RFI: Electronic Ear Plugs

[JCN]

Thanks all for the input so far.

I'm sure that whatever I can get in this price range isn't going to be 100% what I want, but I'm looking to see if something I can afford now will work "good enough," since the alternatives are 1) keep shooting quail without ear pro or 2) be bad at shooting quail because I can't hear and/or can't mount a shotgun properly. If it weren't for hunting, I'd keep doing what I'm doing with active muffs and inactive plugs as needed. Down the road when I have the funds, one of the $900 and up options, or whatever the equivalent is at the time, will almost certainly be a prioritized purchase. It'll at least come ahead of using the same amount of money on a new gun, of any kind.

For anyone who has experience with both, how do the Walker in-ears compare to the Walker ear muffs in terms of audio quality/background noise? Those are what I use for pistol currently, so it's a point of reference.

Also good to know that active in-ears under active muffs can work, I was wondering if that would cause some sort of feedback issue.

It looks like I may be choosing between the EPP-100s and Walker Silencers, for now at least, though I'm also looking at the Silynx as a different option. The rechargeable feature of the first two is attractive, but a AAA for the Silynx is at least something that's common (and I already have rechargeable AAAs).

I never use my Silynx anymore as the extra bulk just doesn’t justify it for me. But if I was using it for many hours continuously for hunting I could see that as a quick swap battery option.

I do get some feedback if using active plugs and muffs so I usually just turn up the boost on the plugs and leave the muffs passive.

[Elwin]

I never use my Silynx anymore as the extra bulk just doesn’t justify it for me. But if I was using it for many hours continuously for hunting I could see that as a quick swap battery option.

I do get some feedback if using active plugs and muffs so I usually just turn up the boost on the plugs and leave the muffs passive.

Noted. I’ll just have to see what happens if I’m combining the two active options.

At this point I think I’m actually going Silynx based on reviews I’ve found so far. It looks like their audio quality is quite good for “real use” situational awareness, while both the Walker’s and Peltors have plenty of reviews saying the sound quality is lacking. I’m sure it all depends on what you’re expecting them to do for you, and that they’re all sufficient for range use, but I think for hunting the Silynx may be my best bet. The form factor is less convenient for sure, but I can live with it, and there are pluses. Common battery, much longer battery life, and I’m less likely to lose them.

If you’re really not using yours and want to sell them I’d be down to talk details. If not no problem, I’ll go deal hunting or just buy them from the manufacturer site to be done with it.

[OldRunner/CSAT Neighbor]

I've heard people say these are better than the 3M TEPs, with a price to match: https://www.otto-comm.com/NoizeBarrierMicro

No personal experience myself, though.

Received my Otto's not long ago, still getting used to them after running Sord Pro-Xs or TCI DEHP's since 2008 and no feedback vs. the 3M's as I've never used them.

[JCN]

Noted. I’ll just have to see what happens if I’m combining the two active options.

At this point I think I’m actually going Silynx based on reviews I’ve found so far. It looks like their audio quality is quite good for “real use” situational awareness, while both the Walker’s and Peltors have plenty of reviews saying the sound quality is lacking. I’m sure it all depends on what you’re expecting them to do for you, and that they’re all sufficient for range use, but I think for hunting the Silynx may be my best bet. The form factor is less convenient for sure, but I can live with it, and there are pluses. Common battery, much longer battery life, and I’m less likely to lose them.

If you’re really not using yours and want to sell them I’d be down to talk details. If not no problem, I’ll go deal hunting or just buy them from the manufacturer site to be done with it.

I think I used them twice and I have extra new ear foam tips.




DM with an offer if you like.

Looks like this model is $269 off the manufacturer website.

[Parf]

I have heard of people stating that they did have feedback issues when using both. IIRC, TEPs and Sordins or Peltor COMTACs, so... yeah. Not a sure thing.

I haven't experienced feedback yet from using them under any of my Howard Leights or another random pair that I can't remember who makes them. I've been using them since June, with the skull screw tips, and love them. $144 for these is the cheapest option, by far.

[JCN]

@Elwin I can’t attach pictures in DMs so here are the containers for the different density plugs.
Both small size.

[Elwin]

Thanks for the response, think I should be good to go with the green ones (seems those are the more noise reducing). I’ll report back after trying them out in the field and at the range.

[kjr_29]

Thanks for the response, think I should be good to go with the green ones (seems those are the more noise reducing). I’ll report back after trying them out in the field and at the range.

Thoughts?

I recently picked up some Walker Game ears for a similar reason (duck hunting, need to hear). Have not tried them out yet, season is already over but will get out to the range with them soon.

https://www.walkersgameear.com/silen...-the-ear-pair/

[Elwin]

I’ll definitely post my thoughts once I’m finally able to use them. Unfortunately I haven’t been to the range or the field since starting this thread. Snow accumulation and then the muddy mess caused by rapid melt nixed both, but I’m hoping to get to the range in the next couple weeks and maybe get in one more hunt this season (preserve season in IL where I meet my dad to hunt is longer than wild season).

[Elwin]

Ok so I finally have feedback. My dad and I managed to pull off one last end of season hunt yesterday. I ran the Silynx plugs the whole time. We took 11 quail and saw probably twice that, so it was a good test run for them.

The only con is that wind noise can be pretty loud, but honestly I knew that going in and it just goes with the territory. On medium or high mode it was manageable, especially since if I really needed to listen for something I could turn my head a bit and at least one ear would be out of the wind.

Other than that, they worked great. Not as good as my natural hearing, but again that wasn’t my expectation. They were plenty good for what really I needed - being able to track the dog by hearing his bell, hearing the beeper so I could know he was on point and locate him, and most importantly, hearing quail that flushed out of my line of sight well enough to have time to turn, see them, and shoot them.

For now, these are the solution for hunting, and will work perfectly for regular range use and classes (with or without non active muffs overtop depending on indoor vs. outdoor and the guns being used). I’m especially going to appreciate having active ear pro I can use for shooting clays that don’t interfere with a shotgun cheek weld. On really windy hunting days, and maybe any day out in big sky country whenever I can hunt there again, I may need to ditch them due to wind noise, but if I’m wearing ear pro for most of my hunting I’m not going to sweat the occasional day without them. Still beats the hell out of never using them, which is where I was prior to now.

Also thanks @JCN for the hookup.