Hearing loss is a topic most folks don’t think about until it becomes an issue. I blame years of music which parlayed into career in the firearms industry for mine. The good news is there are some steps you can take to keep as much as your hearing as possible. There are basically two types of ear protection available: in ear and over the ear.
Over the ear hearing protection is the most effective between the two. Being able to enclose your ears in decibel reducing technology is always going to be the best way to deaden sound. The drawback to over the ear is the bulkiness. When shouldering rifles or getting down on your scope, headphone style protection can hinder your perfect sight picture. In my experience, it can really bother some shooters while others don’t seem to be irritated by it at all.
In ear refers to earplug style hearing protection. They are more compact, easier to throw in your pocket or range bag, and won’t interfere with shouldering your rifle. These can range from the foam version you can buy for a quarter at the range all the way up to custom electronics that can cost hundreds of dollars. Another version I’ve seen over the years is the silicone epoxy customs that are made right in front of you with your ears as the molds.
Both over and in ear versions of hearing protection offer electronics to allow the user to hear what’s going on around them at normal volumes but have sound cancelling technology that cuts out any loud noises over a certain db level. These range in price as well depending on features and how custom they fit your ears. Here are a few offerings in each to get you started:
This is about as basic as it gets with over the earmuffs. No electronics, no batteries, just solid protection.
This is a great option for in ear if you don’t want to spend the coin on the electronics. They include a nice carrying case so you don’t lose them!
If over the head muffs aren’t your thing, the Caldwell E-Max line offer the BTH or Behind the Head model. Let’s say you’re fresh from the barber shop or fly from the beauty salon. Save your new hairdo with these. Featuring electronic noise cancelling and a 21 NRR rating, these are a great option for over the ear hearing protection.
ISOtunes is a relatively new company to the game that has made a huge impact in their short time. They focus on nothing but protection and their game is strong! The Caliber BT earbuds are very nice, reasonably priced option for in ear protection. The cool thing about these is they function just like the electronic over ears but will hook up to your phone and allow you to use the phone or listen to music. This isn’t just ear protection, it’s listening enhancement!
Safariland stepped things up a notch with their Liberator 2.0. Now featuring 3 distinct hearing modes (Enhanced Mode, Move Mode, and Clarity Mode) the Liberator boasts up to 300 hours of run time depending on mode and a NRR of 26db.
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