Good ear muffs?

[9mm]

impact sports makes this model, I notice nutnfancy uses them also.

Howard Leight R 01526 Impact Sport Electronic Earmuff.

Does anyone have a pair how well do they work? I guess they work fine if nutnfancy is always using them.


My main question is this.

Impact Sport is an electronic earmuff which automatically shuts off loud impulse noise to a safe 82db while amplifying conversation and range commands

"Electronic earmuff" How much sound does it muff out without the batteries in?

[B. Lahey]

When a sound is above a certain level, the signal hits a limiter and it gets no louder, it just flattens the sound out to a crunchy noise. You can hear voices and stuff just fine, but gunshots get squished to crunchy gunshot noises of inoffensive volume. I imagine it kills as many dB turned off as turned on, you just can't hear other things as well.

I have found that the Howard Leights are the cheapest electronic muffs that work well. No disorienting "compression suck" when loud sounds hit the limiter, a mic on each ear for stereo sound (being able to tell which side of you a sound came from is nice), they are comfortable and don't eat batteries at too great a rate.

I liked them so much I picked up another pair for when I take another person to the range.

[9mm]

What happens when the batteries die? what is the DB rate?

[GURU1911]

Anything made by peltor or david clark company is an excellent choice. As a retired safety engineer, i would advise looking for a decibel rating of 28 or higher for max protection from gunfire.

Guru1911

[Beacon Brass]

Davis Clark's are used by the USAF on the flightline, can't get much better recommendation then that.

[arizona98tj]

What happens when the batteries die? what is the DB rate?

The NR (noise reduction) rating does not change if the batteries die. The electronics in this type of hearing protection does not actively reduce the noise. It simply amplifies all sound in the nearby area and clips the gun shot at a specified level so it is not too loud.

To put it another way, you could rip out the electronics and the NR rating of the muffs would be the same. In fact, here is a good chance that if you removed the electronics and filled in the area with sound deadening material, the NR rating of the muffs would improve.

For me personally, most electronic hearing protection carries too low of a NR rating to be comfortably used by itself unless I am shooting handguns. Once big bore handguns or long guns come into use, I'll use foam plugs along with electronic muffs. Most electronic muffs are around the 20 NR rating level....I like shooting with something providing me with about a 30 NR level myself.

[ClydeFrog]

I have a great set of custom made plugs I got at a gun show near Richmond VA in the early 1990s.
If I needed new hearing protection, I'd check out the Howard Leight models; www.PoliceHQ.com or I'd get a set of ZEM ear plugs; www.NRAstore.com .
US Cav sells the offical GI/milspec plugs which could be a useful back-up or spare unit. See www.UScav.com .

[saands]

"Double plugging" (wearing ear plugs underneath ear muffs) is the most comfortable you will get if you are around loud noises. These electronic ear muffs can usually amplify the ambient noise enough so that you can still hear conversations through the typical foam plugs (NRR ~29dB) ... but when they cut off at the report of a firearm, things are nice and quiet ... just don't try to double plug the other way (passive muffs and amplifying plugs like a Game Ear ... that won't work

Be safe!

Saands

[Ralgha]

David Clarks are horribly uncomfortable and their electronics are archaic. They have a devoted following of pilots because pilots are cheap and DCs are nigh indestructible. For noise reduction and comfort; however, you can do much better.

[langenc]

Of the non-electric variety I like my Silencio Magnums=30 or 31 NRR

[9mm]

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=454191


my new thread, its a rant on the muffs. They do not work for me.

[WESHOOT2]

PRO-EARS electronic muffs if you insist.

I use 33db plugs and 22--29db muffs. Together....

[arizona98tj]

my new thread, its a rant on the muffs. They do not work for me.

There is no guarantee that a particular pair of muffs will work for a particular person.

I have a very expensive pair of Pro-Ears that I do NOT like at all. They don't do squat for me although I have friends that rant and rave about how good they are (not to mention expensive) which was why I bought them in the first place. Instead, I use a $60 pair of electronic muffs along with foam plugs and that setup works fine for me.

p.s. If anyone wants to buy a pair of little used pro-ears, PM me. I'm sure we can come up with an agreeable price.

[jhansman]

I have been using Silencio Falcons for several years now. The only thing I don't like about them is there is no auto-shutoff, so if you forget to turn them off, the batteries (2 AAA) die in a matter of hours. Otherwise, comfy and effective.

[NWPilgrim]

Peltor Tactical 7S for most shooting. Good sound amplification and very fast clamping of gun shots, NRR of 24 but seems better than my cheap NRR 28 muffs. For real loud shooting I like my Peltor non-electronic muffs with NRR of 30. VERY quiet.