If I could afford it I would use Harris and Sons. Custom molded to your ears, blutooth compatable. Turn them off, shoot. Turn them on, talk. And listen to music/take a call or whatever. Noise cancelling is cool, but halting the advance of my tinnitus and what not is more important to me.
I use walker muffs and turn them off when I shoot to give you a frame of reference.
Originally Posted by Erik
I just installed mine and WOW, I should have done this years ago!
Thanks for the advice!
I’m going to put a set on my daughter’s next.
I use Otto's based on the recommendation of @Jackdog and others.
Not cheap, but very convenient and they work well with a pistol, shotgun or rifle.
https://www.otto-comm.com/NoizeBarrierMicro
Before that I used Sordin's. I also keep a pair of Walker in the ear plugs in the car, in case I need something and forgot my range bag.
Okay you enablers.
I did some Google Fu and found Optics Planet had a couple for sale on Gunbroker for $340.
https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search...arrier&Sort=13
I did the "take a shot" offer that was accepted at $330 so that price will likely be good for the remaining two sets they have there in case anyone else needs some good ol fashioned PF enabling.
Anyone with moderate hearing loss using the Otto's or similar? There are custom fit solutions which have a generic amplification profile, but they are in the $2k area. Muffs in hot weather are not fun, but I'm really looking for in-ear in cold weather so I can wear a balaclava or similar. I wear muffs with the electronics off; my hearing aides provide enough amplification to communicate and hear steel. A generic in-ear solution could be problematic; my left ear canal is very narrow and I've never found a bud that worked well on that ear.
Soundgear are sub 1k if you go with the non Bluetooth models. They are custom molded electronic ear pro, basically hearing aids with ear protection.
"Shooting is 90% mental. The rest is in your head." -Nils
I wore SoundGears for almost 10 years. My insurance considers them hearing aids, so they were covered. Worked fine except when around Open shooters with popple holes and comps. Especially in a shoot house style stage with solid walls/roof. When RO-ing major matches I usually throw on a pair of Peltors over the SoundGear whenever an Open shooter walks up.
That said, something weird happened in the last couple of years -I think the shape of my inner ear changed to the point where I wasn’t getting a good seal with the SoundGears despite being custom molded. Is this what happens when you get old, need shingles shot, colonoscopies, and can’t trust a fart anymore? After all, I was already buying hearing aid batteries and getting AARP stuff in the mail…
Friend of mine was running Otto’s w/ after-market brand foam inserts. I almost went that route but decided to get the Axil Xcors (half price of the Ottos) to test out. I went with the same brand of after-market foamies. My rationale was two-fold: The Axils had an equivalent NRR (with the right foam inserts) as the Ottos, but unlike the Ottos they are blue-tooth capable. My Jabras ear buds that I use to listen to podcasts and music on my phone died around the same time, and near as I could figure the Axil Xcrors could do dual duty of being ear pods for my phone and be hearing pro at the range. The Ottos (at least the ones I looked at) are not blue-tooth capable.
So far so good with the Axils. I can even wear them shooting PRS rifle matches even with everyone running brakes. RO-ing Open shooters at the range is fine, but I’d probably still double up with Peltors if RO-ing all day at a big match. And with the sound enhancement feature turned on I can hear people talking at the range no problem (i.e. calling scores).
And they work just fine as earbuds.
Comply Foam is the name of the after-market brand foamies. You can get them on Amazon. They make different models depending on the brand of ear buds/pro (Ottos, Axil, SkullCandy, Bose…)
I’ve been using Sordins since 20212. They are great! But around 2020 I noticed that when I shot rifles or shotguns by ear pro would be dislodged when shouldering the stock. It was really noticeable when shooting my 1301 with magpul stock with the high riser. I was less than happy with this occurrence and the ringing ear after a range day.
At TacCon 2021 a couple of friends were using the Ottos and one of them let me use them in a shooting block. When I got off the range I promptly order a pair. I’ve been using the Ottos for 2.5 years now and I’m really pleased with. I not change unless something better comes along.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Slightly off topic, but I've been doubling up ear pro for years and found this works best for me. I'm around a lot of shooting. Both at USPSA and other competitive matches, my own training (~15k rounds per year), and running law enforcement classes, qualifications, and range days. I'm simply around too much shooting to not make it worth doubling up.
I prefer to use an ear plug like the Surefire sonic defenders or just foam plugs combined with an electronic ear muff like the Tactical Sport 300/500 Peltors. For the money, the Tactical Sport 300/500's are very comfortable compared to howard leights, walkers, peltor 100's, etc. The sound enhancement turned to max volume with the outer ear muffs allows me to hear normal conversations on the range, which would be difficult with just ear plugs by themselves.
I have never confirmed this, but I had also heard from an agency doc that you can get hearing loss through the side of your skull from the concussive blast of shooting, especially in close proximity to the short barreled M4's we use, and outer ear muffs protect better against that than ear plugs.
That's called conductive hearing loss. I remember TLG even mentioning at the AFHF I was that that he not only wore muffs, but also a ballcap, to help mitigate this issue. I'm not totally sure how much a ballcap might help, given how thin the hat material is and that it arguably can crack the seal on muffs slightly more, depending on the cup/hat interface, but conductive hearing loss is definitely a thing.
Reply With Quote
