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I'm looking for an electronic set of ear muffs.  I would like to get a good set without paying a boatload.

 

Any recommendations?  I'd prefer references to equipment that you have experience with versus read about..

 

thanks in advance!

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MSA Supreme Pro X or Peltor ComTacs. Accept no substitutes.

 

They are the best there is. I have been using these for years (Peltors for about 8, the MSAs for 3) with no issues. Indoors or out, rain, heat, cold they function. They are hands down the best purchase of range gear I have ever made. They make the HL offering (which I have had nothing but issues with) seem like foam ear plugs.

 

Don't think about the price. When you look at best value vs lowest cost the answer becomes clear - buy once, cry once....

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MSAR Supreme Pro X or Peltor ComTacs. Accept no substitutes.

 

They are the best there is. I have been using these for years (Peltor's for about 8, the MSAR for 3) with no issues. Indoors or out, rain, heat, cold they function. They are hands down the best purchase of range gear I have ever made. They make the HL offering (which I have had nothing but issues with) seem like foam ear plugs.

 

Don't think about the price. When you look at best value vs lowest cost the answer becomes clear - buy once, cry once....

$300+ and $550+

I know I'm in NJ but damn!

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I own MSA and Howard Leights. Get the HL's they work great and are priced right. I use the MSA's because I have to wear hearing protections for extended time periods, and the gel ear cups make a huge difference. If you are a regular target shooter the HL's you will not be disappointed. 

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MSA Supreme Pro X or Peltor ComTacs. Accept no substitutes.

 

They are the best there is. I have been using these for years (Peltors for about 8, the MSAs for 3) with no issues. Indoors or out, rain, heat, cold they function. They are hands down the best purchase of range gear I have ever made. They make the HL offering (which I have had nothing but issues with) seem like foam ear plugs.

 

Don't think about the price. When you look at best value vs lowest cost the answer becomes clear - buy once, cry once....

are they really worth 10 times the HL impact sports?  OP said he doesnt want to spend a boatload..  $300+ for muffs is the definition of spending a boatload... i use the HL impact sports, and they work pretty well.. just keep extra batteries in your range bag and you're good to go..   (IMO)

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I keep having a problem with my impact sports. The active hearing only works when it wants to. Actually pissing me off and I'm gonna start looking at new earpro

Same here, I don't mind having to reach up and turn them off and back on though

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Regular guy

Happy with the Howard Leight's (we all know they have a power saver - auto shut off after 4 hours?).

I shoot average 3x month, 4 hours average time at the range.

I've been using the same pair for about 9 months.

Got my son and son-in-law a set for Christmas last year (one's military, the other an avid hunter), they wear them every time we go to the range, never heard them complain.

- just my $.02

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That's not the issue with mine. Its not batteries or needing to turn off and on, they flat out sometimes dont work. I think there is a wire issue

Mine work fine when first turned on every time, it's just that after a barrage of fire they don't kick back in to let me hear what's going on

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I don't like muffs and I don't like plugs. What I have been using for years now are Zem Sensgard hearing protectors. I use them indoors and out - primarily with handguns, but they are great with rifles also, especially since they don't interfere with cheek-weld. I participate in both IDPA and USPA and usually shoot four matches a month. I am exposed to a lot of shooting during a match for periods of 4 hours or more, where the hearing protection may never be removed. These are extremely comfortable in all environments. I have found that after being used to muffs or plugs, that simply block sound, when first wearing these you may feel that they are not very effective, simply because you can hear what is going on around you. With shooting they attenuate the damaging sound waves. I use the ones with the 31 NRR (yes, that's 31!) rating. No batteries, nothing in the ear, very little external pressure and inexpensive (check amazon). Here is their website - I encourage you to view the videos in the gallery section.

 

https://greg-post.squarespace.com/

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

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Mine work fine when first turned on every time, it's just that after a barrage of fire they don't kick back in to let me hear what's going on

 

I use HL Impact Pros and get a similar issue in that there may be a bit of lag before they kick back in and allow regular hearing. If I'm trying to have a conversation with someone with shots going off, I find that I usually have to lift up one of the ear cups slightly to hear what they're saying.

 

I find the hearing protection great, but they are bulky, and they don't fold up and will also take up a lot of space in your range bag. If you like wearing a hoodie while hunting, you're not going to be able to get the actual hood over your head. I do okay shooting long-guns at ground level targets, though I feel like I'm adjusting my cheek weld to accomodate the muffs. I can't use them at all for aerial targets, e.g. clays, and instead use 33NR rated foam plugs. I'll add the disclaimer that I'm not that experienced with long guns, so I'm not sure if there should be a difference with the proper stance.

 

 

 

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are they really worth 10 times the HL impact sports? OP said he doesnt want to spend a boatload..

Yes they are. There is a definite discernable difference to the quality of the sound you hear and the sounds you don't hear, and the quality of the actual protection you get - including the timing of the cutout - when comparing the HLs to the MSA and Peltors.

 

While it as a nice chunk of cash, I don't find it to be a boatload when compared to everything else I have spent to even get to the range - guns, ammo, gas, fees, targets, etc.....

 

I do find the ability to hear range commands at a class/range/while instructing clearly - in all environmental conditions - as well as the level of protection afforded to be worth every penny.

 

 

This reminds me of the guy who walks into the motorcycle shop looking for the cheapest helmet. :facepalm:

^^^** Exactly this!

