the sound "in the middle of your head" the way some stereo muff work. If the Wolfears are set to the "amplified" setting your hearing becomes much better than a normal human, but gunfire will be disapated so as not damage your hearing. Imagine the sound being shreaded like cheese through a cheese shreader.

I keep mine by my bed and put them on whenever checking out a sound at night. Very useful and very effective. Ruggedly constructed.

They're worth EVERY penny.

- Anthony

[waltherpfive]

I also have had the Wolfears for years and highly recommend them.

[Legionnaire]

Longeyes, I have two sets of Peltor Tac-7s; one for me, and the other for whomever I take to the range. While at LFI I compared the Peltors with the WolfEars; both work, but I prefer the Peltors. Probably pretty subjectively, as I don't know the "specs" on them.

Electronic muffs are great, though. Very cool when taking training courses. Your ears are protected and you can still hear (most) range commands.

Also very nice while handgun hunting. I bought my first set of Peltors two days after taking one shot in the field with a T/C Contender in .35 Rem with a muzzle break. My ears were ringing for those two days, and I decided immediately that I would not hunt with a large caliber handgun without electronic muffs.

Peltors or WolfEars are worth every penny.

[bastiat]

Are you sure about the $150 for wolf ears from police bookshelf? I'm looking at Ayoob's website and they state the price is $259??

[skdtac]

Pro-Ears models work fabulously. The gain is adjustable for heightened sensitivity, and they have the most comfortable cups and head-bands among all the brands we've used. For all you tactical operators, try running the Pro-Ears Chop-side models over the harness of your k-pot or RBR, and flip the cups upside down- very comfortable

[Bullmoose]

I have these 66 year old ears (the worse part is they are attached to my 66 year old body) and was getting so that I couldn't hear the instructions at matches, the beep of the timer, etc... Then I bought a pair of the lower priced Peltors (says 6-5 on them, I think the ad said P-6) from Botach Tactical on the recommendation of a fellow IDPA'r. Life is good. It is easy to carry on conversations, hear the buzzer, instructions, etc and I go home without any ringing or similiar bad effects. They are 'compacts' compared to the larger bodies that most muffs have and fold up really nice and small to put in the shooting bag. With delivery and state tax (Botach and I are both in CA) was only $127 during their winter sale. I don't know if it is still on. I consider this to be one of my better purchases in a long time. I do not get any LEO's discount so the price looked good to me.

[Anthony]

Bastait,

You beat me to the punch.

I actually paid $185 for mine I discovered over the weekend and was logging on to correct my post. Whatever Mas has listed on his site would be correct. That's quite a jump though. I'd call to be sure. Also, I'm sure he's not the only source.

Gentex is the company that makes Wolfears. I'm sure they could supply you with the names of other distributors around the country who could quote you a price.

Sorry for the mixup.

- Anthony

[CITADELGRAD87]

Pro Ears Pro Mags, my first and only set. HEavy, but you don't need to double plug to shoot indoors, which was important to me. They also electronically reduce the shot noise, the DON'T cut out when there is firing.

Two thumbs up.

[Sneevil]

I just got a set of Pro Ears http://www.pro-ears.com/
and used them at the range this weekend. They are great!

Someone can be on your left talking to you and someone can be on your right blasting away with a 300WM and you can hear the talking and the shots sound like they're on tv.

They take sounds over 70bd and reduce them to 70db. Sounds under 70db are increased to 70db. Everything sounds the same volume.

[WalterGAII]

Sneevil: I love my Pro-Ears, but they don't work as you described. They do cut out sounds over 70db, but they can only reduce those sounds as much as their NR rating will permit. For example, a noise of 160db won't be reduced to 70db, if your Pro-Ears have a NR21 rating. They'll reduce the 160db to 139db.

[Sneevil]

Walter, you are correct. I did not describe the pro ears accurately.

[Jhp147]

Yall talked me into it. Brownell's is billing my overworked MC and sending me a set of the Magnum models with NRR 28 and the new "Dimension whatever" improvements. I don't know how much longer I can afford to keep reading TFL. Seriously, I think this will be a wise investment.

[abrahamsmith]

What about ear plug models?

For hunting, etc, I'd prefer not to wear muffs, sicne their bulky and hard to toss in a pocket... do any of the in-the-ear types work well?

[beechdriver]

I recommend electronic hearing protection. I got a pair of Peltor Model 7 (something) they amplify normal sound and cut out above 85 d. I paid $129 and bought a second pair for my daughter at $149 last Christmas. I tried some of the others but was disappointed. I wear them for all hunting and shooting. I heard Pro Ears are good,too but don't remember trying them. The only drawback as with all muffs, they can be warm when the temp is above 50. I wear plugs until I go to firingline when it is hot. I also wear plugs under the muffs if I'm at an indoor range for over an hour.

[straightShot]

abrahamsmith:

I haven't tried these myself, but I've been looking at them. I think that they'd be great for shooting trap and skeet. Muffs always get in the way for me.

http://www.earinc.com/electronic2.html

straightShot