Ear protection

[rifleman 90]

I have an audiologist custom made set. $100 and worth every cent. They are about 3 years old, I use them all the time and still perfect. I shoot 30.06 and hundreds of 12 g every week with these.

[TonyS. 12]

Anyone ever use the surefire ear buds?

 

Ugh... I had a somewhat lengthy reply written and my browser hiccuped and you know what happened.     Here we go again....  

 

I've been using the Surefire EP4 buds for 1+ years now and like them. I'm a pro gigging drummer (when life allows) and wanted something that would last longer than foam plugs. This may sound funny but if you're moving your jaw around much, like when talking, then the Surefires seem to move more easily in the ear than foam plugs. I guess it's because of the part that fits into the ear's cocha bowl.  If I was singing while drumming I'd get random blasts of sound because my jaw is moving. Not good, so I switched back to foams. However I still use the Surefires attending concerts or other loud events. They work well and have been holding up fine. I'm still on the same pair I bought....no replacement stems needed so far. I gently wash them with just a tiny drop of dish detergent, let dry, and all is good. I guess for range work they'd be fine since you're not talking while shooting anyway.... at least most folks.

 

PS, if you gain/lose a decent amount of weight this will effect the shape of your inner ear. I've had Westone custom-fit earpieces made years ago for my ears. I was about 20lbs heavier when I had the molds done. Since losing that weight I can no longer where them because they don't fit right anymore. I wish the audiologist told me about that when I went to get the molds done since I was trying to lose the weight at that time, but she'd have lost $ then. If you're pretty steady weight-wise then custom molds are great. More comfortable than over-ear muffs, less obtrusive, and can have their filters switched to different sound-suppression levels.