 

I see this stuff a lot and it drives me nuts. We (shooters) spend $1000s on guns, ammo, range fees/memberships, etc.... But regularly cheap out on holsters and PPE in the name of being "frugal" or "just as good".

 

I mean hey, it only effects your hearing, situational awareness, and safety on the range. So what right?

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HE,

 

I noticed the MSAs and Peltors are rated 18db and 20db noise reduction, respectively. That seems to be signficantly less noise reduction compared to the 30db for the HL Impact Pros. Any comment? I'll grant that the sound and cutout of the electronic circuity might be superior, but I don't think I'd be willing to sacrifice noise reduction. Or are they more effective at reducing noise than their ratings would indicate?

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I don't like muffs and I don't like plugs. What I have been using for years now are Zem Sensgard hearing protectors. I use them indoors and out - primarily with handguns, but they are great with rifles also, especially since they don't interfere with cheek-weld. I participate in both IDPA and USPA and usually shoot four matches a month. I am exposed to a lot of shooting during a match for periods of 4 hours or more, where the hearing protection may never be removed. These are extremely comfortable in all environments. I have found that after being used to muffs or plugs, that simply block sound, when first wearing these you may feel that they are not very effective, simply because you can hear what is going on around you. With shooting they attenuate the damaging sound waves. I use the ones with the 31 NRR (yes, that's 31!) rating. No batteries, nothing in the ear, very little external pressure and inexpensive (check amazon). Here is their website - I encourage you to view the videos in the gallery section.

 

https://greg-post.squarespace.com/

 

Adios,

 

Pizza Bob

 

 

Very interesting.......

 

For the price....... worth a try.... 

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HE,

 

I noticed the MSAs and Peltors are rated 18db and 20db noise reduction, respectively. That seems to be signficantly less noise reduction compared to the 30db for the HL Impact Pros. Any comment? I'll grant that the sound and cutout of the electronic circuity might be superior, but I don't think I'd be willing to sacrifice noise reduction. Or are they more effective at reducing noise than their ratings would indicate?

There is more to NRR ratings than the pure numbers especially when looking at electronic/active hearing protection.

 

I am going off of memory here, from when I did my initial looking into electronic ear pro quite a while ago but the NRR on the Peltor and MSA is lower due to them cutting out/going from passive to active protection at a lower decibel rating and therefore requiring less "work" for them to do. I think they go active at 77-79db where the HLs don't go active until 83-85db.

 

So you are getting a 20 NRR rating starting at ~78db instead of a 30 NRR starting at ~84db.

 

That's how interpret the data anyway.

 

The response time on the MSA/Peltor is also significantly faster than that of the HLs.

 

This is the big selling point for me - After personally wearing all 3 of them at the range the MSA and Peltors seem subjectively quieter regardless of their NRR and infinitely more comfortable.

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Ok. NRR numbers are fubar in general and double fubar for shooting. The EPA is reworking the methodology and it will soon (in theory) change to a two number rating rather than one. The high one will be the nrr achieved by the 98th percentile of motivated trained users. The low number will be the nrr achieved from the 80th percentile of mouth breathing retards who don't pay attention to most of the instructions or are making poor pairings of equipment.

 

Some protection is less likely to fit right under certain conditions. Like muffs with shooting glasses. The odds of gaping at the temple pieces is high with muffs and essentially zero with plugs.

 

Beyond that, the nrr is an average across the standard test frequencies for the rating (8 from 125 to 8000 iirc). One set of muffs can be 27 across the board and be a 27. Another could be 36 for one range and 22 for another etc. and be a 30 overall. That high number muffs might be off the charts at high frequencies and be awesome for a cabinetry business running cnc routers and table saws, but suck for shooting.

 

Then there's the fact the nrr is geared to SUSTAINED workplace noise. It is not an accurate number for short impulse noise with a high intensity.

 

The absolute best combination of protection and function IMO are active muffs over 33nrr disposable foam plugs. You can hear everything nearby just fine and it really protects. The HL muffs work just fine in this role.

 

As stand alone, I wouldn't use them because they tend to be slow. This basically means that wearing them doesn't get you a nrr of 28 or whatever they are, which with perfect fitment would turn a 150db shot into a 122db noise. That would be for a sustained sound. So ROing that comped open gun indoors, subsequent shots are at roughly that (except it isn't 28 across the board), but the first shot when it isn't cutting out is probably more like 125db from loud headphones.

 

My standalone choice are 33nrr disposable plugs.

 

For active, the best are the custom fit plug like things with the digital circuitry based on hearing aids. They remap frequencies and have a slight delay in them so they cut out all the loud noise of even the short high impulse noises. They also cost like $1000+. But fitment will be perfect and hard to screw up with the best circuitry for the job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The absolute best combination of protection and function IMO are active muffs over 33nrr disposable foam plugs. You can hear everything nearby just fine and it really protects. The HL muffs work just fine in this role.

This is the combo I use shooting indoors. 

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Thread drift but relevant. What are you guys doing to deal with after 60 minutes my eye protection being pushed into my skull from the ear muffs feels like a knife bring jammed into the side of my head.

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Thread drift but relevant. What are you guys doing to deal with after 60 minutes my eye protection being pushed into my skull from the ear muffs feels like a knife bring jammed into the side of my head.

Gel seals/cups

 

With my Oakley's, MSA hearing pro, and a helmet pushing it all down it stays nice and comfortable for hours.

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